BY PASTOR WILLIAM BOACHIE-ANSAH
Texts: 2KINGS 2:1-15; JOHN 6:67-68
2Ki 2:1 And it came to pass, when the LORD was about to take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. 2 Then Elijah said to Elisha, "Stay here, please, for the LORD has sent me on to Bethel." But Elisha said, "As the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you!" So they went down to Bethel….14 Then he took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, and said, "Where is the LORD God of Elijah?" And when he also had struck the water, it was divided this way and that; and Elisha crossed over. 15 Now when the sons of the prophets who were from Jericho saw him, they said, "The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha." And they came to meet him, and bowed to the ground before him.
Joh 6:67 Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?" 68 But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, TO WHOM SHALL WE GO? You have the words of eternal life.
PURPOSE OF THE CHURCH
In part one of the discussion, we dealt with the loyalty of Elisha which earned him the double portion of God’s anointing. He was loyal both to God and his master Elijah even though some behaviour of Elijah was more or less difficult to understand. In order to be loyal to your church, there is the need to understand the purpose of the church.
Can you answer Jesus’ question rightly as Peter did? Many people are leaving the church. Some are hopping from one church to another. Some people are leaving to join the cults. Others are also leaving to join the occult. And yet still, others are just backsliding. But Peter was right. To whom shall we go? After tasting the goodness of the salvation, healing and deliverance which only Jesus Christ can give, where else should I go? There is the need for me to remain in Him, be an active member of my church and contribute my quota in making it a better institution.
Let’s touch briefly on the purpose of God’s church on the earth. The church is described as the only institution on earth which does not exist for itself. If we have a better understanding of the purpose of the church, it will help us to remain loyal and strive to maintain our membership no matter the challenges which come our way.
The first purpose of the church is Reaching up to God in Worship. This is where praise, honour and adoration are directed to God, for His gracious gifts to His people through Jesus Christ. Worship in other words refers to an appreciation of the greatness of God as manifested in creation. We worship by glorifying and adoring Him as God the Creator, speaking of His majestic power and authority, and giving to acknowledge that He is the giver of life and all things.
All loyal members of the local church are duty-bound to involve themselves in church worship, in addition to their private worship.
The second purpose of the church on earth is Reaching in to believers in fellowship (Acts. 2:42-47). To be loyal to a church, it is not enough to only have your name in their register. You should be able to mix freely with other members. Having fellowship therefore means ministering to one another in relationship, service to one another in love and assisting each other without expecting a reward. We serve one another with our talents no matter the cost. In addition, churches teach, exhort and encourage in love, share time and substance with one another in order to strengthen fellowship. To continually deepen fellowship, members should learn how to demonstrate practical love to each other by forgiving one another in time of offences and be faithful to one another. Members should also pray for, and share in the fears and aspirations of one another.
It must be noted from these that, fellowshipping with the church will cost you your time, talent and treasure. You also need to tolerate all manner of people with all their annoyances and surprises. It means there is the need to learn how to put up with all sorts of people and make friends with them. This will help each an everyone to have the “I belong” feeling. It is easy for people who do not share fellowship to leave the church. Church fellowship suffers the most when members are not loyal to the church.
The third purpose of the church on earth is Reaching out to sinners in evangelism (Acts 1 :8; Mark 16:15-17) This refers to all the activities the church undertakes in order to win new people to join them for good. There are so many ways of doing it, but churches normally specialize in one or two methods of evangelism. Loyal church members involve themselves in evangelism. It will be difficult to leave a church which you are actively involved in winning souls for. The purpose of evangelism is to bring people to Christ through personal and group efforts.
The philosophy of Christ’s church is therefore to sustain Christ's ministry on earth (Luke 24:46-47), promote righteousness in the world (1 Pet. 2: 11-12) and to destroy the work of the devil through prayer, the word of God and evangelism. (Eph. 6:10-12)
Being loyal to the church means staying faithful in helping fulfil its purpose. It also means making yourself available for the church’s use, putting your talents and giftings at the disposal of your church – responding to the call to serve the church in any capacity. One thing to remember is that we serve God with all we have. When the church needs money, it is the duty of all loyal members to contribute it to advance the kingdom business. Anything short of these constitutes disloyalty. You are not in the church for nothing. You are not in the church only for what you can gain from it, but also for what you can do for it. See the church as God sees it. Make an impact in it, and you will be rewarded for your loyalty. God bless you.
PASTOR WILLIAM BOACHIE-ANSAH
THE CHURCH OF PENTECOST
P.O. BOX 10
NSAWKAW-B/A, GHANA
+233 244137880
boachieansah@gmail.com
copnsawkaw@yahoo.com
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