Church Necessities

I was looking through all my notes this afternoon when I came across a sheet that was titled "Necessities". It was my thoughts on what is essential for a Christian Church. Here is what it detailed:

Jesus needs to be preached every Sunday regardless of practical application. The Bible has great practical advice but it all comes back to Christ and the Cross. Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the Church. (Ephesians 5:25) Fathers, lead your children with the discipline and instruction of the LORD. (Ephesians 6:4) Brothers, love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. (Romans 12:10)

We need to be more Christ like. It's great if you want to be a better Husband but it's only in Christ and with the Holy Spirit that you can do so. John Piper says it well in one of his poems:

"The greatest gift you give your wife, is loving God above her life. And thus I bid you now to bless: Go love her more by loving less."

The Bible is all about Jesus, and so should our Sunday Mornings.

-The Worship needs to exalt Christ, not ourselves. Many popular worship songs have so much more to do with us than it does about Jesus. This is the chorus of a popular worship song:

And oh, how He loves us so,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all

Indeed, God loves us. "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

But, how do those lyrics bring God glory? He loves us, Comforting, but is God loving us the reason why he is worth worshiping? What about his character? What makes God worth worshiping?

He's:

Perfect (Matthew 5:48)
Holy (Luke 1:49)
Righteous (Deuteronomy 32:1-6)
Loving (1 John 4:8)
Merciful (Romans 9:14-16)
Sovereign (Psalm 135:6)

The list could go on.

Let’s honor God in our worship by making it about Him.

- A Church needs to have a written and scripturally supported Statement of Faith. It’s like “Show me the CarFax” but for Church. What a Church believes is essential to why the Church exists. A Statement of Faith should cover close-handed issues such as Scripture being the inerrant word of God, the Trinity (God eternally existing as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), the fall of man, the Gospel, etc.

-Growing the congregation in community with one another is very important. Community is a primary focus for Doxa, the Church I attend, and I’ve found it to be necessary for your spiritual growth. The Bible has much to say about meeting with one another to edify each other into the image of Christ. Hebrew 10:24-25 says “let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Galatians 6:2 says “Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

We are one body in Christ (Romans 12:3-13) and we need to pray, serve, and support one another!

-Your Church leadership needs to be structured with scripture. You should have an organized way in which to raise young Men and Women into roles within the Church. Our generation lacks drive, especially without a structured system. As far as what the Bible says about the qualifications of an Elder, I will quote 1 Timothy 3:1-7:

The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife (Must be male), sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.

This concludes my notes on the Necessities of the Church. I pray God is glorified in the Churches he leads us to establish, and He would lead those who are blind to Him through the doors.