Worksheet
• Hebrew 10:24-25; Psalms 111:1; Romans 12:5; Acts 2:42; Ephesians 4:11-14
• Ecclesiology is the study of the nature, ordinance, ministry, mission, and government of the church.
• We have our local church (SFC) and we are part of a larger body (Foursquare), and we are part of the Church as a whole. For this reason, we are interdenominational. Our goal is to see people come into relationship with Jesus Christ. We believe in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) and what Jesus asked of us in Acts 1:8.
The Mission of the Church
A. Preaching and Teaching
The primary mission of the church is declared in the Great Commission, which Jesus gave to the apostles before His ascension.
Preaching is the recruiting and motivating ministry of the church; teaching is the maturing ministry. Through preaching, new babes are born into God’s family; through teaching, the babes are matured from milk to strong meat. It could be said that the church’s work is twofold: winning and weaning (see 1 Cor. 3:1-2; Heb. 5:12-14).
B. Discipling
The Great Commission in Matthew’s gospel charged the church to go and teach all nations (28:19)
A central mission of the church is that of discipling all nations. Discipling is more than just teaching. Discipling occurs when truth is not only taught but lived out. It is possible to tell others how to be victorious, but the one who disciples shows others how to live a victorious life by example.
The great strength of the local church is its Christian community life. All learn from one another, draw strength from one another and grow together in Spirit-filled, discipling Christian communities.
C. Fellowship
A mission of the church is to sustain the fellowship of believers. The early church was rich in fellowship: “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship…” (Acts 2:42).
Greek word for fellowship is koinonia, which means “communion or that which is had in common or shared.” The passage in Acts goes on to define fellowship: “Now all who believed were together and had all things in common…” (Acts 2:44).
Koinonia has a deeper meaning than what we typically give it today (special events, games, food). John explains it well, “…that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ…If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:3, 6-7).”
D. Worship
Jesus said that the Father seeks the worship of those who will worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23). An important mission of the church is to promote and sustain an atmosphere conducive to worship, prayer, and praise.
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light… (1 Peter 2:9).
It is one of the works of the Holy Spirit to assist the believer in prayer, intercession, worship, and praise: “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Rom. 8:26).
An important aid in worship for Spirit-filled believers is their prayer language, by which they can worship God more deeply, fully, and completely than they can by the sole means of the human intellect.
E. Missions and Evangelism
The Great Commission implies world evangelization. Jesus intended that the gospel should be carried beyond Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria. The gospel is good news for all nations, even “to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8).
F. Maturity of the Believer
The church has not completed her mission with making converts. A great part of the New Testament pertains to teaching, edifying, and maturing the believer.
“And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ…”(Eph. 4:11-15, NASB).
The Bible speaks of developing growth and maturity through the following means:
1) Prayer (Col. 4:12)
2) The Word of God (1 Peter 2:2; Col. 1:28)
3) The Exercise of Faith (1 Thess. 3:10)
4) Patience in Testing (James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 1:7)
5) Love (1 Thess. 1:3; Col. 3:14; 1 John 2:5; 4:12)
6) Grace (2 Peter 3:18)
7) Christian Works (Heb. 13:21)
8) Spiritual Gifts (Rom. 1:11; Heb. 6:1; 1 Cor. 3:1-2; 2 Tim. 2:15).
Foundations of Pentecostal Theology, Guy P. Duffield & Nathaniel M. Van Cleave
ARTICLE XVI: CHURCH RELATIONSHIP (red line)
We believe that having accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Savior and King, and having thus been born into the family and invisible body or church of the Lord, it is the sacred duty of the believer, whenever this lies within his power, to identify himself with, and labor most earnestly for the upbuilding of God’s kingdom with the visible church of Christ upon the earth; and that such visible church is a congregation of believers, who have associated themselves together in Christian fellowship and in the unity of the Spirit, observing the ordinances of Christ, worshiping Him in the beauty of holiness, speaking to each other in psalms, and hymns and spiritual songs, reading and proclaiming His Word, laboring for the salvation of souls, giving their temporal means to carry on His work, edifying, encouraging, establishing one another in the most holy faith, and working harmoniously together as dear children who are many members, but one body of which Christ is head. (Ps. 111:1; Heb. 10:24,25; Acts 2:47, 16:5; Rom. 12:5-8; Mal. 3:16-17)
Take a few minutes to write you own sentence.
Questions and Scripture
Do you feel it is important for a believer to identify with and join themselves to a local church? Why or Why not?
Why do you think some people believe in Jesus, but choose not to be part of the church? What would they tell you?
What is the mission of the church?
What is your role and responsibility within the church body? Is the great commission just for pastors?