The Church | Steuart Payne | 21st November 2021

This week Ps Steu speaks about the church corporate, how Jesus is incredibly passionate about the church and how scripture describes Christ’s love for the church. Matthew 16:13-19 describes how peter declares Jesus as the Messiah and how Jesus builds His church upon the rock. The word church here comes from Greek ‘Ekklēsia’ meaning a particular body of faithful people, or the whole body of faithful people. This passage reveals the church belongs to Jesus and also that it is described as a bride. Jesus is in charge of the ‘building’, however, we are all involved in the process as long as we remain submitted to Him. We may have excellence in many areas, but as we gather, it is crucial that we have the presence of God. Everything else fades into insignificance. 

What a wonderful picture it is that we are living stones, parts of the Temple of God, made of people whose lives have been redeemed by Jesus with every one of us having a place in this living temple of God. The whole purpose of us, the church is that God can fill the church with His presence in order to bring His Kingdom into this world. 

Hebrews 10:25 (NLT) states ‘And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near’. Let us come together as living stones and enjoy the presence of God together both collectively as well as in our own time, in our own walk with God. The opportunity for worship, praise, and teaching provides unity of faith and unity of mission within an environment where we can do the greater words that Jesus spoke of.  The later verses of Acts 2 extol the virtues of regular gathering of the faithful believers. Friendships are formed, spiritual growth is enabled, the scriptures unfold as our lives grow in our walk with The Lord.