What a great question! This is where our Building Antioch study begins. What is the first answer that comes to your mind?
For many, the first answer that comes to mind is the building where we meet every Sunday. For others, they quickly say that it is the people who meet there. Some might even describe it as what we do on a Sunday morning, we have church. I have even heard people call the worship service “Big Church.”
The Bible defines the church as the followers of Jesus. It uses such terms as the body of Christ, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, even a temple not built by human hands.
Building Antioch brings out an interesting point. Church is a word with baggage. Some will describe an institution held in high regard. In others, you will hear loathing, frustration, or a litany of complaints.
“Some Christians believe the church, by nature, is a flawed organization since it’s made up of human beings, and the best option is simply to accept the church’s inherent shortcomings. Others see those shortcomings as a reason to [abandon church all together].”
The Bible says that the church is a vitally important part of the plan of God. It is through the church that the message of God is carried to the mankind.
It is a witness of the purpose and the power of God that there is a church in Claiborne Parish, 6,840 miles from where the church began and nearly 2,000 years after it started.
Ephesians 3:10 says, “This is so God’s multi-faceted wisdom may now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavens.”
This says that we are not only an earthly witness but a heavenly witness. This is an amazing thought. The church is a testimony of the power of God. Not only that, but we are the tool in the hand of God.
Think about the difference that the church has made in your life. It is through the church that you have become the believer that you are today.
We must actively engage in the church in an effort to see it become all God meant it to be. We must see the church “with renewed vision, passion, and power to transform the lives of their members and communities, even to the ends of the earth.”
Quotes from Building Antioch: Your Role in a Transformational Church by Jeff Iorge
Brian Thurman 