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Acts 9:2 Paul persecuted those in "this way"
Why do we at IBC believe the church is important? Is it because we believe we must keep baptism pure? Is it because we must keep the church membership pure from wickedness, evil and sin? Is it because we want to enforce our policies, standards, and practices on others? Church membership is more than simply being a member of a church it involves a way of life a way of living. It is not that we want to integrate our lives into the church, but we want to integrate the church into our lives. We should make our lives fit into the church, which is the body of Christ on this earth, not force the church to fit into our lives and into our schedules. If there are activities the church needs to have, we want to change our lives so we can be a part of those activities. It is wrong to change church activities instead of changing our lives, or the schedule of our lives. This is why it is wrong to move to a new location, then expect God to bring one of his kind of churches to us. It is always right for us to first see if there is a church where we want to move, then if there is, we can move there and be a part of that congregation. A church is not just an assembly of people. It is as possible to have an assembly that is not a church as it is to have an assembly that others do not consider a church. We are members of IBC wherever we go. We have an influence over people, and they see us as members of IBC whether we are thinking about it or not. Just as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals has an influence over people outside the playing field, so we have an influence outside the assembly of our church. Some people look down on religion in general because of specific incidents of individual lives. We do not want anybody looking down on holiness because we are not holy. Proper missionary work Acts 8:1 states that the church was scattered about the time of the stoning of Stephen. These are individual church members. It is noted in the scripture that the apostles did not leave Jerusalem. These church members went everywhere preaching the Word of God, as stated in Acts 11:19-21. Acts 11:22-26 gives a good lesson on the purpose of the local church. It is not to entertain, or to convince people to join for the sake of numbers. The purpose of the local church is to teach concerning the things of Christ and his eternal doctrines. We find the church at Antioch was very interested in the Word of God, in changing their lives to fit what the Bible said, and not in the local ball game, or whatever, the local church was sponsoring in the community. Today churches have become little more than social organizations, who are responsible for day care, while mothers work outside the home, health and fitness centers, and counseling agencies which apply modern psychology, instead of the Word of God. There is little true study of the Word of God in most churches, as that conflicts with what most people want. I know this is so, because there is little conformity to Biblical holiness standards in most churches. Holiness, in most churches, has vanished. Most churches have many programs suited to the multitude. Most programs of most churches are geared to give the people what they want instead of what they need. Most preachers refuse to preach the truth that lives need to be conformed to the Word of God, not the word of God conformed to the lives of people. Fifty years ago, it would be unheard of for a person to enter a church building and demand they play Benny Goodman style music, or they would not attend. But we have exactly that happening all over this world today. People are demanding that churches conform to their style of music and churches are caving in to their demands. Many churches are having two kinds of services. One service is called traditional, where the old time hymns are sung, and the other service is called contemporary, where a rock band plays rock music set to "spiritual" words. From a purely secular standpoint: when a person becomes a member of a high school football, or basketball team, he must meet the requirements of that team, or he is not allowed to play on the team. In college, I was a member of the MBSF (Missionary Baptist Student Fellowship), the Accounting Club and the Circle K. Each of these clubs had requirements and it is not considered out of line to be required to meet those requirements, or you would not be allowed to be a member of that particular club. If a sports figure did not show up for practices, he was not allowed to play in the game. There are certain requirements for every club that nobody thinks is irrational. But when it comes to church membership that doesnt count, as far as the world is concerned. People want to be considered an active member of a church when they do not pray at home, or read their Bibles at home, or witness to those they come into contact with. They want to take the Lords Supper and be consulted on every decision, even though they do not live according to Biblical standards. Every job has certain requirements every employee must meet, or he will not be allowed to work at that job. There is a lot of training each employee must have, or they will not be promoted to a higher position. The exact same thing is true for every true local church. It is ridiculous for a persons to think they can live like the devil, then come into church services and be among those administrating decisions. Acts 9:25 The word "disciples" here refers to the church at Damascus, which rescued Paul from the Jews, delivering him in a basket. The true local church can be found in many places where the word "church" is not found, because when disciples gathered together in the name of Christ, they were a church. This is not speaking about a universal church, or a constantly changing church, but a local church with a particular membership, at a particular place, and a particular time. Acts 9:31 When the churches had rest, it does not mean the assemblies were not persecuted. It means the people in those assemblies had rest in their daily lives. Acts 12:12 When Peter and James was put in jail for preaching the gospel message, and James was killed, the Lord allowed Peter to escape. When he came to himself, he came to the house (not the church building) of Mary, where the church was assembled in prayer. This passage teach us that it is not necessary to meet in the church building to "have church". It is not necessary to be formal, or to do things a certain way in order to "have church". It is very necessary, however, to worship God, and to come before him. It is very necessary to meet his qualifications, regardless of what anybody thinks. In John 20:19, the church (here called the disciples) was gathered together for fear of the Jews, when Jesus appeared to them, giving them peace and further instructions as to their service to him. In verse 22 of this place, the church received the Holy Spirit of God, or the keys of the kingdom of God. The church will receive the outward expression of this inward gift on the Day of Pentecost. One question about Acts 12:14,15: Did Rhoda bread a scripture by speaking during a prayer meeting of the church? Did the people break a scripture when they answered her? No to both questions. Sometimes churches are so strict on keeping the letter of things, they forget there is also the spirit of things. I believe the Bible is very clear when it says women are to be silent in church services, but we can also be very far from scripture when we enforce the silence and not realize God may be moving us to a greater understanding of his way. A church is a place to worship God, it is not an entertainment center, or a health club. Acts 6 The church plays a part of our everyday lives, as seen by the feeding of the widows, and in I Timothy 5:9, the requirements of a widow if the church is to provide for them. |