Biblical Purposes of the Church (Purpose Series 2 of 5)

What do you really envision this church looking like? Because if you think about it, what a church is, is a community of people that are doing these things. If you're going to start getting a vision for this church, it takes on these scenes: You're looking at a community of people worshiping. You're looking at a community of people praying. You're looking at a community of people devoted to the apostles' teaching. That is very visionary for the church itself. You would take the people much more deeply into the biblical foundations here.

I want you just to see what Tim Keller did several years ago, it was not actually widely published. It was a curriculum that he and Alan Thompson and some other leaders at Redeemer many years ago in New York City put together in the early years of Redeemer to help ground the church on these foundational purposes. I put it here as an example, almost like a little appetizer under each one of these to stir you up and to spur you on, and begin thinking about what this will look like. You seize the moment when you see these, and then you begin to think through not only what is this biblically, but what do I anticipate what will be what we'll call the demonstrations of these purposes in my unique ministry focus group, and through my unique giftedness and passions and skills.

Notice Keller, under Worship and Prayer, he writes, "The worship of the early church had corporate form." In verse 42, Paul literally says that they devoted themselves to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Keller believes this is a reference to liturgy, to the service of the Lord's Supper, and to the discipline of the prayers, which were common at that time. He says it wasn't random. There was order. It had both an informal and a formal aspect. This is interesting. It happened both in homes and in the temple courts. He writes, "This surely means there was both informal worship, in the small group, and more formal worship in the large group." Interesting dynamic.

Second concept: Learning and Discipleship. Keller writes, "It was intense. They, again, remember, devoted themselves. Means high commitment to learning. Spirit-filled is not set over against the intellect. It was completely centered on the apostolic teachings. It was not learning in general, but rather the study of God's revelation as it came through the apostles." Already you see a devotion to prayer. You see a worshiping community, informally in homes, and in larger assemblies. You see a devotion to learning. Make sure to couple that with the Great Commission. It's learning to obey. It wasn't just learning doctrine, or learning Bible, or learning theology. But Jesus said to these apostles the apostolic teaching, he said, "Teach them to obey what I commanded you."

Make sure your picture of learning here is not of somebody sitting there lecturing, and somebody else sitting there in a Plato kind of style of learning. It's much more of a Socrates style, much more of a Jesus style. They were devoted to learning how to obey Christ's command. The apostles were teaching them this. The question is, what's that going to look like? What's worship going to look like? What's prayer going to look like? Will you and others really be devoted to it? How will it be demonstrated?

He goes on: "Fellowship was intense. They devoted themselves to fellowship. Community was not something that just happened. They worked at it." What a statement to the spectator church in so much of the world today. They were devoted, not just to learning. They were devoted, not just to prayer. But they were devoted to this concept of koinonia, to this concept of fellowship and deep relationship in the gospel.

Keller writes, "They worked at it. It implies accountability with one another, a sense of responsibility to care and support and guide each other." It was daily. They did not just see each other on Sundays. They were involved in each other's lives, economic as well as spiritual. They had everything in common.

Outreach and evangelism. Their outreach was dynamic. Their conversions were daily.

Mercy and social concern. Their activity integrated both word and deed. Look at verse 44, it seems to indicate that economic sharing was mainly practiced within. This would reflect the Apostle Paul's teaching in Galatians 6:10, for Christians to do good to all, but especially to the household of faith. The concept was, in the church, in the Christian community, the biblical concept is there are no poor. Understand the difference, within the Christian community, within the church, the goal is clear, the elimination of poverty. Outside of the church, it's the alleviation. It's doing what you can to care for the poor. But inside the church it's the elimination of it. That's a significant question in terms of the role of sacrificial giving and the devotion to fellowship. Will it include the elimination of poverty among the covenant people of God?

This is designed to be an actual turning point where you begin to start dreaming of what this church will look like as you begin thinking about demonstrations of these purposes and what they might look like. In this section, we will explore practical ways to demonstrate the 5 priorities in your church, and this will manifest itself in your purpose statement at the end.

Imagine your church when it has reached the place where these purposes are all relatively healthy. What would those ministries look like? Key in on a vision of your church having reached the place that you see your church's devotion to regular worship and prayer as a way of life. What comes to your mind? How do you think that will be demonstrated?

Same thing with the next one: demonstrations of learning. You and the church will be committed to making disciples, this will be Christian education, discipleship, spiritual formation, and committed to developing leaders. This is where leadership development would come under this grid. Demonstrations of this would include; and then as you begin to think of that purpose, what do you anticipate?

I know you're committed to Christ-likeness, developing Christ-likeness in yourself and others. But what about Christ-like ministry patterns, not just personal character? In other words, are you committed to a ministry that is primarily focused on pouring your life into people? Or are you like most church planters and leaders, and the bottom line truth is, you're a program director?

You're a ministry program director. In terms of demonstrating learning and discipleship, and leadership development, you're not following the Master's method. You're not investing your lives in others who will invest their lives in others as a way of life. Here I'm not talking about simply taking people through discipleship programs or curriculum. I'm talking about moving into their lives, doing ministry together, and doing it with intentionality.

Are you like the majority of people in ministry? Are you a program administrator? Or are you following the Master's method? That's an interesting picture, when you think of the demonstration of these purposes that are here.

Then same thing with fellowship and community, as well as outreach and evangelism, and then of course, what about mercy and social justice? Never forget that the church plant, or the church, is meant to be like a kingdom outpost in the domain of darkness, planted in the midst of not only people whose hearts are dark and need the light of the gospel, but societal darkness and crookedness, and injustice, and poverty, that's just increasingly unparalleled. Will you bring good news to the poor? That's an important question.

By the way, the poor are not just homeless people who can't eat. Poor people are people who've had one or more of the four primary relationships in life broken. The relationship with God, that's poverty of spirit. Your relationship with yourself, that's often mental health. Your relationship with others. A homeless person is the ultimate poor person. A lost homeless person, no relationship with God, often mentally ill, often estranged from family, that's why they're homeless, and estranged from their relationship with creation or overworked. They have no work. So they are poor, because all 4 relationships are broken: relationship with God, relationship with themselves, relationship with others, relationship over creation. They don't know God. They don't have work. They don't have relationships. 

Like Calvin said, first sentence in the institute, before you think that's a psychological babble thing, “know yourself,” first sentence in the institute. I don't know which comes first, knowledge of God or knowledge of self. I can't know God without knowing myself. I can't know myself without knowing God. They don't know themselves. Will you bring good news to the poor? If so, what will it look like? How will it be demonstrated?

I just want you to just take five quick stops, worship and prayer, learning and discipleship, fellowship, evangelism, mercy. Just get a little glimpse, five quick glimpses of what you think a demonstration might look like. Grab one or two other people, and just simply talk through these five areas and say, "Here's what I envision."