 So we can continue before we get into the next section here which is about God's blueprint for the local church. I was thinking as different ones of us we were sharing, if there are those who are aspiring church planters, you know, just know that the journey is not easy. But when it is from God, He gives the grace, He gives the strength. So I'm reminded of a mother giving birth. So it's not easy. You ask any mother, it's definitely never easy. But the joy of seeing the baby or the child or the fruit of that labor. In this case it's a spiritual fruit. That gives us all the joy and that is totally worth it. So I just do not want any of us to feel that it's so hard. It can be very difficult to actually move in this direction of church planting and all that. But if God has called you, it's a journey of faith. And so just step forward and as much as it's challenging, it's exciting. And Sister Rupa also said that she said adventure is okay. It's a good adventure and we will get to know God better. We'll get to learn to depend on God more and it's a beautiful journey. So I just want to encourage those who are aspiring to look at it as a wonderful assignment that God wants to hand you. So with that we can move on to the next section here which is about God's blueprint for the local church. So now I am on page 47 in the House of God APC publication. So when we want to build something, we all know that there needs to be a plan put in place. And generally people use a blueprint and then they construct a building. So similarly we must think about the blueprint that God has for the local church before going ahead and building it. Because what are we doing? We are talking about planting God's house, nurturing God's house, taking care of God's house. But how does God want that to be done? That's the question we're asking. So we need to know that blueprint or that pattern from God himself. Now when we talk about church, all of us in this class, we can have our own ideas. We can have our own preferences. We might think that church should look this way or that way. But ultimately it's God's opinion that matters about what the local church is supposed to be or what the global body of Christ is supposed to be. So when we are building the house of God, it's best to refer to the characteristics which are pointed out in God's word as blueprint for us to build the church. So in the word of God, there are at least 10 areas that are highlighted which we are going to study in this course and we must build the local church in line with those 10 areas. Now there are images given in the Bible, things like the church is the bride of Christ, the church is the army, the temple of God. So there are 10 such blueprints and each one of them means something. So we will expand on every single one of them as we go forward. And whether we are a pastor, whether we are a leader of a church or we might say that no, I'm not in that capacity yet. I'm just serving at another level. But that doesn't matter. Every single one of us who is serving the church must bear in mind that we are here to build according to God's blueprint, not our blueprint. So that's what we will discuss and we trust that that will help all of us to renew our minds to what the church should really look like. And I think it's page 132. If you could just go along with me to that page. So, sorry, 119. Yeah, 119, sorry. So that captures all the 10 images of what the church is supposed to be. So I think if you have a look at this, you will know the topics that we're going to discuss. So it's listed out for us, church as the bride, where we will talk about the love between the church and Christ. The church as the house of prayer and worship, where we will talk about how God wants us to be in this position of seeking Him. The church as a temple where God is honored, where Christ is honored. The wine and the branches. So that's a picture of intimacy, how God really wants us to be connected to Him. The church as a lampstand or a source of light in the dark world. The church as the body of Christ, us being one with Christ and representing Christ to the world. The church as a family of God. So the relationships within the church and our relationship with one another, how that is meant to look. We will discuss about that. The pillar of truth. The church being the upholder of truth in a world where the standards are constantly shifting. Then the church as God's chosen people where we demonstrate kingdom, culture and values to the people. And then the church as an army where we exercise our authority, we exercise our dominion on spiritual darkness. So these are the 10 pictures that we will go to one by one. Today we will take up the first one which is the church as the body of Christ. So we can go back to page 47. So we will learn along all these lines. There is a passage from 1 Corinthians chapter 3 where Paul writes to the Corinthian believers and he says that when he does his work for the house of God or the church, he builds as a wise master builder. So what he is referring to is he is saying basically he goes by the instructions that God has given him according to God's blueprint. He says as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation and another builds on it. Remember we said that there are coworkers. There are many people who are building the kingdom of God and everybody works together. And then he goes on to talk about how he is careful to build with gold, silver, precious stones because whatever work we do, eventually it is going to get tested and tested by fire. So he kind of exhorts and warns the people who are engaging in building God's house to use the material which will not perish. So that refers to us building the house of God with spiritual resources and with the right intentions. So we must be careful to do that. If we don't do it that way, how else can we build the church? We can build it with man-made ideas. We can build it for carnal reasons, fleshly reasons. We could build it just directed by how the market goes up, goes down. These are the best techniques available. So many things. We could do our research and build the church in that way. That is not directed by the word, that's not directed by the Holy Spirit. And therefore that work will not last for eternity. So we must bear in mind that God's work should be done in God's way. So let's move on to talking about the body of Christ. So the church is the body of Christ. And as we see this picture, the human body, it's easy for us to understand and relate with. So let's look at the church as the body of Christ. So this scripture right on top, chapter 8, Colossians 118, it says, and he is the head of the body, the church who is the beginning, the first one from the dead that in all things he may have the preeminence. So it talks about a body and the head of the body is Christ. So he is the head of the body and who is the body? The church. So we in the church are the body and Christ is the head. So what are some things that we can learn from us, from the human body, right? And relate that to how the church should be. So we know that in a physical body, everything is connected. Now we talked about Christ being the head and us being the body. Obviously there's a connection. You don't have zero just the head floating around and the body moving on its own but that would be very scary. That doesn't work that way. So in the same manner we are connected to Christ. And when we are connected to Christ, the life of Christ is supposed to flow through the people of God. It's supposed to flow through the body because who is the body? The church is the body. That is our position. And we are told in Acts 17-28 that we live, move and have our being in Him. So in Him our connectedness with Christ is very, very important. So you could look at it in the broad way and say, yeah the church which is everyone who is a believer, everyone who is part of the kingdom of God and you could also look at it as how does this apply to my local church? So yes, in my local church this is the way every believer must relate to God. We live, move and have our being within Him. So every believer is supposed to be connected to the head of the body. If there is no connection and we could keep explaining all these things in detail. If there is a believer and the believer is not connected to God or the local church and there is no connection of the local church with Christ, then how is it the body of Christ? So relationship, intimacy, connectedness is important both individually and collectively. And we must keep that, we must maintain that. And to know that when the body and the head are connected, our identity flows. You could say in a way the entire body, we have an identity. But generally when we talk about a person, we can recall their face and say, oh this person but obviously we are not referring to the head separately and the body separately because when we are referring to the head we know that we mean one person, they are connected. So the identity of that person is their face. So in the same way the head of the church who is Christ Jesus, the body must receive its identity from the head. And that's how it should be. So how does this apply? Basically every believer needs to know who they are in Christ Jesus. So if we don't know that, we don't know who we are. The body has no clue who the head is, what this person is all about. Then what happens? You really don't understand what you are about. So for the church, for the body, it's very important for that body to derive its identity from the head and for the identity to flow from the head. So our identity in Christ Jesus is what is important. Now as a local church we understand this. Every believer should know who they are in Christ Jesus. Now looking at various local churches that belong to the larger body of Christ, how can we interpret this? See even then, now we may belong to different denominations, we may belong to a certain way of doing church, we may belong to subscribing to a certain doctrine. So there are a lot of differences even among the so-called believers. But at the end of the day, we're all connected to the head and the head is connected to us. So how do we relate to someone who may not agree with our doctrine? As long as they are born again, they are part of the same body as us and they are connected to the head, we are connected to the head. So we relate to them with that kind of an honor. And we don't divide, don't bring divisions among the people who belong to the body of Christ. So that's how we would apply that. So yes, we've understood now that the body has a head and the head is the preeminent one. So the head makes the decisions, the body must be connected to the head and also that the identity of the body flows from the head. Now moving forward, what are the other things that come through? Because the church is the body of Christ. So the body represents the person. It represents the person. So we are told that we are the body of Christ. And we've already said that on the earth, we are the ones who have to exercise authority. And God has called the church to be that representative. A scripture here from Ephesians 1, verses 22 and 23. And he put all things under his feet and gave it to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. Again that relationship between the head and the body. And we're told that God has put everything under whose feet, under the feet of Jesus. And Jesus is the head of the body. So if everything has been put under the feet of the head, everything has been put under the feet of the body as well. So Jesus rules and reigns with authority over every work of darkness. And that is true for the church, that is true for you and me. Because if something has been put under the feet of Jesus, it has been put under our feet. So we stand in authority and on the earth, we have to represent who Christ is. In the book of John 1st John, John writes seven times, he says, as he is about Christ Jesus, he exhausts the believer and says that you must represent the Lord Jesus. Walk in the light as he is in the light. Walk as he walked. See him, we see him as he is. So basically he's pointing us to Jesus every time and he's saying that we are called to be his representatives. So what we need to understand is that the body is here to continue revealing Christ to the world. And that is our task. So how should we reveal Christ? We must reveal Christ accurately. We must reveal him in a complete way, in a complete way the best that is possible. And of course we have his word working in us and his spirit working in us. But that's what we are called to represent the Lord Jesus. So he is in heaven right now but we are the ones who have to reveal the Lord Jesus to the world. So that again is a duty of the body. Now we also see that we can reveal Christ completely. So in your notes there is some explanation about that. So positionally we are told that we are complete in him. But of course as we are living out our life here on earth in a practical way we have to demonstrate that. And again that is a journey that can be a growth journey. But it is possible because Jesus Christ has already done it. We are already complete in him. So we can represent Jesus well. We can represent him completely. We can represent him accurately. So that's the job or that's the work of the body. Then the body is supposed to do what the head instructs it to do. So the head decides I am going to go jogging and the body has to follow. Now if the body doesn't follow it just the brain decides and the body doesn't move the head. Then there is a problem there. So in the same way when the Lord Jesus has revealed his purposes. When he has revealed his standards. If the body doesn't line up with it which is us every believer and the local church and the global church. If we don't align ourselves to that there will be a huge mismatch and that's not representing Christ correctly to the world. So whatever Jesus has said, whatever he has done, whatever he has purposed for the world. We are the ones who are in the place to execute it because we are in the world right now. So in a sense we could say that we are the hands and the feet of Jesus. He is the head but we are the hands, we are the feet and we are here to do the will of God. We move forward as representatives and hopefully people will receive us. Jesus said that the Father sent him and Jesus is sending us out. So we are the ones who are representing, we will do the bidding of the head who is the Lord Jesus Christ. So in that manner we are here to execute the purposes of God. So whatever gets done, I think we touched on this earlier in the purpose of the church. The mission of the church, how we must step out and there are so many different areas in our character. How we can have the fruit of the spirit in the works that we do, how we can demonstrate good works in carrying the power of God, demonstrating the power of God. We can reveal the glory of God. So we can be the hands and feet engaging in the matters of the world and bringing about that change, shedding the light of God in the places of darkness. So that's how we exercise our position that as the body, here is the other truth that we can learn. The body has many parts. The head is only one part which is the Lord Jesus Christ. But the body consists of various numbers. And similarly, the body of Christ which is the church consists of many members. So there are lots of individuals. How do we relate to these individuals who are also part of the body? In 1 Corinthians 12 verses 12 to 27, there is a passage that talks about relating with one another and honoring one another just the way the human body. Human body, there are many parts, they all have their functions. It's not that one body part is better than the other part because it gets to do a specific duty, not at all. There's no question of competition. There's no question of comparison. So the eye will do its part, the ear will do its part. Every body part has its duty to perform. And you can't really, what do you say? You can't not have that body part. And it is really essential. You can't just let go of a certain body part at any time because you need every single body part. So as we study this passage, we are able to take the truth from there and apply it to the kingdom of God, apply it to the church and the local church where we can say things like there are many members in the body of Christ. So if you look at the local church, you can say, yes, individually there are lots of people who belong to the body of Christ. And we could also say that every single person has their function. And each member is very much needed. You can't replace them. Every person is irreplaceable for whatever God has done in their lives, what God is leading them to do that can't be replaced. They are very much needed in the body of Christ. And there does not have to be competition because each one is gifted in a different way and each one is called to perform a different function. So as long as we are doing our part joyfully and without competition, the body can accomplish what it is supposed to. Then we are not independent. So we can't say that we can exist on our own. That doesn't happen even in our body parts. Nothing exists separately. So in the same way in the church, people are dependent on one another. So we need each other. And we have to learn to grow together, learn to do life together. So we are not independent of each other. I think we have touched on most of the parts, most of the insights from this passage here. So basically, it's an encouragement to realize that we can live together. Because when you look at the church, the global church, it's about celebrating one another. We all exist. Different denominations exist. And we can learn to appreciate. We can learn to celebrate each person's gifting and function and bless one another and continue to be a part of the body of Christ. We don't really have to ask God to do away with one particular person or one particular denomination. A group of people whom we may not like. So that's not how the body works. So we trust God and we do our part. We learn to appreciate. We learn to celebrate one another. A few more insights from this passage. I'll just add these as well. God has placed each one where he saw it best for us. And as he was pleased. This is 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 18. So again, why is a certain person doing what they are doing? God knows best. Now we don't know why God has chosen each one in their positions. So once again, I talked about appreciating and celebrating one another. We must also appreciate and celebrate the decision that God has made in choosing different ones of us for different tasks. So God knows best why he has positioned us where he has. And then it takes all of us to make up the whole. Every single person is needed. Every single person can contribute to the life of the church. So we don't find some body parts not wanting to do their part on 2 days or 3 days. You can't just say that for this weekend my hands are taking a break. So they won't do anything. It just doesn't work like that. Everyone has to step in. Every body part has to step in. So if the eye doesn't see then the mouth cannot speak and the hand doesn't move. Every body part is very much needed. And it's only when each one does their part that you make up the whole. So in the same way in the church, everyone's role is essential. Now what if somebody says okay, I'm not doing it. It does affect the others. So we must understand that everyone is needed. Everyone's contribution is important. And it's only when each one steps up that we can make up the whole. And nobody can claim independence. Also in this passage there's another key point which is that whatever God gives greater honour to what seems to have less honour. So the body parts which have less honour, God gives them greater honour is what we need. So how do we understand this? See in our site we might great responsibilities in a certain way. So if you see someone speaking from the pulpit or if you see someone on the stage, we might great that as a good ministry, great ministry. Whereas there can be others who come in early and they kind of clean up the place. They put the chairs, they do all the other work that is required for the church to actually begin to gather. Now who are we to say what is better than what is? God who sees each person's heart, God who sees each person's ministry, God who sees each person's worship. So for us whatever is seemingly less honourable, God is the one who can give it more honour. I am reminded of the Ministry of Intercession. The Ministry of Intercession is not in the public eye and there are so many people who serve faithfully, maybe their entire lifetime praying and nobody even knows their name. Nobody even knows they did it but in the sight of God there is great honour for the ministry that they have done. So in that manner the things that may be seemingly less honourable are actually more honourable in the sight of God. So God is the one who judges and we must not treat anybody, anybody's function in a light way. So that is an additional point there. And obviously the entire body must learn to work together and work well because if there are divisions, if one body part withholds its function the body can't work. So in the same way if there are divisions in the body of Christ among the people of God it affects the whole body. It affects, it slows down the work of the kingdom, whatever we said so far, representing Jesus, revealing Jesus, being the hands and feet of Jesus, all that gets hindered and hampered. So divisions and strife in the body is not something that God wants. So with the example of the human body, Paul actually tried to bring out all these insights and let people know that there are many of us who make up the whole and we have to learn to appreciate where God has put us, learn to honour one another and learn to work together, learn to keep away division, strife, hatred and things that destroy us. So these are some insights that we gained from this chapter. And in practicality what are the things that we can do for the local church? So we can teach them that the believer is the body of Christ and the believer belongs to the body of Christ. So the other things will follow, things like deriving identity from the head, being connected to the head and then, you know, flowing well with other believers. So this truth of us being the body of Christ helps us to live out our lives in this way. And of course, you know, as being a part of the body where the head has authority, we also move in the authority that God has given us. And we continue to execute the commands that the head gives us. And yeah, so those are some of the applications of this truth and some of the challenges. I'll share two challenges which I mentioned here in our notes but I'm sure we can discuss and we can talk some more after this. So one challenge which a church can have is having people from several cultural and social backgrounds. So when that happens, if they are not taught that they are the body of Christ and various parts have to, you know, learn to live together, learn to serve God together, there can be divisions within the church, right? So as a pastor and a leader, we have to be very, very sensitive and we have to make sure that we are building the church by instructing them to have one mind, one heart. You know, that's what Paul preached. He said you should have one heart and one mind. So if we notice any divisions, any cliques forming or people kind of wanting to be only within their own social group then we must see how to bring that, how to bridge, how can you kind of help these social groups and, you know, people from varied cultures to do life together in that local church, okay? So it's not easy but a pastor can be sensitive about that and with the guidance and the direction of the Holy Spirit address that matter and reminded of what happened in Acts chapter 6. Remember we discussed when there was an issue of serving food, there was a problem between the Hebrew speaking Jews and the Greek speaking Jews. So there's a cultural difference, okay? And because of the cultural difference, one group felt that their widows are being neglected but the leaders of the church, they didn't just brush off the concern and say, hey, forget it. It's okay. You know, learn to deal with it. They didn't do it that way but they took it up because there was a group, they were feeling left out. So the elders dealt with it. They appointed seven volunteers and they made sure that food was distributed equally, properly to among the widows of both the cultures, okay? And what happens at the end of that passage, you see that the church grew. The word went out, okay? So the way the leaders dealt with the division made all the difference and the church completely right. So when there are divisions, there can be differences in the local church. The leaders need to know how to address it in a positive way and what we are discussing in our other class, encourage kingdom culture. Encourage kingdom culture, which is beyond the nation that we come from and the background that we come from and all of that. So kingdom culture, that was the emphasis. Okay, yeah. Then the other challenge here is the non-commitment of some believers to a local body because they understand this truth that we are part of the body of Christ but they would like to subscribe to the idea that it's okay not to be planted in the local church because I'm part of the larger body of Christ. There's nothing wrong in what they're saying, okay? However, how do you do life if you're not planted in one local body? How do you stay accountable, right? If you're not planted in one body, how do you use your gifts and your grace to serve your brothers and sisters if you're floating around going to different churches every weekend, every other day or all over the place? You're not ready to commit to one local church. So that can happen when believers understand that they are part of the global body and the large body of Christ. So we can encourage the believers to choose to stay planted and committed in a local church. This can also happen when there are certain ministers of God who have to travel around a lot for their work and that's understandable, right? They have to travel around but sometimes it becomes an excuse where they don't want to be planted in any church or they don't want to be accountable to any local church. So that can become problematic. Sometimes they might travel around and visit various churches only to promote their ministry and nothing else. So that's also not nice, that's also not nice. So what we are saying is one is the believers need to understand this truth that they are part of the body of Christ and use the insights and live out the insights at the same time having understood what this means, the misapplication might also happen and that needs to be prevented. So that overall is what we see in this chapter. I'm going to pause at this time and if there are other thoughts that you may have or some questions that need to be answered we can deal with that. So in that case let me ask you a question. So how do you balance this truth of being a part of the local body and at the same time belonging to the larger body of Christ? Every single one of us is a part of the local church and the larger church. So how does it work? Yes, yes Harrison. I belong to a local church and I still go around with some other activities that relates to the things of God but I've not really found a balance towards handling the things in the local church and also addressing the ones outside or maybe a global outreach. Because the task I see before me in the local church is kind of time-consuming that I don't really have time to really address other things. One thing I've come to understand is that God has given us a different platform to share His Word. One other way I've used to manage the global outreach is through the Internet. So I'm seeing and it's something that I've come up with a concept of shooting and short films that relates to Christianity and the body of Christ. So if I cannot be there in person then I can use the platforms that I have to also reach out to as many as I want to reach out to. And I think this is the way I kind of balanced my time in the local church and in the global outreach. Thank you Harrison, thank you for sharing. So what you're saying is based on the gifts that God has given you and what is put in your heart you sort of divide your time between the local church and the other responsibilities. Yeah, the thing I want to also say is that there are some things that I see in the local church that I may not really have the attitude to express it the way I want to express it. Let me say that the way I see it, people may not accept it the way I see it. And how do I share that story? How do I tell what I see? And the best way I've come up is to show a movie that tells the story or show a short film that tells the story. Let me take for example, if I'm to tell my past story that what is happening here is not really right because for me, I may go through the world I've got to know to see whether such movement is biblical. And if it is not, then I'm like, I'm not really done with it. And how do I go to tell the authority that what you're doing is not right? Because you don't want to create confusion. You don't want to be seen as a rebellious Christian or a rebellious worker. And in those moments, you just ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom. But there are so many ways we just want to pass on the information that God has given us. And one way and one from me, from my own side of the story is that how can I really reach out to the people? And when you look at it, a lot of people are spending time on their phones, on their laptops. And the best way I can do that is to reach them through that medium that they pay attention to. And the more I'm busy creating content that will touch lives on the social media, the better for the social media. Because when you pick up your phone and you browse through or do your research, you want to see a lot of things that are contrary to the will of God, contrary to the word of God. And as we Christians, how do we come in to see that we change the narratives of this thing? And that's why I feel that it is very important that we use every medium that we have to propagate the gospel. Just like we are sharing here, if the initiative has not come up for a Bible college to be online, someone like me will not have the opportunity to partake in such a great moment like this. So it is very important that we use every medium. Because I do say that when the devil is getting more refined in his method in capturing souls, what is the Christian body doing? So why the devil is planning? We have to be ahead of him. So that's my take on it. Thank you. Yeah, sure, sure. Thank you. Thank you, Addison. Thank you for sharing. Yeah, so we get that. And also, I think for lack of time, we will not be able to take on any more questions. I wanted to add a few thoughts to what you said about in case the leadership and then some issues there. But we're going to talk about that in Kingdom Builders. So please excuse me because I know you have a class to catch and me too. So we will wrap up right now. And Samuel, maybe you could post your question on the screen page if you don't mind. Or we can respond to your question. It was a response to the question that you asked. Oh, response. OK, OK, OK, OK. Maybe next class. Next class. Yes. Sounds good. Sounds good. Yeah. OK. All right. Thank you everyone. Thank you. And I'll just say a quick word of prayer. We will close with that. Speaking to us, Father, for equipping us, Lord, with the truth of your word. Lord, we pray that every word, Lord, of yours will change us. It will transform us. It will renew us, Father God. And Lord, that we will keep moving. Lord, close it to you. And Father God, align ourselves, Lord, to your purposes. Lord, we continue to ask that your hand of blessing will be upon each one of us, Father God. And Lord, grant us your understanding and a lot of knowledge as we continue with the learning, Father. We thank you once again. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. So God bless you. Class, thank you once again. See you next week. Bye for now. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Bye. Thank you. Bye, everyone.