Garden City Church of Christ - The church! Its Work

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The church! Its Work

Matt. 20:1; 21:28

Introduction
1. God designed the church, established it on earth (Matt. 16:18, and gave it a work to do.
2. This work is a divine work, because the church is a divine institution.
3. The vineyard is a place of work and the church, being likened to it, shows that it, too is a place of work. What is the work of the church of Christ?
1. The work of evangelism
  1. Man is lost in sin and the gospel is the only power to save - Rom. 1:16
  2. Thus, God expects the gospel to be preached - Mark 16:15- 1 Cor. 1:21
  3. The church is the pillar and ground of the truth. I Tim. 3:15
  4. In what ways did the church evangelize the world?
    1. Sent preachers to preach - Acts 13:1-3
    2. Sounded forth the word - I Thess. 1:8
    3. Financial support was supplied by churches to the preachers of the gospel.
      1. churches of Macedonia - 2 Cor. 11:8,9
      2. church at Philippi - Phil. 4:15-16
  5. The church in a period of about 30 years was missionary minded and as the result, preached the gospel to every creature under heaven- Col. 1:23
2. The work of edification
  1. The church is to develop its own spiritual strength by edification - Eph. 4:16
    1. In God's arrangement, He set offices in the church for the equipping of perfecting of the saints. Eph. 4:11-12
      1. apostles and prophets revealed the truth - Eph. 3:5
      2. evangelists proclaimed the truth - 2 Tim. 4:2
      3. pastors (elders) are to see to it that the truth is taught in the church - Acts 20:28-31
    2. By faithful teaching of the truth, saints will be perfected to do the work of the ministry (service) and the building of the body of Christ.
  2. The reason that God has done this is that Christians are to be mature and stable in life. Eph 4:13-14
  3. Congregations should be committed to developing itself to the extent its members can:
    1. teach others - 2 Tim. 2:2, Heb. 5:12-14
    2. have love knowledge and discernment - Phil. 1:9
    3. grow in faith and abounding in love toward one another - 2 Thess. 1:3
    4. resist the devil and all of his devices - James 4:7, 1 Peter 5:9, 2 Cor. 2:11
3. Work of benevolence
  1. Some have misconceptions concerning this work - is it general or limited?
  2. The pattern for the work of benevolence is clearly shown to be limited
    1. Jerusalem relieved destitute saints - Acts 2:44-45; 4:32-35; "all who believed" "those who believed"
    2. Needs of widows - Acts 6:1-6 "numbered with the disciples"
    3. Church at Antioch - Acts 11:27-30 "to the brethren"
    4. Church at Rome - Romans 15:25-26 "to the saints"
  3. We can clearly see that when a need arose among the people of God, the church helped in accordance with their ability -Acts 11:29
4. Things that do not constitute the work of the church!
  1. Social reform - the church is not a social institution. Does not preach the "social gospel." Rom. 14:17
  2. Recreational activities - for the church to be involved in recreation for the young or old is foreign to the purpose of the Lord's church.
  3. Business ventures - the church is not in the money making business. We are taught how to raise our money - I Cor. 16:1-2; 2 Cor. 9:6,7
  4. Secular education - the church is to teach the Bible, not math, English, science, etc.
  5. Domestic relations - though the word of God is to be preached dealing with all problems, the church is not a center for counselling on marital problems, mental and emotional disturbances, economical hardships, parent-child problems.
Conclusion
1. Let us respect the divine pattern for the work of the church that is revealed in the NT.
2. Furthermore, let us energetically get involved in the work God has assigned the church to do. Doing nothing is no better than doing the wrong thing.

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The church! Its Work

Matt. 20:1; 21:28