June 24, 2022 (Friday)
These are the words Jesus left with us before He ascended into Heaven. We call this speech “The Great Commission.” What does it say? 1. Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth. 2. He commissions all of us to make disciples everywhere. 3. We are to lead them to profess faith in Jesus as Savior, baptize them, and 4.Teach them what Jesus has taught us. 5. He will always be with us.
When we say an objective of the church is nurturing those who become Christians, it is because Jesus told us to make disciples and teach them.
When people become Christians, the very nature of the situation requires God’s people to make disciples of these newborn babies in Christ by teaching them. What shall we teach them? Jesus said, “teach them what I taught you.”
Grow in Grace – Become Strong
That is a tall order for us. How do we go about doing this? If we examine what others are doing in the area of discipleship we have an abundance of materials to use. In our lifetimes, many have come forward with church programs designed to enable new Christians to become more mature.
Since the last thing Jesus told the Apostles before the crucifixion was “Love one another,” that must be tremendously important. If the Apostles were told to love each other, then it stands to reason that this is what He wishes for all His children. What should we teach? The Bible, of course. Fortunately, we have many programs available to show us how to teach the Bible.
At one point, Paul reminded some church members that they had not grown in their faith. He told them they were babies in Christ and needed to be fed the pure milk of the Word. The process is very similar to raising children to become adults. At first, their diet is milk. They love it and it is good for them. But some little guys have parents that feed their kids milk long past the time when they need more solid food and better nutrition. That’s the way it works for new Christians. They gradually grow and get strong with the help of their more mature brothers and sisters in Christ.
It is this process that we call, “Nurture.” It’s a church’s objective. Other objectives are ministry, witness, fellowship, and worship. We need help with all these things; that’s why we need the church.
WHY DO WE HAVE CHURCHES?
Five Objectives of the Church
Blogs This Week
MONDAY – MINISTRY
Churches are here to serve the Lord by serving others.
TUESDAY – WITNESS
Presents Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life.
WEDNESDAY – FELLOWSHIP
The church is a family in need of each other.
THURSDAY – WORSHIP
Christians are to honor and glorify God.
FRIDAY – NURTURE
Christians need help to grow.
The printed order of these five objectives is not necessarily the order of importance. They are all important, and each one is needed in the church. Local churches determine priorities as they are led by the Holy Spirit.
————————————–REVIEW———————–
Review the graphic description of the purposes of the church:
From time to time, churches prepare “mission statements” in which they state in a general way what they feel the Lord wants them to do for him where they are. I’ve noticed that the statements differ from each other in specific words but each list reveals five basic objectives of the church: Ministry, Witness, Fellowship, Worship and Nurture.
The hand above (or the one at the end of your arm) can be an aid to memory if we assign to each digit on the hand an objective of the church. From now on, when you look at your hand, hopefully you will be reminded of five basic objectives of the church: Ministry, Witness, Fellowship, Worship and Nurture.
WHY DO WE HAVE CHURCHES?
Five Objectives of the Church
1. MINISTRY
(Thumb – Needed for work)
Churches are here to serve the Lord by serving others.
2. WITNESS
(Index finger – Points the way)
Presents Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life.
3. FELLOWSHIP
(Middle finger surrounded by others)
The church is a family in need of each other.
4. WORSHIP
(Ring finger – a ring reminds us of a crown)
Christians are to honor and glorify God.
5. NURTURE
(Baby finger – needs to grow)
Christians need help to grow.