Ephesians 5:25

A few years ago in Edmonton a certain church denomination announced that 4 of its congregations where joining together to make one healthy larger church.

When one of the Pastors were asked about it she said….we are grieving the loss of 3 buildings. Something didn’t sit right with me about those words.

As I thought more about it  I started to wonder how Jesus felt about the church…what would he think about that statement, 

“we are grieving the loss of 3 church buildings”.

Today I want us to look briefly at what Jesus thought of the Church.

 The Bible often referrers to the Church as a :

1.  A FELLOWSHIP. in Acts 1

2.  THE FAMILY. Galatians 6:10

3.  A BODY. Romans 12:5

4.  A FLOCK. Acts 20

It’s  clear by these references that the Church is not the building.

No instead the bible says the Church is like a fellowship, a family, a body and a flock. 

There is a few other things I found as I look at what Jesus said about the church.

FIRST JESUS LOVES THE CHURCH

Without a shadow of doubt Christ loves The Church.  

In fact listen to what The Bible says in Ephesians 5:25

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her.

He gave his life for the people, not for a building.

Often we personalize Christ’s death, “He died for my sin” –but l think we need to remember he died for the sins of entire church body.  

This verse says that Christ died – sacrificed Himself – gave Himself for The Church.  

That shows how important the church body is to Christ. I can’t image someone dying for a building.  

Jesus loves His Church, and the church is all of his people –

So weather you are Alliance, Baptist, United church or Pentecostal, Catholic or Orthodox back ground, the Church is you and me.

Its people who make the church so important to Jesus not the building they meet in. 

We are called Mirror Alliance Church but the word church refers to a certain  group of people.

We are not meeting right now but the Church still exists, we don’t need a building to be a church. I want you to listen to what Matthew 16:18 says:  

And I tell you that you are Peter and on this rock (you Peter ) I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” 

The name Peter means rock, Jesus says he will build his church, He will do the hard work of building  this group of people. It will start with Peter and grow from there.

From this verse we understand that Jesus is actively involved in building His Church, He is building up his people, you and me are being built up by him. Weather you know it or not Jesus has a plan to build us up to be the kind of people he wants us to be.

Matthew 18:20  ^“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” As the Church start to meet in small groups lets remember Jesus is with us. So if you and your kids are sitting at home, you my friend are the church. If you sit at the dinner table together, you are the church, if you are working in the yard or working on computers doing homework together, you are the church.

God loves his people and will always be with them. He is building us into his Church.

Hebrews 13:5, “because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”God will never leave you or forget about you because, you are his church, his people, and he loves you.

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ALLIANCE HISTORY AND THOUGHT

The Canadian Bible Institute began in 1941 Regina Sask, in 2003 the college moved to Calgary and became Ambrose University College.    Some Quick facts:

– 40-acre campus including Academic Centre, Residence, Library, Gymnasium, and Residence & Education Centre – Over 920 students enrolled

– Committed to the integration of Christian faith with academic disciplines

– Students and faculty from over 50 denominations

– Students serving in over 20 countries throughout the world

– One of the largest private academic libraries in western Canada

– There are 10 Professors teaching in the Seminary, and approximately 45 full and part time teachers in the college.

– Competitive varsity athletics: volleyball, basketball.