Lord’s Day Message: Basic Lessons for Christians (8) – Knowing the Church
After being saved a Christian does not only have a close personal relationship with the Lord. God does desire to put Christians into a group, the church, that Christians can support each other to love the Lord, to seek the leading of the Spirit, and together to worship God and express Him!
A. The meaning of the church
- The meaning of the Greek word – ekklesia, the called-out assembly
- The church is related with the calling of God to separate us from the world to Him
- The church is a congregation, an assembly
- It is to express God’s wisdom in His external purpose and plan (Eph. 3:9-11)
9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, 10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, (Eph.3:9-11)
- It begins with the revelation of Jesus being the Christ and bearing the responsibility of fighting (Mat.16:16-19)
- The foundation of Church begins with our confessing of Jesus as Christ. The church is not founded in any human interests, ideas or the same identity.
16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered 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 tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Mat.16:16-19)
- It is the object of Christ’s love and work (Eph.5:23-27)
- We should treasure the love of Christ and let the work of Christ to be done upon us
23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. 25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. (Eph.5:23-27)
B. The metaphors of the church and their meaning
- The body of Christ (Eph.1:22-23, 4:15-16; 1Cor.12:12-13; Col.2:19)
- The body is the fullness and expression of Christ
- It focuses on the oneness and receiving of all believers
22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. (Eph.1:22-23)
12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body–Jews or Greeks, slaves or free–and all were made to drink of one Spirit. (1Cor.12:12-13)
- The bride of Christ (Eph.5:25, 31-32; 2Cor.11:2)
- It describes the close relationship between the church and Christ
- The church should match Christ
31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. (Eph.5:31-32)
For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. (2Cor.11:2)
- The household of God (1Tim.3:15; Eph.2:19-22)
- It is a place God and man can find rest
- It is also a place to uphold and testify the truth
if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. (1Tim.3:15)
19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (Eph.2:19-22)
Message Next Week: The Church Life
Church Meetings/Time/Place
Home Meeting: 11/7 Mon., 7:30pm, (7:00 dinner) Richard & Flora’s
Pursuing of Uni Students: 12/7 Tue. 4:00pm, Cancelled
Sisters Meeting: 13/7 Wed. 10:00am, Lena’s
Prayer Meeting: 13/7 Wed. 7:30pm, Meeting Hall
Pursuing of Words: 15/7 Fri., 8:00pm, David’s
Young People Meeting/Home meeting for Adults：
16/7 Sat. 7:30pm, Thomas & Lena’s
Announcements:
- We welcome all the new ones who are joining us today and hope that you can leave your information for us to contact you in the future. After meeting please stay for lunch and enjoy the love feast together with us.
- At the moment the children service is mainly served by the young people. However, for the practical need, we would like to have one adult as a supervisor to help them. If any brother or sister is willing to serve, please contact Sister Jessica Chao. (Same with Kitchen service)
- On August 7, the church will have an English speaking gospel meeting that the hymns, testimonies and message will be prepared by young people and English speaking saints. Please support it in our prayer and invite our friends to come.
- The church will have a Spring Conference from October 1 to 3 (Sat. to Mon.) and will invite Brother Titus Chu to share the messages. Please remember this in our prayer. For practical serving, Brother Patrick Li will be the coordinator, but we hope many brothers and sisters can work with him.
<Reminder>
- Brothers and sisters, please bring your own bible to the meeting.
- Please come on time for the meeting. During the meeting, please turn off your mobile phone or put the volume on silence and not to walk around or to wonder in the kitchen.
- When you prepare the love feast for Lord’s Day lunch, please do not prepare any food containing nuts as someone may have food allergy.
Please refrain from bringing uncooked food for the love feast so we may lighten the work for the serving ones in the kitchen.
Recently many more have been joining us for lunch, so we ask that everyone could help to prepare and bring more food.
After the love feast, please remember to bring back your plates.
Intercession:
- Pray for the Basic Lessons for Christians in the coming Lord’s Day meetings that every brother and sister can receive the life supply and grow stably in the Lord.
- Pray for the gospel work of the church and may the Lord keep us fervent in spirit to preach the gospel. Pray that the Lord will bless the gospel friends to believe into the Lord and to be baptized into God’s family.
- Pray for those who are baptized this year (Brothers David Hu, Gerald Huang, Bangde Liu and Peter Zhang, and sisters, Li Li, Mandy Zhou, Leonie, and Berry Fei) May the Lord establish them in the church life and bless their growth in life.
- Pray for the brothers and sisters or their relatives (Richard Chen’s Father) who are weak in body or spirit. May the Lord care for them and give them sufficient grace. Pray especially for the health of Brothers HinSang Woon and Brother Shanwon Chow.
- Pray for those year 12 students among us. May the Lord give them wisdom to meet the needs of the exam and help them to know His presence as their encouragement and timely help.
Serving This Week: (July 10)
- Message: David Tan & Yulin Wang
- Breaking the Bread: Richard Chen & Jason Wang
- Serving Bread and Cup: Olsen Yu, Sam Li, Patrick Li & Chuan Ma
- Cleaning: Sam & Hannah Family, Tina & Fiona Jiang, Patrick & Lily Family, Baoling Lei
- Kitchen: Anne & Lydia
- Children: Supervisor – Lily, Singing – Combined, Teachers – Angela/Tina
Serving Next Week: (July 17)
- Message: Richard Chen & Patrick Li
- Breaking the Bread: Shanwon Chow & Olsen Yu
- Serving Bread and Cup: Richard Cui, Jason Wang, Benchu Guo & Sean Dong
- Cleaning: Richard & Flora Family, Lydia, Olsen & Likun Family, Pauline Zhang
- Kitchen: Susan & Terri
- Children: Supervisor – Hannah, Singing – Sarah/Vasya, Teachers – Jono/Pris
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