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Chapter 3: The Purpose of the Church

Connect.

The church was born at Pentecost. Put yourself there on that day. There was no New
Testament to guide you and how to establish the church. All you had to go on was what
Jesus Christ himself told you verbally. You did not know about elders or pastors or deacons,
or the qualifications for becoming members. You knew basically nothing. What was about
to unfold, the church would have to figure it out as they went. It’s a good thing that Jesus
left the apostles to help guide and gave the Holy Spirit to every new believer. The church was in for
some interesting times, as it grew so rapidly, the apostles could barely keep up with it. And it was not
long before severe persecution arose. Let’s find out more…..

The Purpose of the Church

Within that broad and all-encompassing purpose for the church we can discern several
subsequent ones. Mark Dever summarizes them in this way: “The proper ends for a local
congregation’s life and actions are the worship of God, the edification of the church, and
the evangelization of the world. These three purposes in turn serve the glory of God.” The
local church exists to glorify God through worshipping him, edifying his people, and
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evangelizing the world.

Here are some verses that will help us understand what the body of believers, the church, is to be
centered on today.

Christ’s last words to his apostles gave them their calling.

Matthew 28:18-20 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been
given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Acts 2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of
bread and to prayer.

James shares other purposes of the church.

James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and
widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Based on these and other Scriptures, we can summarize what the primary responsibilities of the church
are.

1. Proclaiming the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ to a lost world. The church is called to be
faithful in sharing the gospel through word and deed. The church is to be a “lighthouse” in the

5 https://www.challies.com/articles/whats-the-purpose-of-the-church/

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