Church, or the Anglican Church, or Presbyterian Church, or whatever).
A church is a body of people who have accepted Christ as their Savior, and who respond to the teachings of the Bible.
Regularly attending church services does not make you a Christian. Giving generously to support church funds does not make you a Christian. Contributing to church activities and meetings and events does not make you a Christian.
You are a Christian when you believe in the gift of salvation that was achieved for you by the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made when he died for you on the cross: by this sacrifice God can forgive your sins.
However, regularly meeting with fellow Christians is healthy. Church is a family of Christians, and it is good to be an active participant of that family: actively contributing to the health and welfare and growth of the family, caring for each other as brothers and sisters, sharing in sorrows, sharing in joy, praying together and maturing in Christian understanding together.
‘Let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his [Christ’s] return is drawing near.’ (Hebrews chapter 10 verse 25 - NLT)
Paul describes the wider community of Christians in terms of a temple erected to the glory of God:
‘This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You are no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone.
God is building a home. He’s using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he’s using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home.’ (Ephesians chapter 2 verses 19 to 22 - MSG)
The church is the body of Christ
‘Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.’ (1 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 27 - ESV)
The church is the living body of Christ here on earth.
‘The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.
But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. How strange a body would be if it had only one part! Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.” (1 Corinthians chapter 12 verses 12 and 13, 18 to 21 - NLT)
In the same way in which each part is essential to the health and full functionality of a whole human body, so it is with the church: Each church member is essential to the health and full functionality of the church, the body of Christ.
You may have a highly visible role or responsibility to perform within the church, or you may have a simple or unnoticed role: whatever role you perform, be aware that you are essential to the overall effectiveness of the work of the church.
The church is the body of Christian believers who gather under the Fathership of God.
And the church is the living embodiment of Jesus Christ, which is active in the world, working as a united body in the service of God.
‘We will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.’ (Ephesians chapter 4 verses 15 and 16 - NLT)
Circumcision
This was a sensitive subject of great significance to the early Christians; they relied on Paul’s enlightened wisdom to clarify the matter.
Men are born with a protective hood of skin that covers the end of their penis; circumcision is the removal of this loose skin so that the end is left permanently exposed. In some cultures circumcision is still practiced, traditionally performed on baby boys at eight days old.
About 1,900 years before the birth of Christ, God made a covenant with Abraham. God told Abraham that he would make him the ancestor of many, many people, and that the whole land of Canaan would be an everlasting possession to Abraham’s descendants.
God told Abraham that, “Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you.” (Genesis chapter 17 verses 10 and 11 - NIV)
However, the New Testament delivers a new covenant, and a completely new relationship with God. Circumcision had been practiced by God’s chosen people ever since the time of Abraham; but Jesus Christ changed all that.
People no longer needed to be Jewish to be God’s chosen people: now anyone could become one of God’s chosen people when they asked God for forgiveness; the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made on the cross has allowed God to forgive our sins.
The Jewish converts to Christianity were already circumcised when they were babies; when non-Jews became Christians the Jewish converts demanded that these non-Jewish converts should also be circumcised.
They thought they had a reasonable argument, but Paul made everything perfectly clear: ‘For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.’ (Galatians chapter 5 verse 6 - NIV)
If you are a male Christian: relax.
You do not need to be circumcised.
We are not identified as children of God by a physical change that we make to our body: we are identified as children of God by the change in our heart.
Jesus Christ was sacrificed so that we can all be included in God’s family; if we could include ourselves in God’s family simply by cutting off a little skin, it would mean that Christ’s sacrifice was meaningless.
‘When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature.
For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.’ (Colossians chapter 2 verses 11 and 12 - NLT)
Creation
This is a tricky subject for many Christians, because we are educated at school and in the media about evolution and a natural earth history that appears to conflict with the Biblical description.
Genesis chapter 1 verse 1 tells us that God made everything: everything on earth, and everything in the universe: 'In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth' (KJV)
It’s quite simple when you think about it: either everything, absolutely everything including
