Church

This week we are starting a series on church, what is it, what should it be, how do we get there? Hopefully we will all take some steps that will make us into a better church, and hopefully we will all learn some about what it means to be the church.

In theology, this is called 'ecclesiology' and in my opinion the American church has a very weak view of what it means to be the church. We really drop the ball on quite a few things, so here is a basic rundown of the areas we will be looking at.

Mission. God's mission, our mission. What does it mean to be church on a mission, what kind of mission are we trying to accomplish, how do we do that? Everything else we say about the church has to do with God's mission in the world.

Discipleship. God's goal for every person is that they become a disciple of Jesus. How can we be good disciples? What separates a good disciple from a bad one?

Service. Can we truly be disciples and not seek to serve? How did Jesus approach leadership? How does this flesh itself out in life?

Worship. What does real worship look like? How can we be a church that celebrates God? Can we truly worship without sacrifice?

Fellowship. Do we have to like one another? What if we don't?

Hopefully this series gets us thinking and doing what it means to really be the church and not act like one. Hopefully we can be a church on the journey, and hopefully we can minister from our brokenness not from pride or anything like that.