Begin

11/11/12

What is Church?

Opening Prayer

Lord, we come to you today and ask you to join us on this new journey called Naked Sunday. As we meet together in our individual communities, help each of us to feel your presence. As you bring us together; whether in homes, churches or small groups, bring more people together in unity through our sharing of what we experience. Lord, build real communities that have strong foundations of love, authenticity and openness. Help us to truly be “naked” in relationships with one another. Help us to live in this world as Your Son Jesus Christ. Through Your Spirit, let others see Him in our actions, hear Him in our words and feel Him in our presence.

Amen

Song

Before we begin, let’s join together in worshiping God through music and song! 

Click on the “Listen” tab for music selection that will help your community enter into God’s presence.

Message

What is “church”? Sounds like a pretty basic question, right? “The church is a building where Christians get together for worship.” might be one answer. “The church is just a group of religious, right wing fundamentalist hypocrites, following an imaginary god!” might be another response. “The Church is the Body of Christ. The collective gathering of Christians all over the world.” might be yet another conclusion. So, what’s the answer? Is it just a building, and if so, is it filled with hypocrites following a false god? Is it a place in which we gather together to worship God? Is it something we do, something we are or is it something more? Something greater?

Believe it or not, this is one of the most common questions within Christian communities today; one that is filled with misinterpretation and controversy, and one that doesn’t exactly have one simple answer. As we begin this new journey of "Naked Sunday", what better topic to explore than the concept of “church”, from where it evolved, its definition and what God has to say about it.  

   It’s important for us to remember a few things before we get started. First of all, this is not intended to be an exhaustive study of the Church, but more devotional, thought provoking and discussion based. Also, remember that when we talk about the church, the discussion can revolve around: The “local church” and the “Universal Church”. The local church is the community that we meet with in the places that we live; our neighborhood churches, both traditional and modern or even home based churches. The Universal Church is something bigger and includes all of us. It’s the spiritual and mystical manifestation of these local communities all over the world. Followers of Jesus Christ, in every nation, city and town are spiritually united together in an organic “Body”: The Body of Christ. The “Church”. 

The purest definition of the English word “church” comes from a Greek word, “ekklésia”. Basically, it just means a local “assembly”, “congregation” or “church”. It’s also the Church, or the entire community of Christ followers everywhere. The word comes from root words that mean “out from”, “to” and “call to”. So you can think of the church as simply people called out from the material or physical world and spiritually drawn to God, the outcome being the Church; the mystical Body of Christ. So when we hear the word “church”, a much broader definition can apply than just a building, gathering or denomination. We can see that the Church can be more of an organism; a living breathing thing and followers of Jesus are all part of this organic Body. 

  Click on the “Read” tab to take a look at Matthew 16:16-18.

 This is how it all got started. Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples, finally realizes who Jesus really is; the Son of God. Jesus puts everything together and basically says, “You got it! You know who I am and here’s what’s going to happen. Everyone needs to know this and you, Peter, are going to be one of the main people to tell my story! When I’m gone, you’re it! The Church! A bigger, stronger and more powerful group of people than the world around you!” The truths of God’s Kingdom needed to continue after Jesus died and the Church was going to be the vehicle to get that message out. Jesus wouldn’t be able to do it as a physical man anymore, so “the Church” became His "Body”

Ephesians 1:22-23 essentially says it all. Click on “Read” and take a look.

  We can see from these words that Christ is why the Church exists. He’s the head of this organic and spiritual Body. We’re His Body, but without all of our focus on Him and His Kingdom, we’re nothing. We find fullness in this world through Him because He’s everything. A lot of people say that God is everywhere and in everything, and in many ways this is very true. When we see the world through God’s eyes, we see that his view, his Kingdom, his idea of what the world is supposed to be all about, is all that matters. We find real life in God and in his Body; a community of people that follow him. Without that, we’re just like amputated limbs; unhealthy, void of life.

Someone once said, “We don’t go to church, we are the Church”. This is why Naked Sunday is church. The Church is something more than just a location. When we join together, individually or in our own communities, we make up the Church. Yes, the church is a building, a gathering place and something we do on Sundays, but there is so much more to the Church. When we look at the much broader definition, and see that the church has a more spiritual existence, we see that we are part of something bigger; something mystical and supernatural. 

Regardless of how alone we might feel in this world, we can be encouraged in knowing that reality is quite the opposite. When we suffer and struggle through life, we can find strength in knowing that others share our pain. For when even a small figure feels pain, the entire body suffers. And consequently, when we feel joy and pleasure, the whole body feels the same. We are part of a living breathing body, made of people all over the world that follow Jesus Christ. We are unified by a spiritual connection that is really more real than our personal relationships. By God’s Spirit, he has placed us together in this world to share community. The Church is the vehicle that enables us to unite in this community.       

Theologian Henri Nouwen said, “Jesus is the Christ appearing among us to reveal God’s love, and the Church is his people called together to make his presence visible in today’s world. Would we have recognized Jesus as the Christ if we had met him many years ago? Are we able to recognize him today in his body, the Church?”

As we end our time together, let us go with the knowledge of what the Church really is, and the great responsibility that lies in our hands as the Body of Christ. 

Closing Prayer

Lord, we thank you for this time to join together as one. Let us go about this week with the deep understand that we are your Body, living and breathing in this world. And let the world see you living through us in complete unity.

Amen

As you go, go with the inner peace that God wants for each one of us, and may your communities be filled with his overwhelming peace as well!  

May the Lord bless you, may he keep you, and may he give you peace!

Reflect

Click on the "Reflection" tab for a suggested prayer for your community and selected questions for discussion.

See you next Sunday!