The Mission of the Church 

 [Lu 19:10 "for the Son of Man has come to Seek and to Save that which was lost."

    Should its mission be anything other than Christ's mission? The church is a divine institution and has a divine mission. It is neither political or social, but altogether spiritual in its design and purpose. Its concern is not the entertainment of people, but the saving of souls. B.C. Goodpasture correctly wrote in the GOSPEL ADVOCATE, 1948, "For the church to turn aside from its divine work to furnish amusement and recreation is to pervert its mission. It is to degrade its mission. Amusement and recreation should stem from the home rather than the church..."       

 

    The church is to provide a unit of fellowship (spiritual sharing) for the saved. Every saved person

 is a member of the church (Acts 2:47). The church is the body of the saved; members have been called

 into the fellowship of Jesus Christ, and they should fellowship those who have obeyed the

 gospel (Eph. 5:23,1 Cor. 1:9, I John 1:1-3, 6-7).

 

   The church is to worship God. The early church in Jerusalem continued in fellowship, the breaking of

 bread, and prayers (Acts 2:42). Members are to offer spiritual sacrifices to God and they are to meet on

 the first day of the week to observe the Lord's Supper (Acts 20:7).

 

   The church is to preach the gospel to the world and to edify itself. Jesus instructed the apostles to

 preach the gospel to the whole world (Mk 16: 15-16). The book of Acts and the New Testament epistles

 are filled with illustrations of the apostles and the congregations preaching and assisting  in the preaching

 of the gospel (Phil. 4:15-16, 11 Cor. 11:8). The church edifies (builds up) itself through teaching and in

 the doing of the work and worship which God has commanded (Eph. 4:14-16). Much of the work of the

 evangelist is intended for this purpose (I Tim.; II Tim).

 

   The local church is to engage in benevolent work. The earliest believers at Jerusalem sold property and

 possessions in order to share with members [ saints ] who had need, and none were lacking (Acts 2:44-

 45; 4:34). When widows [ see qualification acts 5;3-6 1Ti 5:16 ].had been neglected, the disciples at

 Jerusalem made special efforts to correct the situation (Acts 6: 1-6). In the reign of Claudius, when a

 famine adversely affected the brethren in Judea, the disciples at Antioch sent a contribution by the

 hands of Barnabas and Saul (Acts 11-27-30).

 

    Nothing in the Bible indicates that a part of the work of the church is to entertain and provide

 recreation for its members. There is no scripture that even points in the direction.

 

   The church might as well relieve the parents of feeding and disciplining of all young people at church

 expenses as to take over the job of entertaining and supervising their recreation at church expenses.

 

   In conclusion,  The mission of the church is to [Lu 19:10 "for the Son of Man has come to seek and to

 save that which was lost.  "the works of the church includes providing a unit of fellowship for the saved,

 worshiping God, preaching the gospel to the world, edifying itself, and engaging in benevolent work.[ for

 saints ]

   

    It may be summed up by the words of Paul in Eph. 3:10-11 where he wrote that the church is to make

 known "...the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ

 Jesus our Lord..."