 Good morning. Good morning everybody. Yes. So can one of us please pray? Okay. How about first rose? Is it is it okay? Like would you be able to pray or? Do Okay, I'm not sure what what time of the day it is there in New Zealand Okay. Yes. Yes. Yes, Christopher, please please go ahead Heavenly Father, thank you for today. Thank you for Giving us a new day a new New day to Show your show keep showing your love for us and for us to keep responding back to you We thank you for this this class that That is our head of us We ask we ask for you for your for your strength your guidance for us to be able to Get the most out of this class We thank you for Pastor Nancy Thank you for giving us giving us the opportunity to have to have this class that that she's going to be teaching us and Well, we asked you to continue to keep us In good health safe from harm For us and for our families in Jesus name we pray Thank you, thank you Christopher What a wonderful way to start off this morning's class and this course that we will be doing During this semester. It's called the local church and the textbook that we will use for the courses The house of God again, it's an APC publication and I posted it on your classwork page You can download it. You can follow along as I go over it. So the local church is You know something that each one of us is very familiar with I'm sure some of us have grown up You know Grown up in church. Well, it would still be okay to say that because we've been so closely Associated with church, but then there are others, you know, as you've come to know the Lord later on in your life You know, you've learned the the value of fellow shipping. You've learned the You know the Fact that the church the church is something that the Lord Jesus has instituted and You know, he displays his power and glory through the local church So we we have different kinds of You know exposure to the local church But the most important thing for us to realize is that though we may have our own understanding God understanding about the local church is what each one of us need and each one of us need this Also, because you know, not just for ourselves, but for others that we minister to and others that we serve So what does the word of God of the Bible say about the local church? That's what we will understand You know throughout this semester. So just as an overview, what are we going to cover? We are going to cover the purpose the origin and the purpose of the church and We will also look at the intention that God had in Initiating or establishing the church. So I'm going to use the word blueprint. Okay. Now, we know that whenever Something needs to be built Generally what people do is they they come up with a plan they come up with a really Effective plan because the time resources and energy that we that they invest in building it could be Some sort of gadget it could be some it could be a house that somebody is building or you know, it could also be a craft Project that somebody is undertaking. Whatever it is, you know, usually we begin with a good plan the reason is as you start working on it, you don't want to run out of resources and When it is done, you want to make sure that it was worth your time and it is the best outcome that could possibly have, you know That you could possibly have come up with so When we are so careful in the natural realm to build things for maximum effectiveness, how much more You know for us to be Cautious about building the house of God or the church according to his blueprint So we have to go by God's blueprint. Each one of us can have our own different ideas For what makes the church work, what makes the church great, you know, what makes the church a blessing So if I go over and ask different ones of us, I'm sure you you would say, you know, many different Points things like it should be warm people should be friendly The the arrangement for the services should be comfortable. So we all have our own opinions But what is God's opinion? What is God's blueprint for the church? That is Crucial and we are going to study God's blueprint for the church and then we will also take some time to study about church administration in a brief way we will look at The citywide church, you know the kind of impact that the citywide church can have Over the people of the city. So these are all some topics that will come and we we will Get into detail as we look at each topic. So, yeah, so the blueprint is is what we will Focus on and one thing that I want to clarify before we go further is we are not going to specify methods and Techniques. Yes, there are examples that we might share from different local churches and because you know, Pastor has put together this content. He has examples from his own Ministry of how the church was established. What are some of the things that he engaged in? So there are those examples, but it's not that Everyone has to use the same method or you know, everyone has to Go by the same You know Way of doing things because we serve a creative God and if you Look at the different churches that already exist Okay, and the way God is working in them the way God is working through those churches you'll notice that he is very creative and The things that the way he leads a certain church is very different from the way he leads a Another church. So every single minister of God has to walk with the Lord and Understand how God wants to lead that individual. Okay. Yes Go by the original Intent of God by the blueprint which is given in God's word But at the same time be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit will guide you and instruct you on how you must Build the local church now. We also understand that every single person in this class may not be Wanting to pastor a church. Okay. So how many of us want to be pastors or you sense that call Upon your life that you know, you you are meant to be a pastor. Maybe you're already a pastor Okay, Samuel. Okay, Samuel Yeah Mangi, okay Samuel Mangi they sense that pastor will call on their lives anybody else you feel that God has called you to be a pastor Okay, Kishan Kishan, very good. Kennedy. Wow Kennedy Siddhant great great. Okay, Siddhant. Who else any other? Pastors in training All right, it's great. I mean quite a few of you are oh wow Subajit already this string in a small church wonderful wonderful Subajit. That's great to hear Yeah So that's that's amazing. So many of you are already a part of Building the church of God as a pastor, but It's not only the pastor Okay, who can strengthen the church and build the church of Jesus Christ. Yes, there is a primary role that God has Given to the pastors, but whatever Role the others of us have Okay, we can still serve God. We can still strengthen the body of Christ now. Maybe You know some of us here. We are saying that I am engaged in children's ministry Okay, how will this course be relevant to me? How's of God? I'm not going to be a pastor It doesn't matter because you are still building up the lives of Children who are very much the church of Jesus Christ Okay, so you are building the church through your children's ministry Some of you may say oh, I'm engaged only in worship. I'm called for worship. That's fine You're still building the church of Jesus Christ. Some of you may be excellent with administration Managing the logistics. That's okay because there is a grace for Administration and that can also be used to build the church strengthen the church So a lot of what we discuss it will it may sound like it's only for a pastor But don't be misled. It's not Only the pastor who needs to build the church But whatever the grace and calling of God upon each one of our lives we can all Contribute towards the strengthening and the growth of the church. Okay, and similarly the five-fold ministry offices whatever our You know calling is in the five-fold ministry every single person has a part to play and It's important for us to just Realize that and serve God passionately. So let's begin with chapter one here So the first section that we are going to cover. It's called origin and purpose of the church So in this we in this section There are a few chapters and these chapters will throw light on how the early church began What is God's original intention in establishing the church? you know and all those primary and preliminary questions will be answered in this section and If you have any any additional questions, no, feel free to ask you can post it on the chat or you can unmute yourself Even during the class if you think it's relevant at that point or if you can wait It'll be good for us to take it up towards the end of the session So chapter one here in our notes is on page number three Okay, that's where I'm gonna begin. All right, so we are introducing the church and You know what the intention of the church is what the the primary goal of The church really is so the familiar scripture for us is from Matthew 16 and I was thinking this week we talked about it in our Class in Kingdom Builders as well. Okay, Matthew 16 verses 15 through 19 where Jesus says that Answering to Simon Peter He said to them, but who do you say that? I am Simon Peter answered and said you are the Christ the son of the living God and then Jesus answered and said to him Blessed are you Simon bar Jonah for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you But my father who is in heaven and I also say to you that you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it And I will give you the keys of the kingdom and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven And whatever you lose on earth will be used in heaven. So Who is the? Builder of the church From this passage Who is? You know the the who is responsible to build the church Jesus Christ Jesus Christ. Yes. So he takes the first responsibility and the primary responsibility and he says I Will build my church so in a sense all Others who are serving and contributing we are working together with Christ. Okay, he's the one who's building the church but we are Co-working together with him and you know when Jesus asks Peter Who do you say that I am and Peter answers he says you are the Christ the son of the living God Okay, and then Jesus goes on to say okay Now a flesh and blood has not revealed this to you But my father in heaven and I also say to you that you are Peter Okay, you are Peter and the second the next part of that statement Jesus says Excuse me and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it So my next question to you is On this rock I Will build my church. What is this rock? That Jesus will build the church on Jesus Christ. Okay. Yes He is the builder that we've understood, but he also makes a statement. No, he says on this rock I will build my church. So what is that rock the apostles? Be the people at the rock Okay, Peter will build on the foundation that Jesus already made. Okay. Good. Good. Very good. Very good thoughts Good answers the revelation revelation, okay, okay revelation Kennedy says faith Abyshek believer. All right. All right. Yeah with You know, we're all thinking in the same direction but just looking at the passage there, you know prior to Jesus saying that he will build the church on on this rock Peter says what what does Peter recognize the Lord Jesus as? No, Peter says you are the Christ the son of the living God okay, so What Jesus is saying is he's saying the church will be built on the revelation Of the Lord Jesus as Messiah So what is the foundational stone of the church? The Lord Jesus is the Messiah He is the preeminent one. No, he is the central figure for the church the church was You know the church We the church we say believe us How are we even believers because of the redemptive work of the Son of God the Lord Jesus? And you know, his work would not be valid if he were not the Messiah But here Peter is giving Jesus the right answer and he's saying you are The Christ that term Christ there is the anointed one the Messiah the saviour of the world So you are the Christ the son of the living God So Peter had this revelation that Jesus is the Messiah and what Jesus is saying in response to his recognition of him is that on this revelation That I am the Messiah. I will build my church and that is foundational for the church of Jesus Christ Now talking about building the church in this very passage Jesus also mentions about the keys of the kingdom and we've talked about this earlier Keys represent authority Okay, and Jesus says I will give you the keys of the kingdom whatever is bound You know bound once again, let me read that properly for us Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and Whatever you lose on earth will be lost in heaven Okay, now if you look at the Greek version of it in the English It sounds like whatever you do here on earth that will get done in heaven But the Greek version of it actually the meaning says that whatever is done in heaven That gets released here on earth. Okay, so it's the other way around the actual understanding though in English It sounds like we first do something and that gets done in heaven. So Jesus used this language because of the You know the setting of his times so What what Ministers would do or government officials would do and particularly those in you know Those who were in the legal sector what they would do is they would have rules and regulations given by the government And they would just go and establish that in new territories So whatever was loosed by the government or whatever was allowed by the government They would go to that new territory or the new community and establish it right and similarly whatever was not allowed by the government They would go and they would just Close those laws or they would they would put restrictions and limitations on the people So they were used to this kind of language and that's why Jesus used it here Essentially to tell us that we now are the representatives of heaven and what we get to do is we can Allow and disallow based on the Based on you know, what is what is available in heaven, you know, what is what is rightly ours in heaven So I've I've shared this earlier as well that you know when there's joy when there's peace when there's Healing deliverance things like that available for us in heaven No, we are we are able to release it here on earth There's no sin in heaven, right? There's no injustice in heaven There's no oppression in heaven and when we see those things in our life Here on the earth, you know, we can actually stop those things restrict them bind them in the name of Jesus Because we are applying the law. I'm just using the term law for a lack of a better word, but The atmosphere of heaven, right the The pattern of heaven is what we are here to propagate on the earth So that is what Jesus is actually saying in this passage He's saying that the church will be built on the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ and The church will be empowered So you we have the keys or the authority of the kingdom to go ahead and allow the things that are allowed in heaven and disallow the things which are not allowed in heaven another Point that is made in this very passage is that the gates of hell Hades in other words Referring to hell and Jesus says that the gates of hell will not prevail against us gates Even in Jesus's times even in the Old Testament times were always stationary. Okay, and the kind of gates that we see You know at that time they were not our usual You know just simple gates that I love people within within a boundary and you know so on and so forth But they were actually structures on which people could build houses So, you know if you recall fortress they would have fortress for for a city and even the fortress wall there it would be like a Large wide space on which people could build their homes Okay, so rehab is is a good example of a lady who lived on a wall, right? So in the same way when when you look at gates gates where Wide spaces and not just you know one one structure that we're talking about and at the gates Many a time Leaders would gather people of influence over that community would gather and how today For us here in India. We are familiar with you know the village government system the panchayat where they sit Right, they sit in a place and they make the make the decision similarly the gates where the place where Leaders would sit and make decisions. So the gates of hell refers to Strongholds refers to a Strong influence, you know it refers to Power sources of the kingdom of darkness Okay, and this is what Jesus is saying. He's saying that the church It's not a powerless entity But you can imagine if he's saying that the gates of hell the power sources or the strong hold of hell It's not going to withstand what the church is actually capable of doing then the church is that? extremely powerful entity Presenting Christ, right? That is able to overcome every Every work of wickedness of the enemy that is the introduction of the church for us Okay, so a lot of key things in this very passage Jesus is the one who builds the church The church is built on the revelation that of the Lord Jesus being the Messiah And then we see that we have been given authority Okay, and what can we do with this authority? We can establish the pattern of heaven here on earth We can bind the works of the evil one and finally we said that the church is very powerful Powerful enough to destroy the power Even the power sources of the kingdom of darkness and that's the kind of church Jesus said he would build and today as we look at ourselves as The church of the Lord Jesus Christ, you know, we we can remind ourselves that This is the kind of church that the Lord Jesus is continuing to build today. Now again this term church, right? You don't see it much in the Like you don't really see it initially in the word of God, but then eventually, you know The the the church emerges and the people who are followers of the Lord Jesus. They began to be recognized as The church, okay, and this word church comes from the Greek word Ecclesia in simple terms Ecclesia means called out called out. So We as the believers, we are the Ecclesia of God and we have been called out We know that through salvation. We have been called out of sin We have been called out of our wrong way of living But also we have been called for greater things. Okay, we've been called For a definite purpose. We've been called with a heavenly calling We have been called to You know, stand together and establish the kingdom of God here on So we as God's people, we have been called out of many things But we have been called into the purposes of God So the church of the Lord Jesus Christ has a purpose, you know, we're not just Here because God thought it's a good idea Establish a church because you need a local community That will represent you You know, God is in heaven and he did not think that A representation is good enough for him not at all But there is a purpose why the church has been established. There is a purpose why the church is being strengthened Okay, there is a purpose In in the Lord Jesus calling us out So we have been called out of many things But we have called into and called for the purposes of God and as the church Right, uh, as the people of God, we must recognize it now When we, uh, talk about the church and its purpose, we can understand it in two dimensions There is a spiritual dimension to uh, what the church is and there is also the natural dimension. But before I go any further, I would like to pause for a moment and just check with y'all if you're doing okay And if there are any questions, I I do see Christopher's, uh, uh, hand raised there So, yeah, let's let's uh Hear from Christopher and Samuel and then we will continue. Yes, Christopher. Uh, you have a question Yes, uh, I just wanted to you to explain this This foundation of, you know, the revelation of Jesus Christ as as a Messiah If you could just explain that a little more detail, um, instead of what you said about the teachings, is it, um, uh, you know, because I I remember, uh, you know, we did this at the similar passage last year in, uh, in the, uh, you know, the interpretation of the bible, uh That course and that, you know, that was where, you know We have actually made a distinction between Peter and, uh, you know, not being the rock, but the rock was actually Jesus Christ Um, so just wanted to understand a little more if you can provide a little more detail on the the revelation of of Jesus Christ As a Messiah, if you can just explain that in just more detail, please Pastor, you're on mute Oh, okay. Okay. Thank you. Uh, I didn't realize that I was saying I'm, uh, looking for one more passage so Okay, uh, I I don't know if I will be able to find the exact words, but uh, if you remember there's another place where, you know, um Jesus asks the same question. Who do you think, uh, I am Right and the disciples answer and they give him the same answer They say that uh, you are you are the Christ because others at his time Uh, they thought that he was a teacher. Jesus says, you know, people think I'm a teacher people think I'm Uh, a leader people think so many different things about me But who do you think I am and the disciples give a befitting on, you know, they give the right answer and they say You are the Christ. All right. Uh, so this revelation This revelation is very very important. Uh, because, um, you know How do I put this? Uh The Lord Jesus He he was sent to the world and he became our, uh redemption price Okay, but if we do not consider him The son of god and if we do not consider him as that lamb who was sent for our redemption Then the salvation that we experience and the salvation that we preach. It's actually invalid Okay, so salvation itself begins With us recognizing that the Lord Jesus is the messiah the anointed one the savior And it's only when we are saved, you know, that we become a part of the Uh, the body of christ the house of god or the church of the lord jesus christ And that's the church that jesus is building. So you can imagine, you know, if if we never receive salvation Then we Do not enter the Uh church of the lord jesus christ Right, so that revelation that he is the messiah It's very very important because that revelation is what leads us to salvation Okay, uh, and uh, yeah christopher. So that is the basis if we do not recognize the lord jesus as the messiah We miss out on the very work of redemption that god has done You know by paying such a big price so uh We need to recognize that Okay, so would that would that mean that when we are when we are when we are born again uh In a sense when we are born again, that would mean, you know, we we we also receive salvation Yes, we are we are then, you know, um You know, we are sort of in In line with you know, the the foundation of the church also. Yes. Yes. Yes, that's right That's right. And we can't be born again without that revelation. It's just not possible Right. Thank you. Okay. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, yes, uh, samuel, please go ahead. You have a question Thank you pastor Along the same line, I mean, uh, we have this question as part of our last year's Interpreting scriptures a final assessment and I remember So we did a lot of research and this revelation that you're speaking of I think that was the key answer that pastor wanted to submit But I remember having this question that I couldn't, you know, ask back on the assessment paper But I'm just wondering like it makes so much sense when you say like, you know, upon this revelation That is the son of god that the church will be built You know when you put it in that light things become so clear, but I'm I'm I'm looking at all the Scriptures that are available to us all the versions from n i b to n a as we like I am I'm even But all of them don't have that. Uh, it doesn't give that like it's only when Somebody explains like how you do it right now. You know, it becomes But a normal reader would read it it it reads, you know So you are on the rock and on the rock I would build my church. So so I'm just wondering why You know, why is that like You know, it's still like even though and how I don't know if if you may have the answer, but Just this this idea notice this whole Matthew 16 15 19 as one of the key script scriptures of How the church has been founded like how how How long has this been this revelation been in place like did did uh, like, you know, Jonathan Edwards or Like the the preachers of those days like did they also have This revelation to the teacher. Is it something that we've just in this century we've discovered. Oh, okay. This is what Okay. Yeah, thanks, uh, Samuel. That's a good, um, you know a good question there Uh, yes, it is difficult, uh, sometimes to interpret because of the way Uh, you know the the passage comes across but we know, you know After all your hermeneutics training you you are aware that You can't even though Like you have to look at an unclear passage in the light of clear passages and you have to let scripture interpret scripture so when you do that and you, um, uh Make a statement and say that Peter is the rock on which the church was built You know, that statement will not last very long if you use many other scriptures, you know to prove that one statement Eventually. Yeah, eventually you have to say no, it's incorrect. So what is the right answer and then you will, um, deduce The answer to the fact that it is the revelation that Jesus is the son of god now coming to your next question Where you're saying when did people have this revelation? Uh, honestly, I mean historically, I don't know Samuel. I'll have to do some research to You know figure out who probably was the first one who, uh, shared this so yeah Can I get back to you on that? Yeah, sure sure. Okay, great. Thank you. Thank you. Good questions class Um, uh, and it's nice, you know, let's let's keep thinking and let's keep uh, moving forward so this is uh, you know our, uh, basic introduction for, uh, the church the purpose of the church the, um, The builder of the church is the lord Jesus Christ and we are but co-workers with him And I told you that there are two dimensions of the church. Okay There is the spiritual dimension and as part of the spiritual dimension there there are You know some things accomplished in the church and in us and there is natural dimension So we will look at both and what both of these, uh, dimensions Say about the church and about us who are part of the church. So Considering the spiritual dimension We are told in god's word that we now are the body of christ. Okay. The church is the body of christ So, uh, it's a very interesting thought as soon as you accept the lord jesus christ You and I We become part of the body of christ christ is the head And we are the body. This is in colossians chapter one versus 18 and 24. I'm not going to read all the scriptures So just letting you know where we are at So christ is the head and we are the body Okay, uh And as you as you look at this, you know, we are also told that every single person Every single who person who receives the lord jesus christ is joined together with The lord jesus christ. Okay. Now physically we can't see these things But this is what happens spiritually when somebody is born again Now they may know That they are a part of a church part of the church or they may not know that they have become a part of the church They may be, um, you know a lone believer Uh, maybe they don't want to go to church, right? They just want to Have their own spiritual development alone at home But whether they are part of a physical church or not This is what god's word reveals to us that the moment somebody is born again You become a part of the body of christ That's automatic automatically in the spiritual dimension We become a body of christ and there are several scriptures In our notes for us where we are told that we become joined to the lord Then we are baptized into the body of of christ We become united with him. We become one with him and every single believer, you know, individually Becomes a part of this body of christ and uh As we become the body of christ, uh, it shows us how god treats us. Okay. Uh, very beautiful Explanation for this is found in Acts chapter nine when uh, uh, paul encounters the lord jesus on the road to damascus Uh, you know what jesus jesus speaks to him by the way jesus speaks to him and he says A sol Why are you persecuting me? But who's actually being persecuted? It's the people of god Right and when the people of god are being persecuted What does it mean to god? What did what does it mean to the lord jesus? We Now who are the body of christ, you know, he's saying sol Why are you persecuting me? Okay, and that that is the the the extent To which we have become the body of christ where we've become, you know, we've become one with who god is And in the spiritual realm that has happened to us as we have accepted the lord jesus christ So the church is the body of christ and that is, you know, one expression Of of being the body of christ in the spiritual dimension. Okay. What else do we see about the church in the spiritual dimension? We also See that the church Is eternal, okay, it is eternal just the way the lord jesus is eternal So by that we understand that, you know, we will live on We the people of god will live on the church will continue on right And there are scriptures that promise that god wants to continue to be kind towards us even in the ages to come So that reveals that god has a purpose for the church Not just on the earth, but even in the ages to come. Okay. So in the spiritual dimension, these things are true Thirdly, okay We see that the church becomes that instrument to execute the purposes of god Now we know that the lord jesus has ascended to heaven and his primary ministry there right now is in intercession But he looks to us the church Okay to go ahead and release the power of god to go ahead and do the works of kingdom to go ahead and You know win souls for the kingdom and that's why even before his ascension In all the gospels, you see the lord jesus say this right go make disciples baptizing them in the name of the father The son and the holy spirit and uh, behold i'm with you even to the end of the age So he has in a way chosen to let the church become his Hands and his feet to go ahead and do the work that Needs to be done to execute his purposes here on the earth Okay, and a few more aspects of the spiritual dimension is that every member is part Is part of the body individually Okay, it's so um, I I already explained this whether people recognize it or not. Okay You have become a part of the body of christ. You have become a citizen of Heaven and individually god doesn't Forget about even one person he recognizes everybody and includes everybody into his kingdom And we are united together with christ and we are A part of the body of christ The church the other aspect of the spiritual dimension is that the church, you know, whenever you use the term church It's not Just the church which is alive here on earth We also have those who have believed in god and gone ahead of us, right and now they are in heaven waiting for the You know the return of the lord jesus the second coming and all the other events that will Take place But a part of the body of christ a part of the church is in heaven So when we use the term church, we also recognize that You know, we are not alone in that sense Yes, some of us are on the earth But there are others who have completed the work and they are part of heaven So those who have gone ahead of us and we who are living for god on the earth all of us put together Make up the spiritual church of the lord jesus christ. Okay, so I think at this point I will stop We can all take a break and we can come back But before we go for a break if if at all there are any comments From your side I think it'll be good to share Our thoughts Okay, so, uh, yeah, I think you can just take it all in and uh, we will be back And continue with the natural dimension of the church. Okay, so see you all in about 10 minutes. Thank you