Citizens of the Kingdom (Part 4): Ekklesia

The Ekklesia is a group of Christ Followers who come together to be the living body of Christ. We image him by living in love and unity and continually being a witness to the Kingdom Rule of Christ in the world.

4 Things the church is: a Bride, a House, a Body, and a Family

Bride

Rev 19:7; Eph 5

House

Ephesians 2:11-22; 1 Peter 2:1-10; 1 Cor 6:19

Body

1 Cor 12:12-30; Eph1:20-23; Col 1:21-29

Family

The church is described as New Birth, Children of God, sons of God, brothers and sisters, fathers, an household in the New Testament: Gal 6:10; Rom 8:29, Eph 2:19, 1 Tim 5:1-2, 1 Tim 3:15, 1 John 2:12-13, 1 John 3:14

How should the church family act?

• The Members take care of each other. James 2:14-17, Eph 4:28, Gal 6:2, Rom 12:13
• Spend time with each other. Acts 2:42,46
• Show affection towards each other.
• Grow: internally (spiritually) and externally (in numbers)
• Share responsibility
• Reflect the triune God in their relationships 1 John 1:1-3,

The Lord’s Supper

In the Roman context they would have these banquets where there were 3 parts.

• First course was a meal together with people ranked from greatest to least (remember Jesus’ saying about not seating yourself in the pace of honor at a banquet?)
• Second part was when a cup was raised (drink offering) to Caesar and pledged allegiance to him
• Third part consisted of poems, songs, speeches and etc in honor of the emperor.

The church's banquets (meetings) were subversive.

1 Cor 8-11

• 1 Corinthians 8 and 11:17-34: The importance unity in relationships and community when taking communion.
• 1 Corinthians 9 and 11:17-34: Communion represents the fellowship meal of the priesthood in the OT. The church is the priesthood and communion is our fellowship meal.
• 1 Corinthians 10 and 11:17-34: We connect with God and proclaim our allegiance to Him during communion.
• 1 Corinthians 11:1-16 and 11:17-34: the necessity for equality within the Church and the importance of meeting needs in the Body. We come to the table as equals.

Gifts and Meetings

Rom 12:6-6

1 Cor 12:8-10

1 Cor 12: 28-30

Ephesians 4:11

1 Peter 4:11

We need all the gifts in action because they display and model Christ. We cannot elevate one over another (such as pastor or teacher).

Church Unity

Rom 15:7; 1 Cor 1:11-13; John 17:20-23

In short, whenever the church gathers together, its guiding and functioning principal is simply to incarnate Christ (1 Cor 12:12)