The Christian & the Church

Ephesians 5:21-30

I: Jesus depended upon laymen:
1. He selected groups of men for special assignments.
2. Early in his ministry he chose the 12.
3. 6 months before the crufixition he chose 70 and sent them out 2 by 2.
4. On the evening of the Resurrection, he commissioned 10 of the original 12.
5. 6 weeks later he appointed 11 men to carry on.

II: To each Group he gave the command “Go ye.”
1. The Master knew that a going Christian is a growing Christian.
a. A going Church is a growing Church.
b. The yrs. when the Church stopped growing is called the Dark Ages.
2. When a Christian or a Church loses a concren for the lost, they stop going.
3. It is unscriptural and rebellion against a command of Jesus to fail or refuse to go.
4. When God calls, he qualifies.

III: Men are won individually.
1. The Church was started when 2 men sought out their brothers and brought them to Jesus.
2. Every man who had been touched by the grace of God had a message.
3. The great need of our present hour is soul-winning witnessing.

IV: The Churches 1st Task:
1. Every Christian needs a conviction about the Churches main task.
2. Every Christian carries a key to the Kingdom.
3. If a church fails in this task, noting matters.
4. If it fails at its very heart, it will die of heart disease.
5. When the Church loses its power to change human character, it has lost its reason for existance.
6. Every organiztion of the Church must contribute to this major task.
a. Every S.S. Class, every Dept., and every General officer.
b. Every leader, every union must better train the individual for this task.
c. Brotherhood and W.M.U have no right to exist if this is not their task.
d. The Choir that loses sight of the task becomes a burden, not a nurden-bearer.
e. When the Pulpit becomes soft and complacent, eyes are dimmed to the real command to the Church.
7. The Church is commissioned to make men Christ-like and nothing else will justify her existance.
8. This is the only thing that will save laymen from Spiritual Decay.
9. A church will die from an overdose of respectability and become embalmed in self-complacency.

V: The Church has no Competitor:
1. She is the only organization on Earth that deals with eternity.
2. She is the only body of people that offers a Saviour.