Introducing the Church
When a bride and groom exchange vows in their marriage ceremony, they often finish by solemnly committing to one: “to love and to cherish, from this day forward, until death do us part.” But what does it mean “to cherish”? Can you pause for a moment to write down in your own way what “to cherish” means?
“To cherish” means to see something as important and special, to treat that thing in an important and special way. So, it involves both your thoughts and behavior towards something else. It also means that we not only view and treat something as special, but that we feel a special attachment to it, too, that it holds a dear and special place in our heart. So, “to cherish” means that we think, feel, and act towards something else as though it is very important and special to us. By this definition, what do you cherish?
The NT uses the word “cherish” two times. The first time, it uses this word to describe or explain the way that someone naturally behaves (1 Ths 2:7). The second time, it uses this word to command or instruct someone in how they are supposed to behave.
Now, my reason for mentioning this is not to provide parenting or marriage counseling, though if you need to hear that this way today, then most certainly take that to heart. The reason I mention this is because Paul tells husbands to cherish their wives this way because this is how Christ feels and behaves towards the church. Do you as well?
The well-known Baptist preacher, Charles Spurgeon, called the church “the dearest place on earth.” Another current pastor, Dustin Benge, says this about this church:
“Chosen by God the Father, purchased by Christ the Son, and empowered by the Holy Spirit, the church should be cherished and recognized as ‘dear’ by all who call her home.”
This is the aim of our new preaching series, “Cherishing the Church,” to help us better understand what the church is so that we can learn to think, feel, and act more warmly and tenderly towards it, so that we can choose to view it as a very important and special priority in our lives. It is God’s desire for every follower of Christ to cherish the church as Christ cherishes the church – to cherish the church as a nursing mother cherishes her nursing infant and to cherish the church as a husband is supposed to cherish his wife.
It is God’s desire that we would truly view the church as ‘dear’ to our hearts. On this theme, Spurgeon also said this:
Nothing in the world is dearer to God’s heart than his church; therefore, being his, let us also belong to it, that by our prayers, our gifts, and our labours, we may support and strengthen it.
To be fair and honest, many of us have a hard time saying, “I cherish the church,” or, “the church is very dear to me.” We may believe the church to be an important part of life, to one degree or another, but to call the church a treasure and to cherish it as a treasure, as dearly as God cherishes in his divine heart, now that’s another story. To us, church represents good things to us, but it may also represent hard things as well.
Difficulties, disagreements, disappointments, hurts, and offenses. We may remain faithful to the church as a longtime spouse, but more like a disenchanted lover who’s “in it for the long haul” rather than a committed and affectionate lover whose appreciation and affection for your spouse only deepens over time.
It is my prayer that through this preaching series, you will gain a clearer understanding of what the church is so that you may learn to cherish the church more deeply as Christ does and to renew your love for her once again.
To begin, I will give you two important statements to write down and remember:
“To cherish” means to see something as important and special, to treat that thing in an important and special way. So, it involves both your thoughts and behavior towards something else. It also means that we not only view and treat something as special, but that we feel a special attachment to it, too, that it holds a dear and special place in our heart. So, “to cherish” means that we think, feel, and act towards something else as though it is very important and special to us. By this definition, what do you cherish?
The NT uses the word “cherish” two times. The first time, it uses this word to describe or explain the way that someone naturally behaves (1 Ths 2:7). The second time, it uses this word to command or instruct someone in how they are supposed to behave.
- The first time, Paul says that a nursing mother cherishes her infant child; he calls to mind how a nursing mother holds and hugs her infant closely and carefully, lovingly meets her infant child’s needs in a warm and tender way.
- The second time, Paul says that a Christian husband should cherish his wife; he calls married men to be physically and emotionally close with their wives and to carefully, lovingly meet her needs in a warm and tender way (Eph 5:29).
Now, my reason for mentioning this is not to provide parenting or marriage counseling, though if you need to hear that this way today, then most certainly take that to heart. The reason I mention this is because Paul tells husbands to cherish their wives this way because this is how Christ feels and behaves towards the church. Do you as well?
The well-known Baptist preacher, Charles Spurgeon, called the church “the dearest place on earth.” Another current pastor, Dustin Benge, says this about this church:
“Chosen by God the Father, purchased by Christ the Son, and empowered by the Holy Spirit, the church should be cherished and recognized as ‘dear’ by all who call her home.”
This is the aim of our new preaching series, “Cherishing the Church,” to help us better understand what the church is so that we can learn to think, feel, and act more warmly and tenderly towards it, so that we can choose to view it as a very important and special priority in our lives. It is God’s desire for every follower of Christ to cherish the church as Christ cherishes the church – to cherish the church as a nursing mother cherishes her nursing infant and to cherish the church as a husband is supposed to cherish his wife.
It is God’s desire that we would truly view the church as ‘dear’ to our hearts. On this theme, Spurgeon also said this:
Nothing in the world is dearer to God’s heart than his church; therefore, being his, let us also belong to it, that by our prayers, our gifts, and our labours, we may support and strengthen it.
To be fair and honest, many of us have a hard time saying, “I cherish the church,” or, “the church is very dear to me.” We may believe the church to be an important part of life, to one degree or another, but to call the church a treasure and to cherish it as a treasure, as dearly as God cherishes in his divine heart, now that’s another story. To us, church represents good things to us, but it may also represent hard things as well.
Difficulties, disagreements, disappointments, hurts, and offenses. We may remain faithful to the church as a longtime spouse, but more like a disenchanted lover who’s “in it for the long haul” rather than a committed and affectionate lover whose appreciation and affection for your spouse only deepens over time.
It is my prayer that through this preaching series, you will gain a clearer understanding of what the church is so that you may learn to cherish the church more deeply as Christ does and to renew your love for her once again.
To begin, I will give you two important statements to write down and remember:
- The church is a growing group of people who follow Christ together by faith.
- We should cherish the church as Christ cherishes the church.
The first statement gives a description of the church; it tells us what the church is. To be clear, this is a simple definition not a complete one. Throughout this series, we’ll refer back to this definition to expand and explain what it means. What kind of people are in this group? How does this group grow? What brings these people together? What sort of things do they do together? Questions like these and more will be answered.
The second statement tells us how to think, feel, and behave towards the church. We should cherish it as Christ does. We should follow his example and think, feel, and behave towards the church as he does. Like the definition of the church in the first statement, we’ll refer to this response throughout the preaching series, giving more clear, biblical explanations for how we can and should cherish the church in concrete, practical ways.
On to today’s sermon, in which we’ll gain a basic, biblical introduction to the church. This won’t include all we can say: [spoiler alert] there’s some very important facts about the church we’ll wait to reveal ‘til next week’s sermon about what’s called “Spirit baptism.” There’s a big chance you don’t know what that is, and its key to understanding the church! But that deserves its own sermon, so we’ll explain that fascinating topic next week.
Today, we’ll learn one key truth. Then I’ll explain that truth further with two supporting truths, and to close, I’ll explain the first step we should take to cherish the church. One key truth, four supporting facts, and one response. Let’s get started with the one key truth!
The church is a group (an assembly) of people.
What is the church? Well, it’s not a physical building. This doesn’t mean that a building cannot or should not be used by the church. Some people who criticize the church like to criticize the use of buildings for church purposes, as though using a building is somehow wrong. But whether or not a church uses a building is irrelevant. A church may or may not use a building. In the NT, churches met in open, public spaces, existing Jewish synagogues, public schools and lecture halls, private homes, and even underground burial sites called “catacombs.” Throughout church history, churches have often chosen to build dedicated structures for their church-related functions, and while this is not required, this is often very helpful and appropriate.
That said, a church is – actually – a building, but not a physical one. A church is a human and spiritual building, instead. Listen to what Paul says in Eph 2:20-22 about the church:
having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
Perhaps you can imagine a human pyramid. What’s the biggest human pyramid you’ve ever seen? How many people were in it?
The largest human pyramid on record was achieved 2015 in India. It involved 45 students, was 17 feet tall, and was accomplished in 1 min. and 50 secs.
This fun fact helps us understand what the church is. Like a human pyramid, the church is a human building made up of people – millions and perhaps billions of people by now – spanning from a key moment in the book of Acts into the future. We’ll talk about that key moment next week. But for now, we should realize what Paul means when he says, “You are also being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” (Eph 2:22).
In this statement, we also see that the church isn’t only a building made up of people, but it is also a spiritual building, a building made up of people who are brought together and inhabited by the God himself. In this way, the church replaces the OT temple and tabernacle, where God dwelt. So, the church is not a physical building (though it often uses physical buildings). Instead, the church is a human building and a spiritual building.
At this point, we need to understand what the actual word church actually means. The English word we use today, “church,” comes from an Old English word kirke (or circ). We see this word being used in other words like “circuit,” “circulate,” “circumference,” “circumnavigate,” and “circle.” The word refers to something that is round in some way, like a circle, and came to be used for local groups of Christians who would gather together, often in a circle, for prayer, singing, teaching, and so on.
The second statement tells us how to think, feel, and behave towards the church. We should cherish it as Christ does. We should follow his example and think, feel, and behave towards the church as he does. Like the definition of the church in the first statement, we’ll refer to this response throughout the preaching series, giving more clear, biblical explanations for how we can and should cherish the church in concrete, practical ways.
On to today’s sermon, in which we’ll gain a basic, biblical introduction to the church. This won’t include all we can say: [spoiler alert] there’s some very important facts about the church we’ll wait to reveal ‘til next week’s sermon about what’s called “Spirit baptism.” There’s a big chance you don’t know what that is, and its key to understanding the church! But that deserves its own sermon, so we’ll explain that fascinating topic next week.
Today, we’ll learn one key truth. Then I’ll explain that truth further with two supporting truths, and to close, I’ll explain the first step we should take to cherish the church. One key truth, four supporting facts, and one response. Let’s get started with the one key truth!
The church is a group (an assembly) of people.
What is the church? Well, it’s not a physical building. This doesn’t mean that a building cannot or should not be used by the church. Some people who criticize the church like to criticize the use of buildings for church purposes, as though using a building is somehow wrong. But whether or not a church uses a building is irrelevant. A church may or may not use a building. In the NT, churches met in open, public spaces, existing Jewish synagogues, public schools and lecture halls, private homes, and even underground burial sites called “catacombs.” Throughout church history, churches have often chosen to build dedicated structures for their church-related functions, and while this is not required, this is often very helpful and appropriate.
That said, a church is – actually – a building, but not a physical one. A church is a human and spiritual building, instead. Listen to what Paul says in Eph 2:20-22 about the church:
having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
Perhaps you can imagine a human pyramid. What’s the biggest human pyramid you’ve ever seen? How many people were in it?
The largest human pyramid on record was achieved 2015 in India. It involved 45 students, was 17 feet tall, and was accomplished in 1 min. and 50 secs.
This fun fact helps us understand what the church is. Like a human pyramid, the church is a human building made up of people – millions and perhaps billions of people by now – spanning from a key moment in the book of Acts into the future. We’ll talk about that key moment next week. But for now, we should realize what Paul means when he says, “You are also being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” (Eph 2:22).
In this statement, we also see that the church isn’t only a building made up of people, but it is also a spiritual building, a building made up of people who are brought together and inhabited by the God himself. In this way, the church replaces the OT temple and tabernacle, where God dwelt. So, the church is not a physical building (though it often uses physical buildings). Instead, the church is a human building and a spiritual building.
At this point, we need to understand what the actual word church actually means. The English word we use today, “church,” comes from an Old English word kirke (or circ). We see this word being used in other words like “circuit,” “circulate,” “circumference,” “circumnavigate,” and “circle.” The word refers to something that is round in some way, like a circle, and came to be used for local groups of Christians who would gather together, often in a circle, for prayer, singing, teaching, and so on.
For this reason, early English Bible translations used this word kirke (or church) to represent the Greek word ekklesia when it frequently appeared in the NT. This NT word means “assembly,” “gathering,” or “group,” and often refers to a group of people who gathered and identified together for some particular reason or another. This is why we can call and should think of the church as an “assembly,” “gathering,” and “group” of people. The church is an assembly. It is a gathering. It is a group of people that God is building and putting together.
That would occur in the future, after Christ’s earthly ministry.
Now that we know the church is a group of people that God is gathering together, we need to know when this building began. According to Jesus, it would occur sometime in the future after his earthly ministry. Notice what he said to Peter and the other disciples:
On this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. (Matt 16:18)
The key word to notice here is “will.” Christ said, “I will,” which means not only that he would certainly, definitely build his church, but he would do so at some point in the future, after his earthly ministry was complete. It was not something he was doing at the moment, but something he was going to do in the near future. This means that the church did not exist in the Old Testament and also that the church did not exist during the life and ministry of Christ on earth. So, when did God’s building of the church begin?
We’ll look more closely at the answer to that question next week, but for now, I’ll give you a preview. The church officially began at the Feast of Pentecost in Jerusalem, approx. 50 days after Christ arose from the dead. That day, which we can read about in Acts 2, was the birthday of the church.
That Christ himself would build.
Not only was the church going to begin coming together fifty days after his resurrection, but Christ was going to be the one who brought the church together.
Notice how he said, “I will build my church,” with an emphasis on I and my. Just as God created the world but in an even more special way, Christ would both create the world and it would belong to him as the Maker.
He would do this through his teachings and his death upon the cross and resurrection from the dead, and he would deepen and strengthen the church through the additional teachings of the apostles and prophets.
having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone (Eph 2:20).
So, the life, teaching, death, and resurrection of Christ is the cornerstone of the church, the primary, central feature around which everything and everyone related to the church must align, conform, and develop. Then Christ called and sent apostles and prophets to the church to expand and explain the significance of Christ’s life, teaching, death, and resurrection in more depth and detail.
An apostle was a person who had first-hand, eye-witness experience with the ministry and teaching of Christ and who were sent out by Christ to be teachers and witnesses for him. Prophets, then, were people who spoke clear messages from God before the Scriptures were written down.
Now that we have Scripture recorded for us from God, apostles and prophets no longer function as they did in that first century. In building and construction terms, the foundation has been laid. We are no longer pouring the foundation but continue to build upon that foundation from the first century to today. Paul explains how this worked in Eph 3:1-7:
For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles—if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.
This teaching has all been recorded for us in the NT and provides the basis for all that we need to believe and know to be a healthy, growing church. In a most basic sense, then, the church is a growing group of people who follow Christ together by faith. These people are gathered together by Christ in a spiritual way to form a spiritual and personal gathering of people. It is not just individuals but this growing group, this building, that Christ has died for and devoted himself to in love. There is nothing on Earth that he cares about more deeply and devotedly than the church. For this reasons alone, we should cherish the church as Christ cherishes the church.
To cherish the church, we must first believe on Christ.
So, how do we begin to cherish the church as Christ does? We must begin by taking one crucial and important step, which Christ himself explained to Peter.
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. (Matt 16:15-18)
Here Christ explains our necessary first step towards the church – to “believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” Now, Roman Catholic teaching wants you to believe that in this moment, Jesus was announcing that the Apostle Peter would become the foundational figure of the church, thus establishing the papacy. But saying this ignores some basic rules of Greek grammar which I don’t have time to explain in this message. That aside, the question centers on what Christ means when he says “upon this rock” – what is the rock he is referring to? That rock is the confession that Peter had just made – stating that he believed that Jesus was the Son of God, that he fully believed in Jesus Christ as God, Savior, and King.
Before you can ever cherish the church, you must first cherish Christ and value him above all other things. You must turn to him in repentance from sin for forgiveness and entrust to him your entire life both now and in eternity. As we will see in a future sermon, throughout the book of Acts, people who believed on Jesus Christ as God and Savior, just as Peter announced his faith in Christ here, were added by God to the church. In the most basic sense, this is where your relationship with Christ and the church begins, by believing on Jesus Christ alone as your God and Savior.
About our feelings for the church, Pastor Dustin Benge says this:
We consider what the church can give us and do for us, how she can serve us, and even what’s in it for us, but rarely do we enjoy the eye-opening and soul-stirring truth that she is beautiful and lovely in just being who she is. The church has played a central role in many of our lives. She has nurtured in times of grief, shepherded in valleys of despair, and instructed in seasons of growth. We love her people. We love her ministries. We love her worship. We love her teaching. We love her comfort. Do we love her?
This is a heart-searching question that’s good for all of us to ask. But even more importantly that asking whether we love the church, we must first ask, do we love Christ above all? If we do, then we must learn to love his church. But we cannot do this if we are not even a part of his church, and we are not even a part of this beautiful church that Christ is building and cherishing if we have not yet believed that Christ is the Son of God, our God and our Savior.
In conclusion, as we begin this journey of "Cherishing the Church" together, let us first anchor our hearts in the foundational truth that the church is a growing group of people being gathered together by Christ himself as people believe on him by faith. Just as a nursing mother tenderly cherishes her child and a husband is called to cherish and treasure his wife with deep affection, so Christ cherishes the church that he is building with an unmatched depth of love and devotion, as it is the dearest treasure in his heart.
Our response, then, begins with believing on him—entrusting our lives to Jesus as our God and Savior—for it is only through this faith that we are united to his church and can begin to understand and reflect his love for her. As we grow in understanding what the church truly is, may our thoughts, feelings, and actions toward her deepen, resembling even more Christ’s own tender affection for her, so that we can say with sincerity, “The church is dear to me,” and, so that we can live out that love in practical, committed ways.
That would occur in the future, after Christ’s earthly ministry.
Now that we know the church is a group of people that God is gathering together, we need to know when this building began. According to Jesus, it would occur sometime in the future after his earthly ministry. Notice what he said to Peter and the other disciples:
On this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. (Matt 16:18)
The key word to notice here is “will.” Christ said, “I will,” which means not only that he would certainly, definitely build his church, but he would do so at some point in the future, after his earthly ministry was complete. It was not something he was doing at the moment, but something he was going to do in the near future. This means that the church did not exist in the Old Testament and also that the church did not exist during the life and ministry of Christ on earth. So, when did God’s building of the church begin?
We’ll look more closely at the answer to that question next week, but for now, I’ll give you a preview. The church officially began at the Feast of Pentecost in Jerusalem, approx. 50 days after Christ arose from the dead. That day, which we can read about in Acts 2, was the birthday of the church.
That Christ himself would build.
Not only was the church going to begin coming together fifty days after his resurrection, but Christ was going to be the one who brought the church together.
Notice how he said, “I will build my church,” with an emphasis on I and my. Just as God created the world but in an even more special way, Christ would both create the world and it would belong to him as the Maker.
He would do this through his teachings and his death upon the cross and resurrection from the dead, and he would deepen and strengthen the church through the additional teachings of the apostles and prophets.
having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone (Eph 2:20).
So, the life, teaching, death, and resurrection of Christ is the cornerstone of the church, the primary, central feature around which everything and everyone related to the church must align, conform, and develop. Then Christ called and sent apostles and prophets to the church to expand and explain the significance of Christ’s life, teaching, death, and resurrection in more depth and detail.
An apostle was a person who had first-hand, eye-witness experience with the ministry and teaching of Christ and who were sent out by Christ to be teachers and witnesses for him. Prophets, then, were people who spoke clear messages from God before the Scriptures were written down.
Now that we have Scripture recorded for us from God, apostles and prophets no longer function as they did in that first century. In building and construction terms, the foundation has been laid. We are no longer pouring the foundation but continue to build upon that foundation from the first century to today. Paul explains how this worked in Eph 3:1-7:
For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles—if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.
This teaching has all been recorded for us in the NT and provides the basis for all that we need to believe and know to be a healthy, growing church. In a most basic sense, then, the church is a growing group of people who follow Christ together by faith. These people are gathered together by Christ in a spiritual way to form a spiritual and personal gathering of people. It is not just individuals but this growing group, this building, that Christ has died for and devoted himself to in love. There is nothing on Earth that he cares about more deeply and devotedly than the church. For this reasons alone, we should cherish the church as Christ cherishes the church.
To cherish the church, we must first believe on Christ.
So, how do we begin to cherish the church as Christ does? We must begin by taking one crucial and important step, which Christ himself explained to Peter.
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. (Matt 16:15-18)
Here Christ explains our necessary first step towards the church – to “believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” Now, Roman Catholic teaching wants you to believe that in this moment, Jesus was announcing that the Apostle Peter would become the foundational figure of the church, thus establishing the papacy. But saying this ignores some basic rules of Greek grammar which I don’t have time to explain in this message. That aside, the question centers on what Christ means when he says “upon this rock” – what is the rock he is referring to? That rock is the confession that Peter had just made – stating that he believed that Jesus was the Son of God, that he fully believed in Jesus Christ as God, Savior, and King.
Before you can ever cherish the church, you must first cherish Christ and value him above all other things. You must turn to him in repentance from sin for forgiveness and entrust to him your entire life both now and in eternity. As we will see in a future sermon, throughout the book of Acts, people who believed on Jesus Christ as God and Savior, just as Peter announced his faith in Christ here, were added by God to the church. In the most basic sense, this is where your relationship with Christ and the church begins, by believing on Jesus Christ alone as your God and Savior.
About our feelings for the church, Pastor Dustin Benge says this:
We consider what the church can give us and do for us, how she can serve us, and even what’s in it for us, but rarely do we enjoy the eye-opening and soul-stirring truth that she is beautiful and lovely in just being who she is. The church has played a central role in many of our lives. She has nurtured in times of grief, shepherded in valleys of despair, and instructed in seasons of growth. We love her people. We love her ministries. We love her worship. We love her teaching. We love her comfort. Do we love her?
This is a heart-searching question that’s good for all of us to ask. But even more importantly that asking whether we love the church, we must first ask, do we love Christ above all? If we do, then we must learn to love his church. But we cannot do this if we are not even a part of his church, and we are not even a part of this beautiful church that Christ is building and cherishing if we have not yet believed that Christ is the Son of God, our God and our Savior.
In conclusion, as we begin this journey of "Cherishing the Church" together, let us first anchor our hearts in the foundational truth that the church is a growing group of people being gathered together by Christ himself as people believe on him by faith. Just as a nursing mother tenderly cherishes her child and a husband is called to cherish and treasure his wife with deep affection, so Christ cherishes the church that he is building with an unmatched depth of love and devotion, as it is the dearest treasure in his heart.
Our response, then, begins with believing on him—entrusting our lives to Jesus as our God and Savior—for it is only through this faith that we are united to his church and can begin to understand and reflect his love for her. As we grow in understanding what the church truly is, may our thoughts, feelings, and actions toward her deepen, resembling even more Christ’s own tender affection for her, so that we can say with sincerity, “The church is dear to me,” and, so that we can live out that love in practical, committed ways.
Discussion Questions
Life101
Digging Deeper
Life101
- What are some meaningful past experiences for you which help you to cherish the church?
- What do we mean when we say that the church is a “human” building? A “spiritual” building?
- As a group, formulate a good description of what a church is. (This can include more than the description Pastor Thomas gave.)
- How can we tell what we are cherishing?
- Why does Christ cherish the church as He does?
- What is something about the church that we can cherish?
- How would you help someone who is reluctant to participate in a church?
Digging Deeper
- What are some meaningful past experiences for you which help you to cherish the church?
- What do we mean when we say that the church is a “human” building? A “spiritual” building?
- As a group, formulate a good description of what a church is. (This can include more than the description Pastor Thomas gave.)
- What are the most important biblical aspects of the church to include in a good description?
- How can we tell what we are cherishing?
- Why does Christ cherish the church as He does?
- What is something about the church that we can cherish?
- How would you help someone who is reluctant to participate in a church?
- Why is it important that the church be made up of only those who have believed on Christ?
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