Do We Really Need the Church?

1. Do We Really Needthe Church?

2. “Come to the altar and be saved. You don’t need to be a member of any church to be saved. Being a part of a church has nothing to do with being saved.”

3. That’s a funny statement in light of Scripture.

4. That’s a funny statement in light of Scripture. • “The husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior” (Eph. 5:23, ESV).

5. That’s a funny statement in light of Scripture. • “The husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior” (Eph. 5:23, ESV). • “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood” (Acts 20:28, ESV).

6. That’s a funny statement in light of Scripture. • “The husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior” (Eph. 5:23, ESV). • “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood” (Acts 20:28, ESV). • “The Lord added to their number [the church] day by day those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47, ESV).

7. The idea in saying that you don’t need to be a member of the church is that the church isn’t important.

8. The idea in saying that you don’t need to be a member of the church is that the church isn’t important. • But, the church must be important.

9. The idea in saying that you don’t need to be a member of the church is that the church isn’t important. • But, the church must be important. • Jesus died for the church.

10. The idea in saying that you don’t need to be a member of the church is that the church isn’t important. • But, the church must be important. • Jesus died for the church: “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Eph. 5:25, ESV).

11. The idea in saying that you don’t need to be a member of the church is that the church isn’t important. • But, the church must be important. • Jesus died for the church: (Eph. 5:25). • Jesus promised to build the church.

12. The idea in saying that you don’t need to be a member of the church is that the church isn’t important. • But, the church must be important. • Jesus died for the church: (Eph. 5:25). • Jesus promised to build the church. • “On this rock I will build my church” (Mt. 16:18, ESV).

13. The idea in saying that you don’t need to be a member of the church is that the church isn’t important. • But, the church must be important. • Jesus died for the church: (Eph. 5:25). • Jesus promised to build the church. • “On this rock I will build my church” (Mt. 16:18, ESV). • Why would Jesus promise to build something unimportant?

14. Through prophets, God promised that the church would be built.

15. Through prophets, God promised that the church would be built. • “It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.’ For out of Zion shall go the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” (Is. 2:2-4, ESV).

16. Through prophets, God promised that the church would be built. • Is. 2:2-4. • “In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever” (Dan. 2:44, ESV).

17. Why is the church so important?

18. Why is the church so important? The Fellowship of Believers & the Cooperation of Believers

19. The church is important for the fellowship of believers.

20. People are by nature very social beings.

21. People are by nature very social beings. • “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him” (Gn 2:18, ESV).

22. People are by nature very social beings. • “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him” (Gn 2:18, ESV). • Man was created to live in fellowship.

23. The New Testament speaks about the fellowship of Christians.

24. The New Testament speaks about the fellowship of Christians. • “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42, ESV).

25. The New Testament speaks about the fellowship of Christians. • “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42, ESV). • “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 Jn. 1:7, ESV).

26. Fellowship encourages us to live right before God.

27. Fellowship encourages us to live right before God. • “Exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb. 3:13, ESV).

28. Fellowship encourages us to live right before God. • “Exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb. 3:13, ESV). • “It is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ, and all for your upbuilding, beloved” (2 Cor. 12:19, ESV).

29. This exhortation is so vital.

31. Fellowship helps brethren face difficulties.

32. Fellowship helps brethren face difficulties. • “Weep with those who weep” (Rom. 12:15, ESV).

33. Fellowship helps brethren face difficulties. • “Weep with those who weep” (Rom. 12:15, ESV). • “Jesus wept” (Jn. 11:35, ESV).

34. The comfort we give brethren is so vital.

35. Fellowship helps brethren get rid of sin.

36. Fellowship helps brethren get rid of sin. • “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal 6:1-2, ESV).

37. Fellowship helps brethren get rid of sin. • “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal 6:1-2, ESV). • This support is so vital.

38. Love for one another permeates this fellowship.

39. Love for one another permeates this fellowship. • “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn. 13:35, ESV).

40. Love for one another permeates this fellowship. • “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn. 13:35, ESV). • “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God” (1 Jn. 4:7, ESV).

41. The church must be a place of love.

42. Why did God want the church to have close fellowship?

43. This type of fellowship will attract unbelievers.

44. This type of fellowship will attract unbelievers. • This world is a cold, cold place.

45. This type of fellowship will attract unbelievers. • This world is a cold, cold place. • For many, the love & fellowship of the church is a welcome change.

46. This type of fellowship prepares us for difficult times.

47. This type of fellowship prepares us for difficult times. • Who hasn’t had extremely difficult days?

48. This type of fellowship prepares us for difficult times. • Who hasn’t had extremely difficult days? • Where can we turn when life seems so difficult?

49. This type of fellowship restores those fallen in sin.

50. This type of fellowship restores those fallen in sin. • “When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord” (1 Cor. 5:4-5, ESV).