The church was never about a place; it’s about being a people. A people who are connected in following Jesus Christ. Jesus teaches us that the Church is not a place, organization, or cause; but a people, a people who enter into a relationship with God that changes everything. Unfortunately, what began as a movement launched by Christ became about a place, a power, that started to do some immoral, destructive, unethical things. This week we are going to talk about what it means to be the Church.
1. What comes to your mind when you think about “church”?
2. The Church launched as a movement of God. What comes to your mind when you think of the potential of a movement of God?
3. Jesus challenged us to be the Church, not go to church. What is the difference between being the church and going to church?
4. What does it look like to be the Church?
5. Read Matthew 16:16-18. Being the church is connecting with Jesus Christ. According to Jesus, Who is building the church? What does that mean to you?
6. Think about Jesus’ declaration from the previous verses; God is the only one who can know you at your deepest levels. He made you, and He alone knows the purpose for which you were designed. He holds the book of your life and knows the number of your days. You can never find fulfillment and true, lasting joy apart from knowing him. If you are the church, and if Jesus is building the church, what hope do you find knowing that God is in control of the most minute details of your life?
7. Being the Church is not about showing up and attending a service or bible study. It is a whole new way to see your life. Being the Church is connecting to your calling. What do you understand your calling to be?
8. Read Matthew 16:18. Jesus says the Church He is building will have the keys to the kingdom of God, giving it the authority to bind and loose on earth and in heaven. If we could only grasp the potential of this truth, there would be no end to the impact we, as the Church, could have in our neighborhood and in the world. Do you think the Church is living up to its full potential? What would it take to get there? What part would you have to play?
9. What would it look like for you to be the Church?
10. Read Matthew 16:23. Where do you see that you “do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”? Why is this such a struggle for us?
11. God wants has already equipped you to be the Church. He wants to use you to build the Church. How do you suppose your life might change if the first thing you did every morning was to get on your knees before God and pray, “Father God, I love you. Jesus, I love you. Holy Spirit, I love you. Use me today, however you please, to build your Church”?