M A T T H E W  16 v 18

 I will build my Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.  These are the words of Jesus as He makes His way to the Cross.  He has met with His Apostles and asks them who they say He is.  They tell Him various names but Peter responded by saying ‘you are the Christ, the Son of the living God’.  Jesus is thrilled by this answer and said on that statement He would build His Church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it.

When Jesus used the word ‘Church’, He was referring to an assembly of believers meeting together in worship.  The Church has a special place in the plan of God and we have to know how we are to live and function within that plan.

It does not belong to any nation or place. It is one composed of those who have joined to Christ in faith.  It is a Church with one body, one heart and mind, holding the same beliefs and believe the same doctrine for salvation. It is a Church with one head, Jesus Christ

Jesus was referring to an assembly of believers meeting together in worship; to be committed to the teaching of the Apostles, which Jesus gave; to learn about the Bible

God has promised to care for all his people, if they have observed all that God has laid down in his manual, which will lead to eternal salvation; it is called the Bible. The alternative is eternal darkness

Having delegated first to Peter and the Apostles to continue the work He had begun, Jesus now passes the responsibility down to us in our age to continue to preach the gospel, and every Christian has the duty to play their part in the spread of the gospel.   The Church has a special place in the plan of God, and we have to know how we are to live within that plan,   God calls us to listen, to accept follow Jesus, bringing the message of the gospel, which would lead people to gain salvation.

 In John 17, Jesus prayed for His  people, and clearly referred to those who were not of the world   It was never intended to be seen as a building in which anyone could call to have some infant or child baptized  as a once off protection against an illness or other mishap; nor to be a nice setting for a wedding,

The first Christian Church was formed on the day of Pentecost, when the Apostle Peter preached the first sermon to Jews and Gentiles, after which 3,000 people asked Peter what they should do.  He told them to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy spirit.  They did so and devoted themselves to the teaching of the Apostles, which is the foundation of the New Testament.

Acts 2, we find the early Church responded without coercion, to meet to listen to the preaching of the gospel as given by the Apostles, and we see they grew daily as they acted upon that teaching.  God blessed that Church and added to their number.

This raises the presumption that God will not bless those who now lead the Church,   as it celebrates that which contradicts His Holy Word. The Bible is the supreme authority for the Church, the conveyance of all truth.

Every Christian who values and loves their Church must at times feel depressed at the level of attendances at Church, unless of course a baptism or wedding is desired when people feel the Church can be useful and offer them something.  I accept that numbers are not the be all and end all of Church worship, or a verdict on any particular Church, but there must always be a need for every Church to consider whether the worship offered is as worthy as it ought to be.  In many cases I do not think it is. 

There is much that can and should be done to make a Church appeal to non-members.  The building itself should look smart and be clean looking, which is not always so.  Selected men and women, recognised for their engaging personalities, need to be appointed to greet people attending so that visitors feel we are glad to see them and make them feel welcome.  Regular members too need to be encouraged to speak and be friendly with visitors, rather than look at them as if intruders. 

In Anglican Churches the services can be confusing to strangers as there are so many alternatives offered.  I have officiated at numerous Churches and not found the same service exactly at any two Churches, so an offer to help and guide may be appreciated. Having changed the worship of the Prayer Book to the Alternative service Book, which had meaningful forms of service, we now have Common Worship in which the formulators couldn’t make their minds up as to which Eucharistic prayer should be used. I used to advise my Church stewards to try and introduce a stranger to someone of like age and sex to make them feel more comfortable.  When leaving after the service, the Minister(s) should always be at the exit to meet people. 

However, the most important part is that between the coming and leaving.  Services should be bright with tuneful hymns, perhaps altering tunes to hymns that are felt necessary if the set one is of the mournful type.  I was at a service where for ten minutes a choral rendition of Purcell’s ‘Rejoice in the Lord’ was sung, followed later by Stanford’s ‘Te deum’, which is fine for the right place, but an ordinary parish Communion is not my idea of the right place. 

I don’t think it is generally recognised how important music is in a service. Music stirs the mind and moves the heart.  In every Crusade, from Sankey and Moody, the Welsh revival and most notably the great Billy Graham Crusades, the singing of hymns and spiritual songs has been a dominant feature to complement the inspirational preaching. The Evangelical Churches mostly pursue this format, which needs to be introduced into more Churches, and dispense with the philosophy that seems to pervade that as long we put something on it will suffice.

The sermon has been relegated in importance where once it was a central feature.  Sermons are there for a purpose, namely to tell the good news about Jesus Christ.  How can people be taught to believe the good news of the gospel if the Church fails to tell?  This is our business first and foremost.  The pulpit is there for the declaration of the gospel, and any Church which fails to respond cannot justify its reason for being there.  Ministers are to be messengers from God, bringing God message to congregations.

Sermons often lack sound teaching however, with preachers watering down the message to provide spiritual potions which will make people feel happy and guiltless.  One Vicar tells me regularly sermons need to be nice and friendly so people won’t be upset.  This always amuses me for Billy Graham use to preach to audiences of up to 80 thousands and beyond regularly, and tell them they were all a lot of sinners who would go to hell if they didn’t repent, and people flocked to hear him. 

In the Church of England we have softened our messages, had all sorts of changes,  all sorts of gimmicks, and we are still losing members. 

Surely we need to rationalise our number of Churches.  At one time every village and neighbourhood had its own parish Church (in addition to Catholic and Free Churches) and congregations were strong enough to maintain them.  This is no longer the case yet we are still trying to keep that system going.  To do so we have Vicars fleeing from one Church to another offering a token service which does no one any good, or a local preacher  who however well intentioned often has not been properly trained and rides his/her own hobby horse rather than preaching the Bible.

There is no justification for such services. Whilst there would be horror at the thought of closing some and spoiling the quintessential view and feeling of the villagers at losing their lovely Church, it should be remembered attendance is the point of having it.  There is every incentive for people living in idyllic situations, to give just an hour each week in thanks to God for such place.It would be far more sensible and realistic to prune the number of Churches.  We have seen evangelical Churches, drawing people from a wide area and offering inspiring worship, and similarly High Churches offering beautifully conducted and meaningful worship.  People find no difficulty travelling to Tesco or Sainsbury’s, which are not on their doorstep, and with some innovative transport offers the Church could be in a like position.  

Attending Church is not optional.  The Bible assumes people who are believers are connected to a local Church, where they live out their faith. Individual or independent Christianity, cannot be found anywhere in the Bible. Whilst Jesus is present bodily in heaven with believers, He is also present on earth by His Spirit so that when people are gathered  Jesus is amongst us just as surely as when He was present with His Apostles.  The Bible uses several terms to describe the Church, the most powerful being a family, consisting of people of different backgrounds, experiences, class, ages and gender.  This family extends right across the world, so that wherever you go you can have fellowship with other believers.  There is much pleasure in doing this, something no other organisation with such capacity. There is a uniqueness about the Church, was we are separated from the world’s standards and from the others of society.

But of course the Church does not exactly encourage people when it is seen to be unable to resolve theological and procedural problems quickly and quietly.

Experience has shown that when political parties are divided in their beliefs, people will think if they can’t agree amongst themselves, there is not point in them trying to give support. Similarly, such applies to the Church. 

It has to be faced there are men with a personal agenda who seem determined to undermine the Church.  The Leaders of the Church have firmly opposed same

sex marriage’, yet, senior clergy, are challenging in a disloyal, irresponsible and shameful way with no respect for unity within the Church or for Bible teaching.  This and other issues are liable to split the Church of England within, but separate it from the universal Church which includes Catholic and Orthodox Churches. 

It would be less damaging if we followed the example of  the Anglican Church of North America and formed a new Anglican Church of Great Britain based on the same foundations as of our American friends.

In the meantime each Church should strive to be true to its calling with vows honoured, and work independently of the national scene.  I firmly believe that if  a Church is a welcoming one, offers a well constructed service with tuneful hymns and an inspiring message, it will surely attract members.

Give thanks to God for His Holy Gospel. Paise the Lord Jesus Christ