Lesson 4 – Organization and Work of the Church

 

What work is the church to be doing?  Did God lay out any guidelines for organization and structure of the churches?

 

Memory Verse:  1 Timothy 3:15 – “but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”

 

Defining our terms

See Chart on “Local Churches and Body of Christ”

1.      Church is from the word “ekklesia”, which means the “called out”. 

                     i.      How are we the “called out” (1 Pet. 2:9)?

                   ii.      When we are saved, we are added to what (Col. 1:13,18)?

 

2.      The word “church” is mainly described in two main ways:

  1. The collective group of all saved individuals in the body of Christ (Heb. 12:24,28; Eph. 1:22,23; 5:24,25).  Sometimes the church is referred to as the “general assembly”, or “body of Christ” or “kingdom”.

                           i.      Where is the headquarters for the church (Heb. 12:23)?

                         ii.      How is Christ described in these passages?

1.      Eph. 1:22,23

2.      1 Cor. 3:11; 1 Pet. 2:6,7

3.      John 18:36,37

                        iii.      Jesus can truly say that the church belongs to Him (Matt. 16:18) because He bought it with His own blood (Acts 20:28).

 

  1. The local groups of Christians who have banded together to work & worship.

                           i.      To whom are local churches accountable?

a)      Rev. 1:12-20 – To Christ who stands among us.

b)      Each local church has its own leadership, the elders (Acts 14:23).

1.      Do you ever find “one” elder over a local church?

2.      The elders are also called pastors (Eph. 4:11) & bishops (Phil. 1:1).

3.      All elders must fit the qualifications which Paul gave to Timothy and Titus (1 Tim. 3; Titus 1).

4.      What was the charge given to elders (Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 5:1,2)?

5.      Elders do not have jurisdiction over decisions of any other church!

                         ii.      How do these passages demonstrate that a local church is to keep account of its members?  (Heb. 13:7,17; 1 Thes. 5:12,13; 1 Cor. 5:1-13; 2 Thes. 3:6-15).

                        iii.      God designed the local church to be sufficient to accomplish its work without forming missionary societies, denominational ties, or other organizations.

 

God has a plan

1.      God’s plan always works (Psalm 33:10-11).

  1. God established a plan for the family, yet look what happens when society tries to set up different and ”alternative” family arrangements!
  2. The same goes with the church – God has assigned to the church a certain task and expects it to follow His plan.

 

2.      God made divine institutions to carry out divinely appointed tasks.

  1. Government – It is to defend and protect (Rom. 13:1-4; 1 Tim. 2:1-4).
  2. Family – To raise godly offspring (Deut. 6:4-9; Eph. 6:4).
  3. Church – To display the wisdom of God (Eph. 3:10-11).

                                 i.      To support the truth (be a “pillar and ground”, 1 Tim. 3:15) by spreading the word to the lost and strengthening Christians.

                               ii.      To minister to brethren in need (Eph. 4:12).

 

Distinction between duties of a church and individual Christians.

1.      Read Matt. 18:15-17; Acts 5:4; 1 Cor. 11:20-22; 12:20,27; 1 Tim. 5:16 – How do these passages demonstrate a difference in the church and the individual?

2.      What are some things that both the church and the individual are told to do (Eph. 5:19; Col. 4:2)?

3.      What are some things that only the church can do (1 Cor. 11:17-34; 16:1-3)?

4.      What are some things that only the individual can do (1 Pet. 3:7; Eph. 6:4).

5.      So, when determining what work the church should do, we must be careful not to use commands given to individuals and apply them to the church.

 

The Mission and Work of the Local Churches

The local churches in the New Testament supported the following works with money from their treasuries.

See Chart on Benevolent Work of the Churches

1        Supporting the preaching and teaching of the truth.

a        How were the following churches involved in the work of teaching the gospel?

i           Acts 11:19-24 – The church at Jerusalem.

ii         Acts 13:1-4 – The church at Antioch.

iii        Philippians 4:10,14-18 – The church at Philippi.

iv       1 Thessalonians 1:8 – The church at Thessalonica.

v         2 Cor. 11:8-9 – The churches of Macedonia

b        How does the church preach and teach by its worship service (1 Cor. 14:23-26)?

c        What are churches commanded to do for those who preach and teach (1 Cor. 9:9-14; 1 Tim. 5:17-18).

d        In the New Testament, we see the local churches supporting preachers, elders and teachers in three ways:

i           Supporting a local preacher (or elder) who worked among them.

ii         Sending a preacher to other areas.

iii        Sending wages to a preacher already in the field.

2        Supporting brethren in need – Here is the pattern that we consistently see in Scripture for how the church helped those in need.

a        Local churches

i           Taking care of its own members (Acts 2:44,45; 4:32-37; 6:1-7; 1 Tim. 5:16)

ii         Aiding brethren elsewhere (Acts 11:27-30; Rom. 15:25-27; 1 Cor. 16:1-3).

(1)   Churches sent the money by the hands of a messenger.

(2)   Money was sent directly to the elders of another congregation.

b        Affected by God’s grace

i           Describe the attitude of the brethren in these passages.

(1)   Acts 2:44-45

(2)   Acts 4:32-37

(3)   2 Cor. 8:1; 9:8,14

c        Collecting funds on the 1st day of the week.

i           1 Cor. 16:1-3 – To whom, besides Corinth did Paul also give this command?

ii         There were other collections made for benevolence when the church was just at Jerusalem (Acts 2:44,45; 4:32-37), but later Paul gave a clear command to all the churches on how to collect these funds.

d        For saints.

i           Notice who was aided by the church funds.

(1)   “All who believed” (Acts 2:44; 4:32).

(2)   “Disciples” (Acts 6:1,2).

(3)   “Brethren” (Acts 11:29).

(4)   “Saints” (Rom. 15:26; 1 Cor. 16:1; 2 Cor. 8:4).

ii         God is concerned about the plight of the poor of the world, but God did not authorize the church to aid everyone from the treasury; God gave that command to individual Christians (Gal. 6:10).

iii        We do not want to “burden” the church (1 Tim. 5:16) with duties that you and I should be fulfilling!

e        For needy saints.

i           See the restrictions that Paul placed upon the churches:

(1)   “If a man will not work, neither shall he eat” (2 Thes. 3:10).

(2)   Go to your family first and “let the church not be burdened” (1 Tim. 5:16).

(3)   To help those caught in famine (Acts 11:27-30), and life circumstances like losing a spouse (Acts 6:1-7). 

ii         The church has been given a stewardship of these collected funds, and God expects us to be wise in how we distribute them.

Benevolence was carried out by local churches in the N.T in a manner which was efficient and effective.  They did this without forming orphanages, hospitals, and shelters.  Let us ensure that the church sticks to the plan which God designed, and may we all as individuals not depend upon the church or even government to do what we should do as Christians!!