WHAT KIND OF CHURCH IS GOD’S CHURCH TO BE?

 

The only kind of church that will continue to impact the world for Jesus is the kind of church that impacted the world in the first century. In looking into the first century church, we find the kind of church God wants us to be today. To be this, there are several characteristics we need to adopt.

 

1)    WE MUST BE A CHURCH WHOSE PRIMARY CONCERN IS REACHING PEOPLE FOR JESUS.

This is the passion of God. We can see this in passages such as John 3:16, 17 and 1 John 2:2. Jesus had a mission to bring the love of God to people and people to God. We now have that same mission (2 Cor. 5:16-20). This mission must be our passion. We must desire others to experience and embrace His saving, healing and delivering power. We must live out God’s passion by obeying both the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. We must passionately be the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

 

2)    WE MUST BE A CHURCH COMPLETELY COMMITTED TO THE LORDSHIP OF JESUS.

The clear message of the early church is also ours, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)  The book of Acts emphasizes the Lordship of Jesus no less than 110 times. The early church was committed to this. And so must we be. JESUS IS LORD! Only commitment to the Lordship of Jesus gives us the kind of commitment necessary to change the world.

 

3)    WE MUST BE A CHURCH MADE UP OF COMPLETELY ACTIVATED MEMBERS.

In the early church we see no indication of the idea that only the ordained clergy should engage in ministry. The people were encouraged to spread the good news and use their spiritual gifts to build the Church and change the world. Ministry was a shared function; each one doing their part, but each one doing something. If we are to be effective, we must be doing the same.

 

4)    WE MUST BE A CHURCH WITH AN INTENSE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT.

The early church has a continual pattern of being filled and refilled with the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:4; 4:31; 15:52) The early church was a church where the people were imbued with the power and presence of the Spirit. They experienced supernatural power because they were devoted to prayer, fasting, spiritual gifts and faith. We must be the same way. We too must be a people of the Spirit so that the Spirit will move in and through us.

 

My prayer is that the Holy Spirit that fell on the Day of Pentecost mentioned in Acts will fall on us anew, be released in us afresh and move through us all!

Have a blessed Season of Pentecost!

Fr. David A. Barrett