Why do we have six weekly worship services at Calvary (four on Sunday)? Why do we take mission trips to the interior of Mexicoand China and Africa? Why don’t we do more for the needy in our own town? Why do we still have Adult Bible Fellowships (Sunday School) on Sunday mornings? Why do we go to church on Wednesday nights? Why do we have Church Business Meetings and what do we do at these meetings? Why, why, why ...
The answers to these questions are important and key to the direction of any church. Change for the sake of change is not healthy. We want to be purposeful and strategic in all we do. Most of all, we want to follow God. I am convinced that the heart of the answer to these questions is found in an understanding of the purpose and nature of the church. Until we have a fixed and common image in our minds of what the church is (nature) and what the church does (purpose) we will always be in confusion as to why we do the things we do, the way we do them.
So, in order to answer all these "whys" I feel that we need to spend a considerable amount of time discussing the nature and work of the church. Once we have a solid and common understanding of that, the rest of the questions will be answered rather naturally and quickly.
There are four major motifs that the Biblical writers use when describing the church. In no particular order they are: Agriculture, Organics/Familial, Military, and Athletics. The theme of construction or building is used to a lesser degree. In order to understand the nature and role of the church we must examine each of these motifs in their context and then attempt to synthesize them into one overarching concept of the church. This may take a while, but be patient and stay with me. Anything worth having takes time and work.
In my next BLOG I will begin with the biblical motif of "agriculture." Stay tuned ...
Blessings,
pastor ellis
Comments