As we gather this week, we must realize that these sessions on the “Church” are not meant to condemn, or glorify any specific church of believers. The intention is to understand the varying aspects of what the Bible refers to church. We should not just check the box if our local church is playing a role of the church without us, or in compartmental aspects. It is a wholeness check for us, and the community we associated with. If you are not engaged in a church as a whole, not just casually striding in and relying on others to be the church for you, seek one out. Your life can be more robust in a healthy, biblical church.

We are on earth to continue the mission that Jesus left for us “Go and make disciples of all nations”. But we can’t do that on our own, nor are we expected to. God tells us to work together with the Christians He has placed in our lives to bring His healing and transformation into the life of the world. His plan of redemption involves the church working in unity (not individually or by proxy) to reach the people around.

A biblical church is more than just a gathering of people reading the Bible.

Inside the church we should be devoting ourselves to the members of our church body. We have a responsibility to challenge one another, to love one another, and to serve one another in a variety of ways.

We don’t love and serve the Christians around us solely to maintain healthy churches. God’s plan is bigger than that.

Amazingly our reading this week was aligned with a the Sunday message on being a light to the world. Matthew 5:14-16

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. – Matthew 5:14-16 NIV

As Francis Chan points out, “We live in the midst of a threatening environment, but we are more like a lighthouse than a bomb shelter.

Would you say that your church is more inwardly focused or outwardly focused? Why do you say that?

It is about love. Not just love of God or even for ourselves, but for the world. If we have the love of God in us, our lives purpose should change from inwardly to outwardly. Jesus told His disciples that they should look different because of their love.

¹ If I speak in the tongues ⁿ of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, ^u but do not have love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. – 1 Corinthians 13 – NIV

Would you say that the life of your church is characterized by love? Why or why not?

What steps can you take to be an example of love in your church? Whether you are an official leader in your church or not, how can you lead others in being move loving?

We need to always keep in mind that Jesus focus is not limited to his followers and believers, but the world, specifically the lost. He never intended our lives and relationships to be hidden, private or reserved.

As we read the following chapter of John 17, pay close attention to Jesus’ desire for His followers.

¹ After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. ² For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. ³ Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. ⁴ I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. ⁵ And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

Jesus Prays for His Disciples

⁶ “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. ⁷ Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. ⁸ For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. ⁹ I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. ¹⁰ All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. ¹¹ I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. ¹² While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

¹³ “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. ¹⁴ I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. ¹⁵ My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. ¹⁶ They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. ¹⁷ Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸ As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. ¹⁹ For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

Jesus Prays for All Believers

²⁰ “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, ²¹ that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²² I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—²³ I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

²⁴ “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

²⁵ “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. ²⁶ I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.” – John 17 – NIV

Would you say that your church could be characterized by this kind of unity that Jesus was demonstrating? Why or why not?

Think about your church and your unique cultural setting. What would it take for your church to be united, and for that unity to be displayed to the unbelieving world?

How often do we share our faith or been asked about our faith?  This is not something to side step or ignore. It is a vital part of our relationship with Jesus.

¹³ Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? ¹⁴ But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, ¹⁵ but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, ¹⁶ having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. – 1 Peter 3:13-16 ESV

Do you ever feel like a salesperson when sharing your faith? What steps can you take to change this?

What would it mean for your church to live as a compelling community – a group of people who demonstrate love, unity, and hope in such a way that the unbelieving world is compelled to find out what is going on?

When we read the New Testament, we need to realize that the church is a special body, with a special relationship to God. Like the Old Testament where Israel was a special nation, divinely connected to God, so it is in the New Testament with the church.

You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. – 1 Peter 2:9 ESV

We have to grasp this reality of who we are. It should not be ignored and it would be tragic if we did not embrace it. The church has been called out of the darkness into the light to share the hope and offering of Jesus to the dark world.

⁴ As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—⁵ you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house  to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶ For in Scripture it says:

“See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”  ⁷ Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”  ⁸ and, “A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.”  They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.

⁹ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Living Godly Lives in a Pagan Society

¹¹ Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. ¹² Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.  – 1 Peter 2:4-12  NIV

How should Peter’s description of our calling as the church affect the way we think about and interact with our surrounding community?

If we are not blessing the world around us to give glory to God, we are ignoring God’s mission statement. We have to remember that we have a role to play in God’s redemption plan. We should feel honored to know that God has a plan for our church and to involve us.

What are some of your closing thoughts on the “Local Church” and what you may have gotten out of this session in Multiply this week?

As we close, let’s spend some time in prayer. God’s calling for our church is too important to neglect, and it’s too important to take on without the power of the Spirit. Ask God to so fill the life of our church with His Spirit that your community notices a difference. Ask Him to equip us, and specifically each of us, for the role He has called us to play in HIs plan of redemption.

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If you have not been using the daily reading devotionals to be in scripture during the week as we read each chapter, it is highly recommended as it goes in a supporting factor over our weekly reading of Multiply.  Here is this weeks devotionals:

Psalm 67
1 Peter 1
1 Peter 2
1 Peter 3
1 Peter 4
1 Peter 5

This weeks supporting video…

The New International Version. (2011). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.