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Sermon Series Recap: The Church Series

Many people have strong feelings about the church. Of the church, Ralph Waldo Emerson has written" I like the silence of a church, before the service begins better than any preaching." Many share his views, that the church is an intolerant, frustrating place where preachers rail against society or give their narrow points of view, taking reference from an irrelevant ancient text. The great Christian writer, C S Lewis, also had his view of the church. He wrote, "I believe there are too many practitioners in the church who are not believers", implying that the church was full of people who were mistaken Christians. 

Still others, like the Anglo-American writer T S Eliot, have expressed their loyalty and passion for the church. He wrote, "the True Church can never fail. For it is based upon a rock." 

How do you feel about the church? What impressions, judgments, expectations do you carry with you when you come to church? Well, as Christians, we ought always to take our reference points from the Bible, lest we, like Emerson, come to the wrong conclusions because of our wrong expectations. This was a main point Pastor Arnold emphasized last year, when Pastor Arnold preached a series defining what the Bible itself teaches about the church.

the church series

If you missed it, you can always catch up by listening to the sermons here or reading the sermon blogposts here.

In the 11 part series, Pastor reminded us of what the church ought to be doing (mission), how it's sustained (power), what it's central function is (worship), how it comprises of different people (fellowship), what it does with the Word of God (proclaims), each member's responsibility (witness), church governance according to God (leadership), the maintainence of our fellowship (unity), how we make peace (accountability), and the sacred instructions of Christ to practice visible signs of our faith (ordinances).

The Unique Mission of the Church (Matt 28:19-20)

The Power of the Church (Jn 14:17, 26; 16:13; 1 Cor 12:4,11)

The Worship of the Church (Ps 92; 34:3, Heb 10:23-25; Ps 29:2, 72:19)

The Fellowship of the Church (Various)

The Proclamation of the Church (Various)

The Witness of the Church (1 Tim 2:1, et al)

The Leadership of the Church (Various)

The Unity of the Church (Eph 4:3, 11-16; Col 3:14)

The Service of the Church (Eph 4:7-13; Rom 12:1-8)

The Accountability of the Church (Matt 18:15-17)

The Ordinances of the Church: Baptism and Lord's Supper (Various)