Church Is a Gift, Part 2

 

Continued from “Church Is a Gift, Part 1”

Gifts Within the Gift

All gifts from God contain multiple blessings within those gifts. The gift of the church does not just end with attendance on Sunday mornings; it overflows with blessings that impact our lives every day of the week!

Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are those who dwell in Your house and Your presence; they will be singing Your praises all the day long. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that] (Psalm 84:4-7, AMPC)!

The Ministry Gifts

One of God’s gifts within the gift of church is the blessing of Godly leadership. As we read in Ephesians 4:8 & 11, Jesus’ method of overseeing the church is to give leadership gifts to the local churches. Of these five ministry gifts, the pastor leads the local body. The Holy Spirit equips the pastor to complete many responsibilities (Acts 20:28). The pastor:

• Oversees the church (1 Peter 5:1-4)
• Takes care of the church (1 Timothy 3:4, 5)
• Rules (leads) the church (Hebrews13:7, 17)
• Watches out for the souls of the members (Hebrews 13:17)
• Preaches God’s word to the members (2 Timothy 4:2)
• Delegates teaching to other qualified members (2 Timothy 2:2)
• Corrects sinning members (2 Timothy 2:24-26)
• Equips members for ministry (Ephesians 4:11, 12)
• Edifies or “builds up” the body (Ephesians 4:11, 12)
• Solidifies and unifies the body (Ephesians 4:13)
• Brings doctrinal stability to the church (Ephesians 4:14)
• Is an example of how to live (1 Timothy 4:12)

When we consider the gift of a pastor, we should be grateful for God’s care for us. The job of a pastor is huge, both physically and spiritually. It is a blessing to us, protecting us just as a shepherd watches over his flock.

The pastor is the most important ministry gift to the local church. But God, in His generosity, also gave us the ministry gifts of apostles, prophets, evangelists, and teachers that impart blessings to us that we couldn’t get anywhere else. Some may come into our churches as guest ministers, while others may be within our church functioning as church leadership. Working together under the direction of the Holy Spirit, these gifts re-enforce the Kingdom of God on the earth; declare specific words from God for that time and place; make and grow disciples; and teach God’s Word so the Body of Christ can develop into what it’s called to be. God knew we needed each one of these gifts!

The Gift of Relationships

Church is a family community. When we were born again, God adopted us into His family, making us brothers and sisters to every person who receives Jesus as their Lord and Savior. And it gave God great pleasure when He did!

God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure (Ephesians 1:5, NLT).

Attending church is one of the greatest ways to cultivate relationships with each other in the Body of Christ. As we fellowship before and after church, serve together, and attend special events, we invest in friendships and get to know each other beyond the pew. (And as in my case, we may even discover our spouse!) God knew there were connections that we needed to make to experience a full, joyful life. When He instructed us to attend church, it wasn’t just for the preaching and singing. It was for the people as well.

The Gift of Corporate Worship

Singing worship songs and listening to Bible teaching is what most people think about first when someone mentions church. This is a powerful tradition that began in Bible times. Though God is with us all the time and in every place (Hebrews 13:5), we invite His manifested presence when we worship and honor His Word (Matthew 18:19-20). Whether in a united prayer, worship, or teaching setting, that powerful manifestation will minister to us in a way we will not experience outside the church walls. The corporate anointing of God’s presence is always stronger when we are together than when we are apart.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord (Colossians 3:16).

The Gift of Service

The body of Christ is—or should be—full of servant-hearted people who help each other (Matthew 23:11). Serving one another is one of God’s ways of meeting our needs, a gift representing Jesus’s heart.

For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another (Galatians 5:13).

We are a three-part being, including a spirit, a soul, and a body. God cares about the well-being of all three, so He has assigned believers to minister to them all. When we need spiritual help, the Body of Christ is there with prayer support (James 5:16), motivational gifts (Romans 12), and the gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12). Our church family is also there to exhort us to stay faithful in our walk with God, so we don’t backslide in the last days (Hebrews 10:24-26). When we fall into challenging times and need food, money, or clothing, our church family is there to help us (Romans 12:13). Should we go through a season of grief, the Holy Spirit will use our brothers and sisters in Christ to comfort us (Thessalonians 5:11). We were never meant to walk through the challenges of life alone.

The Gift of Ministry Development

 God has a call on each believer’s life. It may not be to preach from the pulpit or be an international missionary. But God has an assignment for us to fulfill and it begins with our involvement in the Body of Christ. One of the gifts of church attendance is that we can discover our life’s calling and develop whatever gifts God has placed inside us. Though we can discover our calling in many ways, two of those ways are through prophecy or God speaking to us while we are in His presence at church. We may also find it as we serve others and realize what a joy a particular ministry is to us. As we determine these callings and gifts, God will surround us with experiences and teachers to help us develop them.

It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life (2 Corinthians 3:5-6, NLT).

 

Conclusion

Church attendance was meant to edify, or build us up, not tear us down. If we feel like we are being dismantled piece by piece while going to church, we are attending the wrong church. Though there are no perfect Christians or churches, God will never send us somewhere that doesn’t build us up into a stronger structure. Our lives as we see them now are not the finished product as God wants them to be. We are finished in the sense that God made our spirits brand new; but in our souls, we should grow steadily and become more conformed to the image of God. We, the church, are a structure in the process of construction. God has provided the church and its members to help in the building process. But to receive from it, we must continue attending and participating in church so that the Holy Spirit can do its work (Acts 2:40-46, NKJV).

We may not hear about it often, but there are countries and cultures around the world who persecute our brothers and sisters in Christ for their faith in Jesus. These Christians often meet in secret because it is illegal to be a Christian in their countries. They could lose their lives if discovered worshipping or reading their Bibles. Yet under the worst circumstances, they persevere, honoring God by assembling. Thankfully, in North America, we do not suffer from that kind of persecution. Our hearts should be overflowing with thanksgiving for the privilege of coming together to worship freely. May we never take for granted our ability to assemble, but freely give the blessing we have received (Matthew 10:8). May we value it like the gift it is—a treasure straight from the heart of God.