FROM THE PASTOR
The Church
A number of years ago, some of my wife’s family worshipped at Trinity Lutheran Church, Pasadena (a suburb south of Adelaide). One day a part of the church burnt down, and within a week or so a couple of pre-fab mobile units, joined together like Lego blocks, were placed in the tennis courts right next to the church. So that’s where the Christians of Trinity Lutheran gathered for Sunday worship while the church was being rebuilt. Similarly, long-term members here at Good Shepherd remember worshipping in the manse while this church was being built.
When the Bible speaks about church: it does not mean a building. In fact, it does not speak of a building, or a worship service, an organisation, or an organisational structure created by humans. I wrote an essay on architecture in the early Church (for the time around 100 – 300 AD). As we know, the early Christians not long after the first Pentecost had virtually no place to worship; they couldn’t worship in the Jewish synagogues, so they met in people’s homes. Some homes were converted to places of worship (home churches) where a typical home had a wall or two knocked out to create a place to hold baptisms (baptistery), and extra space was needed as the church grew. So the form and function of the early Christian Church building basically developed out of that. The church however, is people – people of God. The church is made up of all who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.
The Greek word for church is “ecclesia” and this means an assembly of people called together for a special purpose; it’s a group of people who are called out to form God’s special community. Not a real lot different to the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, the people of God (Israel) were “set apart / made holy” or, “called out” from other nations to receive God’s gracious blessings and to be a blessing to all nations. So in the New Testament, this same privilege is given to Christians (please read 1 Peter 2:9-10). Again, the church (ecclesia) belongs to God, as God has called the church into being and continues to work through it. The church can be a specific community, or communities of believers, from a household to an area (e.g. house churches in the book of Acts, to the churches in Galatia, and various churches that St John writes to).
What is your favourite image, or description of church? According to the New Testament, there’s a number of illustrations and descriptions that signify the nature of the church, e.g. saints; Believers; People of God; Servants; Household; Family; the Body of Christ with Christ as the Head; the Bride of Christ; the Living Temple and Jesus as Cornerstone – Christians are the bricks that have been laid on the firm foundation of Christ; the Vine and the Branches; the Shepherd and the Sheep - there may be a couple more images in the New Testament, but they are pretty much the main ones.
Not long ago, some people noted a black and white sign strung up around Sutherland, saying, “New Church Opening soon”, with a mobile phone number underneath. This had me thinking similar questions to what I had raised in last month’s article, like: if you were to plant a new church, who would preach and teach? Who would visit and conduct Baptism preparation and perform baptisms? With follow up after? Who would prepare Bible studies? If someone wanted to find out more about Christianity – who would conduct inquirer’s classes? Who would be overseer, or have oversight? What premises and where? What would the shape of worship look like? This leads me now to a final thought:
How is the church created and maintained?
The Church is created and maintained by the Holy Spirit working through the means of salvation: the proclamation of the Good News of God’s grace and receiving the sacraments of God’s grace (ministry of word and sacrament). To quote the Augsburg
Confession (Article VII) says, “The Church is the assembly of Saints in which the gospel is taught purely and the sacraments are administered rightly” (quote from The book of Concord, Tappert, Augsburg Fortress). As Luther explains in the third article of the Apostles’ Creed, (paraphrased), “The Holy Spirit, calls, gathers, enlightens and
sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth and keeps it united with Jesus Christ”.
As the people of God, we are called and gathered for worship around the means of grace. The church all begins with God – worship is all God’s action toward his people. The church is simply not a club of like-minded people who get together – to feel good, to socialise or whatever, but as each person is brought to faith by the power of the Holy Spirit, they are also brought into the family of the church. I want to spend a fair bit of time with the series on The Church, and What makes church, church?, it has various implications, raises some important questions and issues for prayer and
reflection and de-myths some false ideas. I hope to see you soon. God bless.
We Pray For:
† Leaders who exercise authority in both church and state.
† People caught in sin, and for the freedom which forgiveness brings.
† Justice for the poor and a curbing of those who flaunt the law of God.
† People who bear intolerable burdens of illness, grief or anxiety.
† All who eagerly await the return of Christ and the coming of God’s kingdom.
A number of years ago, some of my wife’s family worshipped at Trinity Lutheran Church, Pasadena (a suburb south of Adelaide). One day a part of the church burnt down, and within a week or so a couple of pre-fab mobile units, joined together like Lego blocks, were placed in the tennis courts right next to the church. So that’s where the Christians of Trinity Lutheran gathered for Sunday worship while the church was being rebuilt. Similarly, long-term members here at Good Shepherd remember worshipping in the manse while this church was being built.
When the Bible speaks about church: it does not mean a building. In fact, it does not speak of a building, or a worship service, an organisation, or an organisational structure created by humans. I wrote an essay on architecture in the early Church (for the time around 100 – 300 AD). As we know, the early Christians not long after the first Pentecost had virtually no place to worship; they couldn’t worship in the Jewish synagogues, so they met in people’s homes. Some homes were converted to places of worship (home churches) where a typical home had a wall or two knocked out to create a place to hold baptisms (baptistery), and extra space was needed as the church grew. So the form and function of the early Christian Church building basically developed out of that. The church however, is people – people of God. The church is made up of all who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.
The Greek word for church is “ecclesia” and this means an assembly of people called together for a special purpose; it’s a group of people who are called out to form God’s special community. Not a real lot different to the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, the people of God (Israel) were “set apart / made holy” or, “called out” from other nations to receive God’s gracious blessings and to be a blessing to all nations. So in the New Testament, this same privilege is given to Christians (please read 1 Peter 2:9-10). Again, the church (ecclesia) belongs to God, as God has called the church into being and continues to work through it. The church can be a specific community, or communities of believers, from a household to an area (e.g. house churches in the book of Acts, to the churches in Galatia, and various churches that St John writes to).
What is your favourite image, or description of church? According to the New Testament, there’s a number of illustrations and descriptions that signify the nature of the church, e.g. saints; Believers; People of God; Servants; Household; Family; the Body of Christ with Christ as the Head; the Bride of Christ; the Living Temple and Jesus as Cornerstone – Christians are the bricks that have been laid on the firm foundation of Christ; the Vine and the Branches; the Shepherd and the Sheep - there may be a couple more images in the New Testament, but they are pretty much the main ones.
Not long ago, some people noted a black and white sign strung up around Sutherland, saying, “New Church Opening soon”, with a mobile phone number underneath. This had me thinking similar questions to what I had raised in last month’s article, like: if you were to plant a new church, who would preach and teach? Who would visit and conduct Baptism preparation and perform baptisms? With follow up after? Who would prepare Bible studies? If someone wanted to find out more about Christianity – who would conduct inquirer’s classes? Who would be overseer, or have oversight? What premises and where? What would the shape of worship look like? This leads me now to a final thought:
How is the church created and maintained?
The Church is created and maintained by the Holy Spirit working through the means of salvation: the proclamation of the Good News of God’s grace and receiving the sacraments of God’s grace (ministry of word and sacrament). To quote the Augsburg
Confession (Article VII) says, “The Church is the assembly of Saints in which the gospel is taught purely and the sacraments are administered rightly” (quote from The book of Concord, Tappert, Augsburg Fortress). As Luther explains in the third article of the Apostles’ Creed, (paraphrased), “The Holy Spirit, calls, gathers, enlightens and
sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth and keeps it united with Jesus Christ”.
As the people of God, we are called and gathered for worship around the means of grace. The church all begins with God – worship is all God’s action toward his people. The church is simply not a club of like-minded people who get together – to feel good, to socialise or whatever, but as each person is brought to faith by the power of the Holy Spirit, they are also brought into the family of the church. I want to spend a fair bit of time with the series on The Church, and What makes church, church?, it has various implications, raises some important questions and issues for prayer and
reflection and de-myths some false ideas. I hope to see you soon. God bless.
We Pray For:
† Leaders who exercise authority in both church and state.
† People caught in sin, and for the freedom which forgiveness brings.
† Justice for the poor and a curbing of those who flaunt the law of God.
† People who bear intolerable burdens of illness, grief or anxiety.
† All who eagerly await the return of Christ and the coming of God’s kingdom.