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What do you believe is the most important purpose of the church? Created: 11/28/2007 | Last Vote: 3 days ago | Comment: 26 days ago

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10/27/09 7:04 AM Beth Oleander  | Canada    • Add new comment • Reply to comment • Report abuse • Groups | Comments G'morning! If GOD'S Will and Purpose for us could be summed up in 1300 characters, YHVH would hardly have authored 66+ books! Essentially, I agree with Dale, but would add that James 1:27; Matthew 25:40; and 1st Corinthians 15 will give a babe in Christ a good start. We are here to LIVE the Gospel and not simple to preach it. I like St. Francis of Assisi's comment 'Preach the Gospel daily. If necessary, use words.' Amen! The end point of everyone's journey is to 'Be transformed into the Image of Christ.' We must be leaning in that direction now, every moment, and not imagine that translation will do the job on some mystical future day. Watchman Nee counseled that at no time should we see ourselves as separate from Christ, but rather IN HIM and SURRENDERED TO HIM completely. Amen! The purpose of the ecclesia (called out ones)or 'Church' is to love God with everything in us and our neighbor as ourselves. These two commandments cover all that a Christian should do and be. Shalom Aleichem. 12/12/08 3:55 AM Dale  | Scotland    • Add new comment • Reply to comment • Report abuse • Groups | Comments This question misses the point entirely. The sole and complete purpose of Christ's church on earth is to continue the work Jesus started. We have all heard it said that the church is not a building but people. This has never changed. My job as a Christian is not just to provide education in the truth of the Bible, or to provide a place and atmosphere for worship, or to provide for the social or physical needs of the community. It is all of this and much more besides. But none of these are the most important. No, the most important purpose of the Church is to proclaim and preach the Risen Christ, to witness to the Gospell, to be living examples of God's love on the earth. All that other stuff springs forth naturally from us when we do this. They are a consequence, evidence if you will, that we are following in Jesus' footsteps; not a "purpose" at all, but a sign. 11/16/08 2:17 PM Pikestaff    • Add new comment • Reply to comment • Report abuse • Groups | Comments The sons of God are persona non grata in the in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; (Phil 2:15) BUT you must continue to contend for the faith within yourself and with your neighbour. "Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. (Jude 1:3) 11/8/08 4:40 PM Faithful Remnant    • Add new comment • Reply to comment • Report abuse • Groups | Comments The church should be preaching the crucified and risen Christ who has purchased forgiveness for repenting sinners. It should also be thoroughly establishing believers in the truth..in Christ alone and the Scriptures alone. 11/8/08 4:34 PM St Jeremiah  | Salt Lake City, UT    • Add new comment • Reply to comment • Report abuse • Groups | Comments Matthew 28:18-20 A healthy life cycle of a Bible Church is to train members to "Go"...this is soul winning or evangelism. When a member wins a soul to faith in Christ they are to "Disciple" the new member to be "Indentified" ("baptizo" translated) with the triune God (worship) and "Indoctrinate" (teaching)the disciple so they can "Go", make "Disciples" so the new member are "Identified" with God and "Indoctrinated" in Christ's commands....so they will "Go"..ect. ect. 10/27/08 9:35 AM Nathan  | Australia    • Add new comment • Reply to comment • Report abuse • Groups | Comments I was just answering this survey when I noticed Christiana's comment. You took the words right out of my mouth. I was surprised that of all the multiple choice answers there was not anything about the glory of God. We do not exist to help, educate, encourage and whatever the church finds it putting it's hand to without all being done to the Glory of God. If your take away the glory of God then we are acting out of supporting basic Human Rights as outlined by Thomas Aquinas, which is exactly where our entire social system is heading. In this sense we are becoming more Roman Catholic socially than we realise. Selah Thus we can see the social justice influence even in the framing of this survey. 8/14/08 6:21 PM Overcomer  | USA    • Add new comment • Reply to comment • Report abuse • Groups | Comments Jesus said, " I will build My church". The church are the called out ones. The church is not a building, denomination, or religious organization. The early church met in homes. The focus was on Christ and His kingdom, not personal kingdom building. Leadership ( preacher,elders, bishops) didn't exist as managers and those who lorded over the people. They were humble, hard working servants. The modern "church" has no resemblance of the early biblical one. 8/13/08 10:10 PM Christiana    • Add new comment • Reply to comment • Report abuse • Groups | Comments The purpose of the the church is to Glorify God. A church full of people who have been delivered from their sins will do this. Gifted by God, each person would serve using his or her particular gift/s. Preaching, teaching, and pastoring would be for the building up and equiping of the saints. The gifts of service would be used accordingly. Agape love would be demonstrated in the serving. Worship would flow from hearts yielded to the Lord. God would be glorified. We would grow in our faith, and in the grace and knowledge of the Lord, and witnessing to a lost world would naturally flow from hearts filled with adoration of the Savior. And, God would add to the Church as He did in the days of the Apostles. Wouldn't it be wonderful? 6/8/08 12:04 AM Byran Boyle  | Texas    • Add new comment • Reply to comment • Report abuse • Groups | Comments Were all beating on the same bush here thiers alot of truth to bring together here . I'll try to breifly lay it out. If you are preaching salvation because you love men and don't want them to go to hell then your not Glorifying God. But if your going out to preach the Gospel of God because he has told you then you are Glorifying him and you do this not because your going to heaven but you do this because its the will of God. Mans whole purpose of God creating him was and is to Glorifying Him and we were to do that before the fall and after the fall in living for him heart,mind and soul but can not do this until God makes a person born again through the Spirit by the preaching of the Gospel. Once God saves you he will take that heart of stone out and give you a heart of flesh and give you new desires. Then you will seek to be obedient and have a love and desire to fellowship with others in Christ and preach the Gospel and Rid yourself through the power of God of sin. Let no one decieve you whether in how to witness are on theology. Study how Christ and Paul witnessed to the Lost and use them for and example. I pray that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being 6/3/08 5:32 PM socrates  | Iowa    • Add new comment • Reply to comment • Report abuse • Groups | Comments Artyvet wrote: I feel the purpose of the church is to win souls for Christ. Without that everything else in the survey is useless. The church does not win soul for Christ! It's purpose is to proclaim Christ and let the Holy Spirit work on the hearts of the elect opening them up to Gospel message. No one can see the kingdom of heaven untill they are "born again". Nor do they seek it. 6/2/08 12:17 AM pastor_d    • Add new comment • Reply to comment • Report abuse • Groups | Comments Sorry guys, I hate to be a bummer, but didn't Jesus have a specific purpose on earth. I believe it was to seek and to save that which was lost. He tagged his Church (local church in Jerusalem, not universal) in before he ascended and said GO!!! We are to be carrying this out today. 5/7/08 8:12 PM Michael Hranek  | Endicott, New York    • Add new comment • Reply to comment • Report abuse • Groups | Comments Adelphos wrote: The main purpose of the church is to glorify God, plain and simple. Everything else flows from this understanding! Adelphos Preacher Others? I will not argue that we are to do all we do for the glory of God yet such a statement seems to be so open to abuse. Jesus told us: John 16 1 “These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. 3 And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. Didn't even Calvin and other reformers persecute and put to death heretics and even those who disagreed with them supposedly thinking they were doing God service? Didn't James and John think they would have been doing God service to pray fire down from heaven upon the Samaritans who did not receive Jesus? So how do we stay faithful and true to Christ and see the Father glorified in the Son? Let me suggest it is in humbly giving ourselves to the Great Commission, the seeking and saving (only God can do this) of the lost. Why I beieve it is quite accurate to say if we neglect the The Church's Commission we might only be pretending to glorify God. 5/6/08 10:22 PM Preacher    • Add new comment • Reply to comment • Report abuse • Groups | Comments Adelphos wrote: The main purpose of the church is to glorify God, plain and simple. Everything else flows from this understanding! Amen and Amen! What would Jesus' answer have been to this survey? The first petition in what we call "The Lord's Prayer" gives us the answer. HALLOWED BE THY NAME! The first, foremost and most crucial task of the church is that He His Name be regarded as holy. His kingdom will not come where His name is not hallowed. Nor is His will done where His name is not reverenced. So if you look at the church today, with its endless man-made programs of progress and church growth, you will see that they are all doomed to failure because the church has lost focus of its primary purpose. There will be no growth, no evangelism, no blessing until we go back to the Old Paths and regain our primary focus; God's Holy and Awesome Name. "Let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:28,29). 4/16/08 9:24 PM Bernard  | Australia    • Add new comment • Reply to comment • Report abuse • Groups | Comments Adelphos wrote: The main purpose of the church is to glorify God, plain and simple. Everything else flows from this understanding! Amen. 4/10/08 4:37 PM Adelphos    • Add new comment • Reply to comment • Report abuse • Groups | Comments The main purpose of the church is to glorify God, plain and simple. Everything else flows from this understanding! 4/7/08 9:06 PM Artyvet  | Jacksonville, NC    • Add new comment • Reply to comment • Report abuse • Groups | Comments I feel the purpose of the church is to win souls for Christ. Without that everything else in the survey is useless. 4/3/08 9:13 PM Icon O'Clast  | Oz    • Add new comment • Reply to comment • Report abuse • Groups | Comments We have turned the gospel of Christ into an easy-believism, make a decision so Christ can make your life better sales pitch. Look only at the countless thousands of 'decisions' made at the mass crusades by so-called Christian evangelists and compare that to the pitifully few true conversions. All the others were innocculated against the gospel by the falsehood they were told. I urge you to listen to a sermon called "Hell's Best Kept Secret" by Pastor Ray Comfort. I know little about the man but listened to this sermon and he explains it better than I have heard in a long time. 4/3/08 7:29 PM Michael Hranek  | Endicott, New York    • Add new comment • Reply to comment • Report abuse • Groups | Comments Discerning Believer wrote: The only problem Michael is that there are so many out there evangelizing with a false gospel. No repentence, just pray a prayer to invite Jesus into your heart and you'll be OK. When Jesus preached to the lost, he preached hell fire and repentence. DB Think about it, why did you find "fault"? Yes, there is a lot of false repentantless gospel in the world BUT should that turn believers away from preaching the gospel? should the fact that jw's and Mormons go house to house keep believers from going house to house with the Truth? Do money and influence hungry TBN, Purpose Driven, Seeker Sensitive, Ecumenical heretics relieve believers in the least from the debt of love we owe God to obey Him and do some hell fire and brimstone preaching of the gospel ourselves? 4/3/08 7:01 PM Discerning Believer    • Add new comment • Reply to comment • Report abuse • Groups | Comments The only problem Michael is that there are so many out there evangelizing with a false gospel. No repentence, just pray a prayer to invite Jesus into your heart and you'll be OK. When Jesus preached to the lost, he preached hell fire and repentence. When the Holy Spirit is involved in the conversion of souls, the sinner will see himself as God sees him, a dirty, filthy, rotten, stinking sinner. The Holy Spirit brings him to repentence to turn from sin to faith in Christ. Most of what is called evangelism is anathema. That is why so many who are caught up in this type of evangelism struggles with their assurance of salvation. Reason being, they don't have it. They were convinced that if they prayed a certain prayer, asked Jesus in their heart that they have eternal life. 4/3/08 6:38 PM Michael Hranek  | Endicott, New York    • Add new comment • Reply to comment • Report abuse • Groups | Comments R. K. Borill wrote: There can be no worship without truth. (John 4:23) Therefore, the primary purpose of the church is to educate in the truth before worship can even begin. What good is place and atmosphere without truth? R. K. Borill Not to argue with you but your post makes me think along the line of perhaps a more telling priority. There can be no evangelism without the Truth. There can be no preaching of the gospel without the Truth. And without evangelism one or a whole church cannot be walking in the will of God no matter how 'good' they think their system of theology is. Seeing in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ the priority He placed upon the salvation of the lost, it was after all the Father's will that He seek and save the lost, shouldn't it be ours as well? Hasn't He commanded us along these lines too? btw I have to believe it will affect our worship in a very wonderful way.

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