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Local Church vs. Universal Church

Just recently a friend of mine and I were discussing the theory of the universal church. I know there is a good bit of confusion with some people, but I got stirred up and began noting down reasons for why I believe in the local church vs. the universal church. Here are a few of those reasons why I believe the Bible teaches and stresses the importance of the local church:

 

 

  • Bible commands us to attend faithfully – Heb. 11:24-25 (why would it tell us to not forsake the assembling of ourselves if it was family instead of church, we are with family anyway)

 

  • God’s house is called house of prayer – Matthew 21:13; Mark 11:17; Lu 19:46

 

  • Church is where missionaries are sent out of – Acts 13

 

  • Church has authority to baptize – Mt 28:19-20; Philip was sent with authority from church in Acts

 

  • Church is where we give Tithe – Mal 3:10; I Cor. 16:1-2

 

  • Faith Promise and other giving is given thru the church – Philip 4:17; II Cor 8-9

 

  • Church Trains and Equips Christians and leaders – Eph. 4:11-12

 

  • Church Has authority to Discipline – Mt 18:15-17

 

  • Church Has authority to perform Lord’s supper – Acts 2 they met together in houses and in I Cor. 11:18, 20 says when “gathered together”. Christ did this for first time (Mt 26) with His disciples, representing church

 

  • Church is Pillar and ground of Truth – I Tim 3:15 – where we have pure, sound doctrine

 

  • Church is Place where Pastor Serves – I Tim 3; Titus 1; I Peter 5

 

  • Church is Place where Deacons Serve – I Tim 3; Titus 1; first time deacons were mentioned (most likely) was Acts 6, helping the church

 

  • Church is Place we invite people to so they can hear Word of God, grow in Lord, refuge from world

 

  • Church is where and what the first Christians were added to in Acts 2

 

  • God gave gifts (I Cor. 12) to individuals for the edifying of the church

 

  • Great commission was given to the church – Mark 16:15; Mt 28:18-20

 

  • God calls the individual Christians members of the body, which is the church

 

  • Christ loves the church (Eph. 5:25), founded the church (Mt 16:18; I Cor. 3:11), is head of church (Eph. 5:23; Col 1:18); purchased her with His blood (Acts 20:28) and is glorified in the church (Eph. 3:20-21)

 

  • In the OT – temple to go to – take offering, where priests served, where God’s presence was at, where ark of covenant was

 

  • In NT, God’s method of getting the Gospel out is thru the church, the NT work of Christ revolves around the church. God gives instruction to His church thru His Word. Epistles were mainly all written to churches.

 

  • Out of 112 or so times Bible uses word “church”, it is speaking of a local body of Christians. Word “ekklesia” means called out assembly, not family.

 

  • Assembly suggests the following:
  1. Implies its local – church of Galatia, Thessalonica, Ephesus, …
  2. Implies it visible – you could see the congregations Paul was talking about
  3. Implies Organization – God is a God of order and has placed order in the church – gave position of leadership (pastor and deacons), gave purpose (fulfill Great Commission), gave authority (baptize, Lord’s supper)

 

  • People do not agree the church is local vs. universal because:
  1. Don’t understand teaching/emphasis on church in Bible
  2. Don’t want accountability – a pastor to tell them what to do, place need to belong to, people who see and watch their lives
  3. Put emphasis on wrong thing – themselves, their family, work, money, etc. Family is not to take place of church and goes against Scriptural principle of authority (Christ placing pastor to watch over their souls – Heb. 13), but it also teaches children and others that church is not important. Wrongly placing priorities has harmful repercussions.

 

  • Why a Leader Must know what he believes:
  1. His beliefs affect his family – wife and kids will think less (max 80%) of church as he does
  2. His beliefs affect his life and ministry – why start other churches if don’t believe in the local church?
  3. His beliefs affect future leaders – if don’t believe in local church, why train leaders? What are you training leaders for? Where are they going to exercise their ministry? What are they going to start once they are ready to leave your church?

 

 

Here to Serve,

Jeff Bush

General Director of Vision Baptist Missions

 

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Leadership Training Overview

By Austin Gardner

  1. What is the greatest weakness in “Church Planting” around the world today?
    • No trained national leadership
    • A lack of funds to build the buildings
    • Hardness of the hearts of people around the world
    • No one answer
  1. How many strong indigenous churches will the normal church planting missionary be able to plant during his missionary tenure?
    • One
    • From two to five
    • Eight
    • In excess of 50
  1. Under normal conditions on the foreign mission field who will take the missionary’s place when he goes on furlough after four years?
    • A national pastor or leader that the missionary himself has trained
    • A national pastor or leader imported from a Bible College or different ministry
    • Another North American Missionary
    • The missionary will not be able to take a furlough since no one is available to take his work
  1. Why should great care be taken not to give money to nationals?
    • They will become dependent
    • Money will ruin a good man
    • Nationals lack the character to deal with having money
    • The same reason care should be taken in giving money to an American missionary
  1. Why do so many fail at leadership training?
    • The lack of character among the nationals
    • They do not understand the importance of training leaders
    • They have never seen leadership training modeled
    • All of the above
  1. What order did our Lord Jesus follow in establishing his ministry the church here in this world?
    • People then buildings and finally leaders
    • Buildings, then people and finally leaders
    • Leaders then buildings and finally people
    • Leaders then people and finally buildings
  1. What attitude do we typically see in the national believers?
    • A great lack of character and ability
    • A desire to do the work but they need to know why and how to do what they want to do
    • Interested, desirous but without the natural or spiritual ability to do the work
    • Impossible to answer since it is different on every field
  1. What is the missionary’s greatest weakness in the development of leaders?
    • Doesn’t know how to do so
    • Can’t find good human material to work with
    • Very able and excited to do the work and using all of his abilities to build a church for Jesus
    • Different with every person
  1. The key ingredient to leadership development is
    • Knowledge
    • Practice
    • With-ness
    • Wisdom
  1. A missionary’s success should be determined by
    • The number of souls he sees saved
    • The number of indigenous churches he plants
    • Faithfulness to God or sticking by the stuff
    • Training national leaders that can carry on the work after his departure
  1. What is discipleship?
    • An advanced new converts class
    • A series of lessons that grounds the new convert in basic Bible doctrine and helps to establish him as a faithful Christian
    • A specialized training method to prepare Christians for different ministry responsibilities
    • Life on life personal involvement in the life of another that carries him forward to full maturity in Christ
  1. What should be the missionary’s priority goal be for each term?
    • Win as many souls to the Lord as he can
    • Plant an indigenous church
    • Start a Bible College
    • Train leaders and especially “leaders of leaders”

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King Makers – Part 2 of 2

Part 2 of 2 -. Barnabus

Barnabus sought out people to make them leaders. Paul and John Mark are the two examples we are going to use as we see how Barnabus helped them.

If we are going to be a king maker, there are a few things from Barnabus’ life that we must do:

  1. You Have to Take a Risk

Persecution has hit and everyone had left Jerusalem except for the apostles.

If you are going to make kings, you must be willing to take a risk. You might not be sure if a person will turn out good, but you must be willing to take a risk. If one fails, you must still be willing to take a risk with helping someone else.

  1. You must Have a Good Eye and a Glad Heart

Acts 11:23 says that when he saw the grace of God he was glad.

The person that is going to be a king maker needs to constantly be watching for potential people and when that person does a good job, rejoice and be glad for them, not jealous of them.

  1. You Have to be Humble and Self-less

After Barnabus finds Saul, the next four times the Scripture says “Barnabus and Saul”, but soon it begins to say “Barnabus and Saul” and in Acts 13:9, 13, Barnubus is not even mentioned. As Barnabus, you must be humble and selfless to be a king maker. Barnabus didn’t get mad and say, “I’m going home”.

If you are going to build leaders on the field, you must be willing to take the back seat. Barnabus didn’t leave but let Paul lead… and so must every king maker do.

  1. You Have to be Patient with the Failures of Others

After John Mark, the nephew of Barnabus, turned back from the missionary journey and when Paul says let’s go, Barnabus again wants to take John Mark (Acts 15:36-40). Paul was against taking John Mark but Barnabus was patient with him and took him under the same wing that he previously did Paul. The same love that Barnabus had with Paul that has become a success, he now has with John Mark who is currently a failure. Later, in II Timothy 4:11, Paul requests that John Mark returns and says “he is profitable to me for the ministry”. The same Barnabus that helped form Paul into a success has repeated the same procedure with John Mark… with much patience. And everyone who wants to be a king maker must learn to be patient!

  1. You Have to be Free from Materialism

In Acts 4:34-36, we see that Barnabus owned property but sold it and gave the money to God’s work. It was very evident that he was dead to materialism and that God’s work was more important to him than material possessions. He was free of materialism, they made no difference to him. It is apparent that he was more interested in building leaders than owning or obtaining possessions.

In I Corinthians 9:19, 23, Paul says that he has right to have a salary, money, but that was not important to him.

You don’t go to the mission field or work in the ministry because of conveniences. All we do is for the Gospel’s sake. We may have the right to have or do things, but remember we do what we do for the Gospel’s sake. If your are going to be a king leader and prepare leaders, you must forget about materialism and do all you do for the Gospel’s sake.

Here to Serve,

Jeff Bush

General Director of Vision Baptist Missions

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King Makers – Part 1 of 2

Part 1 of 2 – Jonathan

Think about the two characters presented in this passage: Jonathan and David. Jonathan is the son of a king, but David is a son of a shepherd boy. Jonathan was respected by everyone, David was ridiculed by his own brothers. And yet it is Jonathan that makes a covenant with David.  In I Samuel 18:4, Jonathan took off his robe and placed it on David.  Jonathan knew that David was the next king. He might not have known how, but he knew David was going to be the next king… but he still took off his robe and gave it to David. By giving his robe to David, he is revering and respecting David. Jonathan took off his own authority and chance of being next in line for king and gave it to David.

In the same way, the missionary is to work with the people on his field. The missionary is the one who feels called, raised his money to get to the field, prepared and prayed, yet his responsibility is not be the “hope” for his country but put others in the spotlight. The missionary is not a king, he is a king-maker. The missionary is to take off his robe of prestige or importance and give it to others who will be known for being a great preacher, soul-winner, counselor and man of God.  The missionary is to take off our authority and to give it to others.

Jonathan first gave David the robe, but he followed up by giving him the garments: the sword, bow and girdle – everything he needed to be a king.

The missionary is to take off his robe and give it to the national pastor (the authority), but the missionary also is needs to give him everything else the pastor or leader needs to be a good pastor and leader. The missionary is not to just say, “he’s the pastor”, but to help him be a successful pastor and have all the material and tools needed to be the best possible. The missionary is to step aside and lower himself just as Jonathan did to David.

To step aside is probably the hardest thing to do as a missionary, but it is what needs to be done. Remember that a missionary must understand that he is not a king rather a king maker! Everyone likes to be noticed but we must remember that its not about us, it’s about our King, the King of kings. Our arrogance doesn’t want to say that someone else can do it better than we can, but a missionary must understand that in order to have a Biblical as well as flourishing ministry, he must step aside. A missionary must understand that he is not a king rather a king maker!

Here to Serve,

Jeff Bush

General Director of Vision Baptist Missions

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How To Pray For Your Missionary

By Will Cosby, Veteran missionary of 40 years.

  • Pray for him to understand the people he is working with, and for him to know why they do the things they do.
  • Pray for him to have great patience in dealing with delay.
  • Pray that God will give him wisdom in making daily decisions.  Even a small mistake will magnify in days to come.
  • Pray that God will garrison his mind against evil thoughts.
  • Pray for him to have Holy Spirit power and a good influence on others.
  • Pray that others will de-magnify his imperfections.
  • Pray for his spiritual health to be good and his physical health to keep pace with it.
  • Pray for him to receive much benefit from his Bible study; first for himself, and then for others.
  • Pray that God will help him to be flexible without compromise, and steadfast without being rigid.
  • Pray for him to be able to deliver his sermons with great satisfaction to God, the people, and himself.
  • Pray that God will keep him from believing false information and to be able to discern it as such.
  • Pray that he will know how to arrange his daily schedule with proper spiritual priorities.
  • Pray for him to give the proper attention to his wife and family and not to neglect them for the work.
  • Pay for him to be ever conscious of souls in need and to be aware of opportunities to win them.
  • Pray for him to have an ever increasing and widening vision of his work.
  • Pray for him to love his people as a shepherd does his sheep and to know their individual needs and be able to administrate his work for the benefit of the whole body.
  • Pray that he will have great faith in God to achieve the impossible.
  • Pray for him not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think and that God will shrink his ego.
  • Pray for him to have great boldness to preach the Word without fear or favor of man.
  • Pray for him to have good convictions and not to compromise.
  • Pray for him that most of all, he will love God supremely with all his heart, mind and soul.

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How to not become a missionary or get 100% involved in world evangelism!

  • Do not look at the harvest fields John 4:35
  • Do what everybody else is doing. Get a bigger salary, a better job, a better car and house, a better retirement
  • Get married to someone who has no idea what it means to serve God, the Great Commission, or world evangelism. Get settled down, get a good job, and raise a beautiful family
  • Stay away from missionaries. Their testimonies and lifestyles will only make you uncomfortable and may cause you to think of living for someone besides yourself
  • If you happen to think of missions think only of the very difficult places so you can feel good about not going. Don’t listen to what they tell you about how to get even into closed countries.
  • Think about how bad a missionary you would make because of your past failures and lack of ability
  • Think only about missionaries as super talented, super spiritual people that sit on a pedestal otherwise you might even feel guilty
  • Believe that you are indispensable where you are
  • Worry constantly about money
  • If you still feel like you must go then do so without the proper preparation that way you can fail and come home soon and no one will blame you for trying!

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How To Help your Missionaries

I once heard this quote, “The true greatness of any church in not how many it seats but how many it sends!” A completely full church is encouraging, but how much more encouraging it is when a church sends out a missionary… one of it’s own. This brief article is to share with you a few ideas of what you can do to help, love and stand behind the missionary that your church sends out. The ideas come from what I have heard or seen while traveling. I hope they will be a blessing and help to you. Continue reading “How To Help your Missionaries”

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How to give your testimony in the service on the mission field:

(Austin Gardner wrote this when he served as a missionary in Peru, South America)

  1. Write out your testimony. It will surprise you how easy it is to get sidetracked by all the commotion and translating.
  1. Keep it brief, maybe about 3 minutes! With translation 3 minutes will turn into 5!
  1. Open with a greeting in Spanish. The folks like it when you try to speak their language and show a genuine interest in them.
  1. Tell who you are and a little bit about you, married, work, something about your family, etc.
  1. Add a couple of positive statements about the country, the church, and the people!
  1. Do not talk about the poverty of the area, the currency as funny money, how sorry you feel for them, etc.
  1. Tell what Christ has done for you, how did you get saved, how did you realize your need of a Savior, how has your life changed, how has Christ helped you lately.
  1. Give a verse and make sure and give the application.
  1. Do not give graphic details about your sin or your past life.
  1. Avoid slang and idioms in your testimony. They can be very difficult to translate and may have no meaning in the other language.
  1. Do not use very long sentences or very short either. Give a good thought that can be easily remembered by the translator!
  1. Avoid stressing your material success or blessings and especially making any comparisons to what the people have in the country you are visiting!
  1. Avoid speaking of the sacrifice that you made to get to the field. Remember what it cost you to get to the country may be several months of a workingman’s income.  You may share with them the blessing of being able to come and how good God was to answer your prayers and make it possible to be there!
  1. Don’t tell jokes, etc. without prior approval to make sure that they translate, etc.
  1. Thank the folks again and ask them to pray for you. Be excited about the country and the opportunity to be there.