{"id":1259,"date":"2019-10-05T10:43:57","date_gmt":"2019-10-05T10:43:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/revfosu.com\/?p=1259"},"modified":"2019-10-05T10:43:57","modified_gmt":"2019-10-05T10:43:57","slug":"understanding-the-purpose-of-the-church-and-our-christian-calling-rev-john-kwasi-fosu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amazinggbc.de\/de\/2019\/10\/05\/understanding-the-purpose-of-the-church-and-our-christian-calling-rev-john-kwasi-fosu\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding the purpose of the church and our Christian calling, Rev John Kwasi Fosu"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Einleitung<\/strong><br \/>\nFrom our previous lessons, we have been looking at the meaning of the church and its forms of government. From the Biblical perspective, we have defined the church as the body of Baptized believers indwelled by the Holy Spirit. It is thus both Human and for that matter physical organization and it is also of God\u2019s and thus Spiritual organization. The balance of the two aspects is necessary for church growth. This study looks at the purposes of the local church. It includes our needed human (membership) responsibilities that are essential for the Church to achieve its purposes. The four major purposes of the church are worship, edification, evangelism and social concerns.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Purposes of the Church<\/strong><br \/>\n<em><strong>a. Evangelism<\/strong> <\/em><br \/>\nThe first essential purpose of the Church is to plant the gospel or the Word of God in the hearts of people, thus bringing them to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. It has to do with witnessing. It is to say that the local church exists to equip its members to carry the Word to others (Mathew 28:18-20).<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>b. Worship<\/strong> <\/em><br \/>\nAnother important purpose of the church is worship. From its Greek roots, worship has to do with giving God the honour, reverence and praise.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>c. Edification<\/strong> <\/em><br \/>\nThe Church exists to encourage and edify the members. By this purpose of the church, members are to build each other up in the Lord. In other words, in all our dealings in the church, we are to ask ourselves: are we encouraging others or building others up in the Lord? We therefore help the church to fulfil this purpose by using our spiritual gifts in the motive of love (1 Cor 12:7; 1 Cor 14:1).<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>d. Social action<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\nThe last major purpose of the church is to care for the social needs not only of its members but to the society at large. The church exists to show the love of God to the world. It is to join in the ministry of Jesus in healing the sick, proclaiming justice and caring for the poor. Among others the church exists to fulfil its salt and light ministry in the world.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Understanding the nature of our calling<\/strong><br \/>\nIn view of the fact that God calls us to belong to the local church and thus expect us to be instrumental in helping the church to fulfil its identified purposes, it is important for us to understand the nature of our calling. In other words, what it means to belong to the local church. The call to belong to the local church is a call of discipleship. It means that to be a Christian means to give one\u2019s heart to God and to fulfil our membership responsibilities in the following ways:<br \/>\n1. A surrender of your heart to love Jesus and his Church<br \/>\n2. A surrender of individual will to the interest of the entire congregation.<br \/>\n3. A surrender of time<br \/>\n4. A surrender of your mind \u2013 in making decisions and complying with the decisions pertaining to the goals of the Church<br \/>\n5. The control of our bodies and emotions in the Church to the glory of God<br \/>\n6. Fulfilment of all financial Obligations such as payment of tithes, offerings and other acceptable dues<br \/>\n7. Respect for leadership authority<br \/>\n8. Obligation of mutual love in the local church<\/p>\n<p><strong>Schlussfolgerung<\/strong><br \/>\nThis study has sought to offer an overview of the purposes of the church. It is when we know the purpose of the church that we are able to become responsible members. Thus, in the light of the purposes of the church, we are to surrender our heart, time, money, body and emotions and will.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Questions<\/strong><br \/>\n1. State four main purposes of the church.<br \/>\n2. The church does not only exist to minister to others spiritually but socially as well. Explain.<br \/>\n3. What does it mean to belong to a local church?<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Introduction From our previous lessons, we have been looking at the meaning of the church and its forms of government. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62474923,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_templately_pack_id":"","_templately_imported_at":"","_templately_source":"","_templately_import_session_id":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[25826],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-studies"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4q0JC-kj","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1249,"url":"https:\/\/amazinggbc.de\/de\/2019\/09\/05\/called-to-belong-to-gods-church-by-rev-john-kwasi-fosu\/","url_meta":{"origin":1259,"position":0},"title":"Called to belong to God\u2019s Church, by Rev. 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KWASI FOSU","author":"revfosu","date":"September 13, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Amazing Grace Baptist Church, Hamburg Bible Study Material on the Local Church Main Biblical Text: Acts 2:42\u201347 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers... And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bible Studies&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bible Studies","link":"https:\/\/amazinggbc.de\/de\/category\/bible-studies\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1293,"url":"https:\/\/amazinggbc.de\/de\/2020\/02\/05\/purposes-of-the-book-of-acts-by-rev-john-kwasi-fosu\/","url_meta":{"origin":1259,"position":2},"title":"Purposes of the book of Acts, by Rev. 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Fosu","author":"revfosu","date":"September 28, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Introduction We have been looking at the nature of the church with a particular emphasis on the fact that the local Church is both spiritual and human organization. As a human organization, therefore, one of the most important characteristics of the local church is its organizational structure. This study therefore\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bible Studies&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bible Studies","link":"https:\/\/amazinggbc.de\/de\/category\/bible-studies\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1368,"url":"https:\/\/amazinggbc.de\/de\/2020\/08\/19\/the-pentecost-event-and-my-christian-life-acts-21-13-by-rev-dr-john-kwasi-fosu\/","url_meta":{"origin":1259,"position":4},"title":"The Pentecost event and my Christian life (Acts 2:1-13), by Rev. 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