More Than a Building

¹⁵ Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”  ¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”  ¹⁷Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being.  ¹⁸ Now I say to you that you are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. (Matthew 16:15-18 NLT)

Church is > a .

ἐκκλησία: A gathering of called out ones.

The Church was established to be a .

Church church

1. The Church exists for ministry to .

¹ I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
² My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad.
³ Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together! (Psalm 34:1-3 ESV)

2. The Church exists for ministry to .

¹¹ Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. ¹² Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-12 NLT)

3. The Church exists for ministry to .

¹ We who are strong must be considerate of those who are sensitive about things like this. We must not just please ourselves. ² We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord. ³ For even Christ didn’t live to please himself. (Romans 15:1-3 NLT)

¹⁰ God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. ¹¹ This was his eternal plan, which he carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord. (Ephesians 3:10-11 NLT)

Additional Notes