I AM OBSESSED WITH CHURCH REALLY

IS THE CHURCH IMPORTANT TO YOU?

( Madison Missionary Baptist Church, Minford, Ohio a long time ago)

THESE ARE REASONS I LOVE THE CHURCH

(First Baptist Church Altoona, Kansas a view years ago)

(Rivers of Joy Baptist Church - Minford, Ohio)

Be

1970 or 1980 -90 or 2008

I LOVE THE LOCAL CHURCH

Just in case you haven’t been able to tell this about me before…I am OBSESSED with church.

I am asked often "Are you glad you are pastoring?" Are you kidding! ?! I sure am.

Now…I can’t quit thinking about it. If someone wants to talk church…I’m in! AND SO…it bothers me when I hear someone say that they don’t think that church is really that important.

REALLY? Church isn’t important? THINK ABOUT THAT…if that’s the case I have a few questions…

#1 - If church isn’t that important - then why does Matthew 16:18 say that Jesus built it? Would the Son of God actually spend time building something that was worthless?

#2 - If church isn’t that important - then why does Scripture in Acts 20:28 say that Jesus shed His blood for it? Would the Son of God have been willing to endure the suffering He went through for a meaningless organization?

#3 - If church isn’t that important - then why does Ephesians 1:22 & Colossians 1:18 say that Jesus is the Head of it? Would Jesus REALLY be the Head of something insignificant and trivial?

#4 - If church isn’t that important, if church isn’t “needed” to learn about God…then why does Ephesians 3:10 say that it was through the church that the wisdom of God should be made known?

But might I say, it's not only going to church, it's a lifestyle that takes place daily in our life. As we go about our daily life in the workplace, at school, at college, we live a life that reflects what we learn in church, through the teaching of the Word of God.

CAN WE SAY THE LOCAL CHURCH IS AN ORGANIZATION AND A BUSINESS AND STILL BE BIBLICAL?

A Well-Articulated Principle of Ministry that is Biblical
Is Essential to "DOING GOD'S WORK IN GOD'S WAY."
HOW SHOULD A 21ST CENTURY CHURCH LOOK?

First you need a leader who knows the Word of God, whereby the local church is established and lead and taught. You need leadership who knows organizational skills and leadership who knows business practices.

Some local churches have lawyers to figure out legal stuff for the church’s organization. Some churches have Business Managers to figure out the financial side of the organization. Some churches have a Building Manager who knows how to keep the building and grounds. Some churches have consultants, people who know a specific area of ministry. You have professional secretaries who help in the church office. And there are many more for sure.

The point is the local church uses a lot of business people, and organizations to accomplish their task. And they use a lot of good Christian business people to help them accomplish their objectives.

Of course you have those churches who just meet on Sunday and close the door Sunday at noon and they are not opened until the next Sunday. The building is 100 years old and looks like it. They hope that somebody will come on Sunday, and they also hope they have a preacher that Sunday.

The Bible seems to teach that God is a God of order and purpose. He had a exacting order to creation, he had an exacting order in the Garden for Adam and Eve. He had an order to the kind of worship form, in the case of Cain and Abel. He had the exact measurement for the building of the Ark for Noah to build.. He later had the exact manner of worship he required for the children of Israel, and the building of the Tabernacle and the way they worshiped. All this required a group of leaders with skills given to them by the Lord.

Today you do not just have church. Well, you can. The preacher shows up at 9:45 a.m. and opens the door, and turns the light on. And he says, "I wonder what I am going to preach today, and I wonder if anyone will come today?" That does happen in a lot of "churches" today. (Is this a biblical church?)

Some uninformed people will say, "We like not knowing what is going to happen today." "We don’t like the organized form of worship in our church!" "We want a Spirit-led service, and a Spirit-led sermon, and a Spirit-led whatever happens Sunday." Yep, and they had two outhouses in the back of the building, too. (True story)

There are a lot of critical remarks about the local church not getting their instructions from the world’s businesses. The pastor/teacher is not to be the CEO And the Elders/Deacons are not to be the Board of Directors. They say we are to be Spirit /Biblically lead not Wall Street lead. They say the local church is not to look like or be operated like Union Mills Confectionery. (But I would say if you had four girls who worked like they did, you would have a rather good church organization that would produce the results that the Bible teaching church should. A good business woman, a good specialist cake decorator, a personable, friendly special pie and bread baker, and a person who is willing to be there at 5 a.m. in the morning to turn on the oven and bake cakes. Oh, and of course, it helps to have a good person to mop the floors and help keep it clean.)

The local church uses business methods, and organizational methods to exist.

The local church needs people who have leadership skills. Yes, you have a need for the use of spiritual gifts in the local church. But you also need the talent of a piano player, and persons who can produce a good bulletin., and use a Gateway computer, and a spread sheet and the Internet and get on the Web.

The local church should not just operate by the seat of someone’s pants. It takes skill, leadership and, spiritual gifts to see a local church accomplish its intended purpose. ‘We don’t do things around here like the world does, we’re spiritual." I have seen a few of those places.
"We go by what the Bible teaches us how to do church." That is why they don’t have an IBM or a computer. The Bible never mentions those in the book of Acts.

The above statements are a little to the extreme, but indeed a true reality, and most I have been a part of over the last forty years. People have the strangest notions of what church should look like and how the church is to be operated.

A Well-Articulated Principle of Ministry that is Biblical
Is Essential to "DOING GOD'S WORK IN GOD'S WAY."
HOW SHOULD A 21ST CENTURY CHURCH LOOK?

The book of Acts does not show us the kind of facilities we should build. The Book of Acts does not show us if we should use gas or electricity to heat the buildings. The Book of Acts does not give us information if we should have a kitchen in the building. I don’t think the book of Acts tells us to have a baptistry in the front of the church. You say," you are funny". I pastored a church that the deacon said, no bathrooms in the church, and no baptistry. (We will use creeks or a river) And he would prefer a pot-belly stove rather than a furnace. No, this wasn’t in 1875 but in 1970's.

Can you have a Biblically Established Church and have a Welcome Center? Good question. Should you advertise in the local newspaper like businesses do? Can you organize your local church? Most churches do this rather well.

Churches have Vision Statements, and Philosophy of Ministry principles to give the church direction. Posted 02 10 07 part one 02 11 07 part two

Drafted by Charles E. Whisnant 01 12 / 13 2007 Note Proof Checked Charity Whisnant 01 22 07
NOTE:

"The secret to the show or business, etc, is that we give each other room to contribute. Everyone feels like they’re contributing - to the success of the show or the business.

Can we say the local church is an organization and a business and still be Biblical?

part one

The old cliché "If you continue to do what you have been doing in the last year, you will reap the same results."

When we look at the local church, we see a group of people who for the most part are Christians.

The local church is an organization in the sense of its organism. A group of people who are organized for some end of work. The local church is a body of people who gather together. They gather to worship. They assemble together to have fellowship. They congregate together to build each other up. (Hebrews 12)

This local church generally has a building in which the people convene.

The local church needs to have a structure through which individuals cooperate systematically to conduct its purposes and carry out their visions for ministry and have their business meetings.

Organization: "A structure through which individuals cooperate systematically to conduct business. The administrative personnel of such a structure."

Something that has been organized or made into an ordered whole. Something made up of elements with varied functions that contribute to the whole and to collective functions; an organism. A group of persons organized for a particular purpose; an association: a benevolent organization.

The church is a body of people who organized themselves into a specific group. This group has a specific purpose, a specific mission, and has particular goals and objectives. This group organizes and chooses its pastors, teachers, and leaders. They develop their doctrinal statements, they develop their form of government, the kind of building they are going to meet in, etc. This is the business of the local church. And this organization requires people who know how to do the Lord’s Work in the Lord’s Way.

Also this group of people must organize itself into a corporation with by-laws and a constitution. This requires people with the ability to accomplish these tasks.
So in a sense the local church is an organization and a business.

Business: Dictionary . Com gives over twenty ways to use the term business. These nouns apply to forms of activity that have the objective of supplying commodities. Business pertains broadly to commercial, financial, and industrial activity.

The church is a body of people who come together to worship, to have fellowship, as a group. When they gather they have different forms of activity and meetings and functions and fellowship generally with food and ice cream.

The local church then requires leadership. The people in the local church need leaders who have the ability to feed, lead, and teach. (Acts 20)

Drafted by Charles E. Whisnant 01 15 07 Proof Checked by Charity Whisnant