By: Ken Ference
July 22, 2018
Besides the obvious reason we are here, why are we here? Let us think about it for a moment.
Why are we here? The question seems simple to answer. We are here because we want to be here. Still, the big question is why are we here? Is it because we feel obligated to be here? Or we feel a need to be here? Maybe we feel a calling to be here among other believers of our faith.
I strongly believe that our congregation has a true and honest love and belief in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In this building we call a church; we come together in fellowship to praise and honor our God through our Lord Jesus Christ and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We acknowledge our Savior Jesus Christ as the only way to God is through Him. We acknowledge He is the way, the truth and the life and that nobody gets to the Father except through Him who came to save us and cleanse us of our sins.
The New Testament Greek word for church is; “ecclesia,” meaning,” an assembly of called-out ones.” Our English word for church is derived from the Greek word “kuriake,”meaning” that which belongs to the Lord.” The church, then, is a body of people called out from the world to profess our allegiance to Jesus Christ. We come together every Sunday as a unified body of believers and profess our belief and love of God our Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
Let us look at some words that describe us as Christians:
Believers: we are called believers because of our characteristic doctrine is faith in our Lord Jesus.
Brethren: because the church is a spiritual fellowship in which all divisions that separate humankind have been abolished.
The elect: referred to as “the chosen,” because God has chosen us for an important ministry.
Disciples: because we are learners under spiritual training with Christ-inspired teachers.
Christians: because our religion centers; around the Person of Christ.
Our belief in our Savior Jesus Christ is what drives us to carry on in our lives. When we are troubled; and in our darkest hour; he is with us and comforts us. When we are in our finest and brightest hour He is with us to share in our joy. The love of Jesus is unmeasurable and never ending. The Lord Jesus left this earth more than 2,000 years ago; but he is still among us in the world. By this we mean that his presence is manifested through the church, which is his body. A strong point is this; that at the end of the Gospels we do not write,“ the end,” but rather, “to be continued,” because the life of Christ continues to be expressed through His disciples as evidenced throughout the New Testament of God’s Holy Word.
The New Testament lays down the following conditions for membership: implicit faith in the gospel and true belief in Jesus Christ as the Divine Savior.
The works of the church are as follows:
- To Preach Salvation.
- To Provide a Means of Worship.
- To Provide Religious fellowship.
- To Hold up the Moral Standard.
The church is the “light of the world,” and we must teach others how to live accordingly to God’s plan; to counter against the downward trends of society. We must be a warning voice in order to become the light God wants us to be.
As a church, we have been commanded by God to keep two Ordinances of the Church and they are Water Baptism and the Lords’ Supper. These two have been divinely ordained as sacred things or oaths consecrated by a sacred rite. Remember last week we voted to accept the 3 year Mission Plan for our church and part of the plan is to design a covenant for each church member to support the focus of the church for disciple making. Our role in the church is to be ambassadors for Christ.
We must get out of our comfort zones and teach what was taught to us by Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We must spread the word of his love and teachings to others in order to bring them to Christ.
We must look at others as future disciples and not the unchurched. We must not label others or judge others. We must show love, kindness and respect just as Jesus did. By doing this we are keeping Jesus alive in this world as He is working in us and through us.
In order to do this, we must spend time in daily prayer and meditation. We must spend time with God in reading the scripture daily in order to try to understand what God wants us to do in service to Him. We must be prepared to answer questions from future Christians regarding our faith and Christian beliefs. We must continue to learn all we can in order to live a Godly life; just as Jesus teaches us through God’s Holy Word.
We must live our lives for God and in service to God and share it in our communities, at work, at school and especially in our homes. We must respect and love others and show that respect and love for others just as Jesus had done and continues to do.
Finally, we must be able to forgive others just as God has forgiven us. This we must do freely and with love; just as Jesus did for us. May God be with you always and may you be able to see and understand God’s plans for you as you go forth into the world and make disciples for God.
Now we know why we are here.
Amen.