The Ripple EffectSample

The Church as the Body of Christ – all in and all moving

To be the Church means to be the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27). This helps us understand our identity in terms of our unity and diversity, but also in mission, which is our focus for today.

Colossians 1:15 states that “the Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation,” and John 1:18 affirms that “no one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.”

Jesus was incarnate (embodied in human form) and became physically visible to the world. Now, post the ascension of Christ, the Church is the Body of Christ and, therefore must act as the visible representation of God to the world.

There is a myth that only some believers are ministers of the Gospel. Ephesians 4 busts that myth by emphasizing that some in the Church have specific roles, but ALL are to complete the “work of the ministry” (Eph 4:11). This work of the ministry is, as Paul explains in 2 Corinthians 5, the ministry of reconciliation. We have been reconciled to God through faith in Christ, and now we as the Church are called to be ambassadors of Christ, to implore (beg earnestly or desperately) others "on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God” (2 Cor 5:20).

Commissioned to Go

At the end of Acts chapter 5, we begin to see the persecution of the early Church and those who were spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ. But regardless of external concerns and threats, the believers continued to spread the Gospel. As Luke said in verse 29 – "we must obey God rather than human beings!" (Acts 5:29).

As we mentioned in the beginning, we see the Church not as a building but as what we are. If we see the Church as what we do on Sundays in a building, we will never leave the building. But if we see the Church as who we are, we will take it everywhere we go, into our workplaces, schools, cafes, and the wider community. We see through the book of Acts the early Church spreading first through the city of Jerusalem (chapters 1-7), the regions of Judea and Samaria (chapters 8-12) and then to the “end of the Earth” (chapters 13-28), just as Acts 1:8 calls the apostles to go.

The Church was never meant to hold onto the Gospel message for us, but we have been empowered to be “witnesses” (Acts 1:8) of Jesus Christ and have been given the Spirit to empower us as we do so. The purpose of this gathering is to scatter so that the lives of believers are living as salt and light in their community (Matthew 5:13-16).

Prayer Point: Lord, I thank you that the Church is commissioned to go. That I will go into my workplace, school, and community with the purpose to live my life for your glory Lord. To be a minister of reconciliation, preaching the good news that you came to die so that we may have life in abundance.