Vision Of The Church

Without knowing who God is, we are merely searching for treasure in the dark. We often have a very wrong impression of God; an image of a God who terrifies us, a God who sentences sinners to blazing fire. However, as I learned more and more about God, my understanding of God changed and my vision became clearer. Over the course of last week, we also saw the vision of hell, the vision of eternity and vision of the salvation plan. The next perspective we need to understand is the vision of the church. 

If you google Christian churches, you will see a lot of search results. These results showcase churches that were established in the yesteryears as well as churches and communities that commenced in the recent past. Each of the churches have different doctrines and different kinds of practices and belief systems. Essentially there is a conflict of core beliefs in the Christian community at large. I personally know people who have been confused and swayed by wrong doctrines. These are strong spiritual leaders who grew in their faith and remained steadfast in Christ. The reason for this backsliding is because they lack a foundational understanding of God and the kingdom principles. Anybody can preach anything to you, it’s your duty to be aware and cross check the Bible constantly to not be swayed by worldly doctrines. 

Ephesians 5:32 says, ‘This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.’

In the verses before this Paul talks about the relationship between a husband and a wife. He details what a husband must do and a wife’s duties. Suddenly there Paul digresses and talks about the relationship between Christ and the Church. Essentially what this means is that the Church is the bride of Christ. It is crucial for us to understand what the Church is and the foundational principles, because it is very easy to stray away from if we are unaware. 

The Church is not an organisation or a politically affiliated community. So, what is Church? God gives us various analogies to help us understand the Church. Church is a fellowship. Church is compared to that of a nursery where babies are nurtured. Church is compared to a sheep pen where animals are nurtured with fodder and water. Church is a field. Church is compared to a vineyard. Church is a household of God where he is the foundational rock of the house. Church is a building. The Church is the body of Christ. The Church is an army. The Church is an embassy where Christ is the head and the Church the body. The Church is God's parliament. But when the Church loses its vision, rituals and false and unnecessary teachings creep in which are conflicting with the word of God. 

We constantly see images of God waiting at the door, knocking. We often think it means that God is knocking at our hearts to enter. However, it is God waiting to enter the Church, the community and body of Christ. Jesus is longing for fellowship with the Church. It’s the Godly wisdom that will help us understand what Church is and what it is not. To be discerning we must have a good understanding of the Bible and must read it daily. 

The vision that God gave me about Blessing Today was ‘transformed communities’ and ‘a prepared Church for Jesus Christ’. It is to bring this vision to light that ‘Blessing Today’ exists today where all our initiatives and missions are aligned with this vision from God. 

There was an old lady in the Church who was diagnosed with arthritis disease. She made a decision to somehow beat this disease and recover from it. She decided she wouldn’t miss coming to Church or the Church community activities. She drags herself to Church everyday. She did this Sunday after Sunday. When people saw her doing this, many asked why she was dragging herself to Church everyday and nudged her to watch the sermons online. The old lady said that at first her heart reaches the Church and then she drags her sickly body to the Church. This lady could have said that the Church is meant to be a healing centre and despite regularly attending the services, I’m not healed. We should have a vision of the church.