The Church
The Church. What is the purpose of the church and its members?
Caleb Oliva brought the first of a two part message to us at the beginning of the month, covering three of the 5 major functions he believes make up the church, both the building and the members.
The first major function of the church is Training, something that is often accompanied with learning. In 1 Peter 3:15 we are told to be ready and able to defend our faith. It is the duty of the church to teach its members not only what we believe, but why we believe it and how to defend it. This starts in our youth classes with scripture memory, and continues with our adults, preparing us to be able to stand against the enemy's temptations and the pressure from this world. We live in a time where many will come against us, questioning what we believe, and it is important that we are able to stand firm in the scriptures. Pastors need to make sure that they are giving proper and accurate teaching in the scripture, and it is the job of the congregation to take that teaching in, and to apply it to our lives. We need to not only be able to read the Word, but also be able to understand the Word so that we can live in it.
It is also important for us to know Yahshua. John 14:6 tells us that no one comes to the Father except through Him, and it is through the teaching of the Word that we find that Yahshua is the Bible come to life (John 1). He is the fulfillment of the Word.
The next major function of the church is Worship. The church as a building is a symbol for Yahweh’s presence. We see examples of this throughout the scripture with the Tabernacle in the wilderness, and later in the Temple. It is a place where we can leave the worries of the world at the door and come fully into the presence of Yahweh and worship Him. We know that we can worship anywhere, but having a place set apart shows the reverence that we have for Yahweh, that we would remove all distraction and circumstance, and come lay ourselves at the feet of Yahshua in worship. We are blessed to be able to live in a country where we are free to worship Yahweh publicly as a community, singing our praises loudly and without shame. In Revelation 7 we see a glimpse of what worship will be like in heaven, and we are able to have a sample of that here on the earth by coming together to worship our Creator. We rejoice ALWAYS, praying without ceasing, and in EVERYTHING we give thanks! (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) We are one people coming together in the presence of Yah!
The third major function of the church is Community. We are not meant to go through life alone. We see this even in Creation, when Yahweh saw Adam alone with the animals and He recognized the need for companionship and in turn made Eve, Many of us are part of different communities online and in person where we can reach out when life is hard. We are to build a community where we live life with each other. We see this example in Yahshua with the disciples. They did everything with each other while following Yahshua. Paul also had many individuals that he kept close to him as he traveled to the different churches. We are here to bear each other's burdens (Galatians 6:2), to confess to one another and pray for each other (James 5:16), and to make each other better (Proverbs 27:17). We are able to encourage one another when things in life are hard, showing support and helping where needed.
We are one body in Yahshua, and we don’t want any part of that body to fall away or be cut off. We are to care for each part so that we can be strong and healthy in Yahweh. We look forward to hearing what the final two functions of the church are when Caleb speaks next.
We are so grateful for the community of New Beginnings Church. This month has been particularly hard for so many of us, and without the support we have in each other it would have been almost unbearable. If you are in need of a church family that loves Yahweh, and that truly shows up for each other, we would love to see you and bring you into our family.
We meet on Saturdays (Sabbath) at 2 pm.
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