The Church in God’s Plan of Redemption

  1. Bob -The word “church” means so many different things to different people. Some people think one church is as good as another. You’ve all seen the sign, “Go to the church of your choice”…The correct saying should be…go to the church of God’s choice. In the last lesson, we saw Christ’s teaching about baptism. We learned that Baptism is the point where we get INTO Christ. Baptism is where we contact the saving Blood of Christ.
  1. What does baptism do for us? Where does it place us?
  1. It places us among the saved (Mk 16:15,16)
  2. It makes us NEW creatures (II. Cor. 5:17)
  3. It makes us a Christian
  4. It adds us to the Church (Acts 2:47)
  1. What IS the Church?
  1. What do you think of when you hear the word “church”?
  1. A Building
  2. Denomination
  1. Christians are called “the Church”
  2. What are some of the terms that Christians are called”
  1. Saints (Rom. 1:7)
  2. Disciples or Follower of Christ (Acts 20:7)
  3. Priests (I. Pet. 2:5, 9)
  4. Brethren (Gal. 6:1)
  5. Children of God (I. John 3: 2)
  6. Of course we are called Christians because it simply means “one who belongs to Christ”.
  7. The word “Christian is only used three times in the Bible. And the disciples were called Christians in Antioch. (Acts 11:26)
  8. A Group of Christians in a locality is also called “the Church”. Examples: “Acts 8:1 says, “The church which was at Jerusalem”, Acts 13: 1 says, “The church that was at Antioch”, and I. Cor. 1:2 mentions “The church of God which is as Corinth.” These were congregations of Christians in each community much like today.
  1. Also, we have the term “The Universal Body of Christ” which refers to AllpeopleofAllnations who are Christians. Anyone who will hear the Gospel and obey it will be a member of the Lord’s Church.
  1. The church is an INSTITUTION ordained by God and purchased by or belonging to Christ. Once the church was established, He is described as the head of His Church. (Eph. 5:23) “For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church.” It exists and He is its head.
  1. It’s also called Christ’s Kingdom and it came into existence in the first century. The Church came into being with supernatural power.
  1. It’s also called the “Body of Christ”. It is His spiritual body.
  1. It’s called the “Bride of Christ” (Rom. 7:4)
  1. Bill- The New Testament Church is NOT a Denomination
  1. Christ built ONEChurch (Mt. 16:18)
  2. “There is ONEbody (Eph. 4:4) What is the Body? The Church.
  1. God HATES denominationalism. What IS a denomination?
  1. Division of religion or a sect.
  2. The world uses the word “sect” as a derogatory term applied to anyreligion it sees as “non-traditional.” This is why the Lord’s Church was called a “sect” in the first century. (Act. 24:14) The same charges are made against It today throughout the world.
  1. One word to help in understanding of the word “denomination” is “denominator”. Or Divider.
  1. Christ identifies denominationalism as SIN! (Gal. 5:19-21 READ).
  1. Why are there so many different religions today? God prophesied that it would occur in II. Thess. 2:3-12. This passage talks about a falling away from the Truth.
  1. In denominationalism, manexaltshimself as God in his own life.
  1. The source of denominationalism is Satan who tempts man to leave Christ and exalt his own ways. Just like in the Garden.
  1. People began to change God’s Will
  1. One elder was exalted above the others and called the “bishop”
  2. Ultimately this led to the hierarchy of Roman Catholicism.
  3. Some people started Sprinkling for baptism
  4. Observing Holy Days and other incorrect ways of practicing their religion.
  1. How can people get so far off the truth? Easy, if all of your life you had been taught that one thing is really something else you can get confused. For example; if you were taught the rules and method of playing hockey but were always told that it was baseball you would be confused if you ever saw the rule book for baseball. The same thing holds true today. 2000 years ago, Christ gave us the rule book for His Church. In the past 2000 years man has altered Christ’s teaching in every possible way.
  1. How can we today be a part of the Church that Christ established? Simply follow His rule book, The New Testament.
  1. What about Worship?
  1. God wants to be Worshipped and He wants to be worshipped in Spirit and in Truth (John 4:24)
  1. What does Worship in Spirit mean? It simply refers to our attitude when we worship. Worship is an act that pays honor to God. The word means “kiss toward” or “bow before”.
  1. Worship is what YOU give. It is not a “spectator concept”. It is notentertainment where we ask ourselves what we will get out of it. It is what YOU Give. It is an outpouring of your love to God.
  1. What is “Worship in Truth”? It is worshipping God the way He has directed. Lev. 10:17 talks about Nadab and Abihu. These men were sons of Aaron. They offered “strange fire” upon the altar of God. God immediately sentfire and consumed them because the fire they used didn’t come from where God said it should. Some people might say “fire is fire no matter where it comes from.” However, God had commanded them to obtain fire from one certain spot. The point is this…God expects man to follow His laws about worship: if man does not obey, his worship will be rejected.
  1. Traits of Truthful worship are:
  1. God alone must be worshipped
  2. Worship as He commanded
  3. Worship when He commanded (first day of the week)
  4. We should worship at every opportunity we have together.
  5. We are to partake of the Lord’s Supper with unleavened bread and fruit of the vine.
  6. We are to Pray
  7. We are to preach and study the Bible
  8. We are to give
  9. We are to sing. (There are nine verses in the New Testament that mention music in worship. The command is to SING.
  10. We are to remember the greatness of God, His authority and His right to tell us how He wants to be worshipped.