Foundation of the Church - Notes

Summer Bible Study #1
The Foundation of the Church

These are my speaking notes as i use them. The Notes are outlines that more or less guide me in speaking. They do not convert easily from Word to blog so hopefully you can make sense of them. Feel free to Comment or ask Questions. chad

The Church #1

The concept of Church


Introduction:

It's beauty that captures your attention; personality which captures your heart. ~Anonymous ~

But what truly possesses beauty. I know this…we desire to capture beauty and bring it into the soul… paintings, nature, pictures allure us and we are somehow drawn to it and desire in some way to be a part of it and for it to be a part of us . I think in the end beauty emanates from God Himself

We do not want merely to see beauty, though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words — to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it. That is why we have peopled air and earth and water with gods and goddesses and nymphs and elves — that, though we cannot, yet these projections can, enjoy in themselves that beauty, grace, and power of which Nature is the image. That is why the poets tell us such lovely falsehoods. They talk as if the west wind could really sweep into a human soul; but it can't. They tell us that "beauty born of murmuring sound" will pass into human face; but it won't. Or not yet. For if we take the imagery of Scripture seriously, if we believe that God will one day give us the Morning Star and cause us to put on the splendour of the sun, then we may surmise that both the ancient myths and the modern poetry, so false as history, may be very near the truth as prophecy. At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door. We discern the freshness and purity of morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the splendours we see. But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumour that it will not always be so. Some day, God willing, we shall get in.

Beauty Is found in Creation and even though this world is fallen beauty is still clearly seen and that beauty is representative of its creator in some way.

Of all the things I have studied, the pictures I have seen, the places I have been…probably the most beautiful thing on this earth is the church. Think about it. it is a place of life, growth, transformation, wrongs being made right, the beginning of the reversal of effects of the fall.

I hope that over this summer you begin to see the beauty of the Church, the power to change lives that it possesses in the gospel.

Introduction

Disclaimer: We are going to come to this study of the church and what you believe about the church may be challenged. Your part in the church may be called into question. All I ask is that we truly seek the truth of what the Church is and how it is to function.

When I speak of the word church I am using it in what I call the all encompassing singular. The church not in a specific are but the universal concept of the church consisting of all believers in the world.

The Birth of the Church
Qahal in the OT – bound up in the understanding that these were God’s chosen people, called out.
Ekklesia in the NT
i. Used 114 times in the New Testament
ii. It is used
1. once in Hebrews for an OT assembly
2. acts 19 used three times to refer to the assembly gathered at an amphitheater to deal with Paul
a. the other 109 times it is used of a Christian assembly

b. So Ekklesia as we will use it is defined as an assembly that meets for a Christian purpose.
a. This Ekklesia was different because it was founded, empowered, equipped, and redeemed through His Own Work[1]


Matthew 16:18 So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
b. Intimate Connection: The church is His because He purchased it. (Acts 20:28) “purchased with His own blood”

With the Purchase of the church by His work on the Cross through salvation Jesus Would go on to birth the Church in that first chapter of Acts. Jesus had been preparing His disciples for the incredible, he had been laying the foundation for the unimaginable, He had been paving the way for the miraculous birth of the Church that would be used to supernaturally change the world.
i. Acts 2:1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord[a] in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
1. Peter Preaches a Sermon from the Old Testament full of the Power of God
ii. Acts 2:40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” 41 Then those who gladly[g] received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. 42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.

The writers of the New Testament under the inspiration of the Spirit of God would go on to describe the church using a number of major images to convey the nature of the church[2]

Three Major Images of the Church
The People of God
Romans 9:25 25 As He says also in Hosea:“ I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved.”[h] 26 “ And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them,‘ You are not My people,’ There they shall be called sons of the living God.
I Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
i. We are not Israel but the Similarities are striking there is a distinct parallelism between the church and Israel even though they are separate.
1. chosen generation
2. royal priesthood
3. holy nation and our banner is Christ
4. on an on.
The Fellowship
I Corinthians 1:2 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:
i. 1:9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
1. there was the fellowship in the Lord Jesus Christ
ii. 1 Corinthians 10:15 I speak as to wise men; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? 17 For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.
1. one bread
2. Paul did not explain precisely how such “communion” takes place through the Supper. He emphatically believed the Supper tied participants closer to one another and to Christ. [3]
Understanding this idea of fellowship or oneness in Christ helps to clearly paint the understanding as to why Paul would so vehemently speak against fellowship with darkness
i. 2 Corinthians 6:14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?
The Body of Christ
Ephesians 5:22 Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. 24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ
Romans 12:5 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.

Major Emphasis on the Unity within the Church
Unity is due to the Working and manifestation of the Spirit of God in each of the believers life that connects them with Christ and with one another
What is the one thing that happens within churches many times?
i. Disunity
If you were the enemy and you knew that the strength of an organization lay in its unity where would you attack? Unity of the church
i. Every good commander on the battlefield knows that if you can disrupt the unity of the enemy and divide the forces they are more easily conquered
That is why it is so important to maintain the unity of the church
i. How
1. by not quarreling
2. by taking care of your relationships
3. Placing others above yourself
4. Most importantly through your own personal pursuit of the Holy!!!
a. You allow sin into your life and the first thing it will do is rip you away from the unity of the body. Your hurt yourself, your brothers and sisters, and the work of Christ
b. You actually undermine the work of the Gospel by disobeying The Lord.


So The Church consists of believers that are first and foremost unified in the Lord Jesus Christ who meets together in local fellowships that express the change that has occurred in their lives. They are to be unified in their worship of God and sacrificial devotion to one another and clear about the mission for which they exist…namely to Go therefore[c] and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you

Where there was once brokenness in relationship between man and God now there is relationship
Where there was brokenness between man there can be oneness of fellowship.
Where there was a curse now there was blessing
Where there was death there is now life
Where there was no hope there is now hope and all of that belongs to the people who by faith trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and are the church.



So we could say that the ekklesia was a body connected and empowered by the Lord Jesus Christ. Going along with our previous definition it was a body, group, a gathering with a purpose which is the worship and proclamation of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[1] Theology for the Church, edited by Daniel Akin, article written by Mark Dever Page 771
[2] ibid. the majority of these notes come from the resource mentioned above.
[3] Holman Christian Dictionary “Fellowship” article