Organized Church

 

    Church is not about programs or gimmicks to get people to come.  It is not about getting rich or a scheme.  Church is about people coming together to worship God, serve one another, and live life together.  

    There is a lot a pressure to always have programs going to keep people's attention.  There is nothing wrong with programs, but they do take up a lot of time and can wear the core people out.  If the church could find their way back to the basics, then I think God could really show up.  We need to focus on teaching God's complete word, fellowship, meals together, and prayer.

    The church should be led by a group of gifted men with the pastor at the lead.  In the first church the order was the apostles, prophets, evangelist, then pastors and teachers.  Today the pastors of the different community churches should come together to pray over their communities and hold each other accountable, like the apostles did.  The prophets and evangelist are the church leaders, then the teachers are the face of the church for many.

    God gives people gifts to equip the church.  We all have a purpose in the church.  If we all work together equally in our purpose driven areas, then the church will be strong and grow naturally as the body of Christ.

    The church needs elders and overseers.  These are men that are the leaders and guardians of the church.  The elders are blameless witnesses.  Originally they witnessed Jesus' death and resurrection.  Now they witness the persecution of the church and see what is happening in the community while staying blameless.  They are mature Christians able to shepherd God's flock.  They are responsible for submitting and obeying God's leadership.  They watch over the church and give an account.

    The Overseers are now normally referred to as deacons.  They hold many of the same characteristics and responsibilities as the elders; however, their role is servant to the church.  They minister to the needs of the church members.  

    The church body are all the members of the church.  The church body is called to come together.  The teachers are the one's that lead us through God's Word to find instruction.  They teach us how to observe God's Word in our daily lives.  Everyone else in the church needs to focus on growing their relationship with God and caring for each other.  The roles are determined by how you choose to live over time, but we are all responsible for sharing God's good news.

    As a church, if we are not doing this, then we are failing as a church body.  If we focus on living a Godly life together, then we will not need so many programs to fill the time and draw each other in.  We will be living life together.  That means we won't have to work to hard to know each other.  It will come more naturally.  

Acts 2:42-47, 1 Corinthians 9:13-16, 12:22-26, Galatians 6:4-6, Ephesians 4:11-13, 1 Timothy 3:1-13, Titus 1:5-9, Hebrew 10:23-25, 13:7-17, & 1 Peter 5:1-4