The Church
“Be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His own blood.” Acts 20:28
“And let us spur one another on towards love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are n the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Heb 10:24-25
Sermon through Rap: LeCrae’s The Bride lyrics:
She’s a building of beings being constructed,
Christ is the cornerstone, foundation build on another and you’s a goner holmes.
She’ built on em, supported by him, conformed to him, now she’s a body of bodies who transform through him. A temple that breathes; we are the halls,
we are the floor board, or more, we are the walls.
Manifold wisdom of God no longer a mystery.
The church pinnacle of our salvific history
One flesh union, the Tri-union, is glorified through our corporatized communion.
Still the present reality is that she was born a casualty, though she’s made alive
she’s still affected by depravity.
Once lived in sin and enslaved by her lust,
folks catch her slippin and they turn away disgusted.
She’s a work in progress but Christ is the head of her,
and He washes her clean with the words that he said to her.
She’s already pretty but she’s really not dressed and sometimes she look silly but she’s far from a mess.
Yes, please so don’t be dissin cause Jesus done paid a grip.
And if you didn’t then should, call her her Misses— I’m talking bout the church
Yeah she may look gritty,
But when her man come back she gone look so pretty – She the Church
You might see her acting crazy, be patient with her though, cause she still God’s baby – She the Church
Before you dis her get to know her, Jesus got a thing for her and He died just to show her – She the Church
She ain’t bricks and buildings, she’s all of God’s people: Men, women and children – We the church
Her name is ecclesia meaning the assembly,
Bows to the Trinity, No other Divinity.
A body, family and community— she is all one, but on earth you see her in congregational small ones. A microcosm or a small scale example, but it is the church even though its just a sample: invisible, spiritual, physical, visible, not a brick temple (never that simple). This a not a building and she is not bricks; she’s a world changer, but ain’t bout getting rich. Perpetrating fakes cause a lot of folks to hate, plus her hands get dirty and her feet get scraped. Sometimes her body parts start acting out of place, legs trying to be arms, arms thinking they the face. But she’ll never be replaced with a one man band or a small Taliban with no body in command.
Some don’t get it so they hate; they say she’s on a paper chase, they say she’s really fake.
So they go start a ministry so they can do the work, but they don’t understand how Jesus feel about His church. And yeah they make disciples and got plenty conversions; they take care of the widows and the orphans they be workin. But none of them are churchin’, no church structure; no elders and no discipline, they have no conductor. And so they don’t submit, but quite a few of them get baptized. People how I pray that you’d look at this thing from God’s eyes and take responsibility inside the whole council— not just the area where you might have a mouthful. Who should folks submit to? Who will conduct the discipline? If excommunicated what body will they be missing then? Look at Ephesians 4 where Paul gets practical, 1st timothy and Titus if you thinking I’m irrational.
