The Ripple EffectSample

Gathered and Scattered

The Church is an important part of the life of a Christian. When we get saved, we don’t just receive Christ into our lives, but are called to be a part of the community that follow Him. In this devotional, we are going to talk about the heart and mission of the Church, what is the Church and what is the mission we are now a part of. We are called to gather on Sundays to be empowered and grow so that we can go out into all the world, preach the good news of Jesus and make disciples.

The first thing to know is that the Church is not a building, it is not an institution, it is not something we simply attend, but the Church are the people of God.

The Bible calls the Church the Temple of the Holy Spirit, the People of God and the Body of Christ. These descriptions are great ways to show that the Church is all of us together, when we gather, we are the Church. But gathering is not the goal, we gather to grow so we can be empowered and commissioned to go!

What is the purpose & mission of the Church?

The Book of Acts, written by Luke as a 2nd volume of his Gospel account, records the history of the early Church. In this book, we see the Church engaging in two main actions. As the Church, they gathered and scattered.

To Gather: Empowered and Equipped

The first purpose of the Church is empowerment. We gather to pray and to be empowered for our mission.

Acts 2:1-4 - they were all together in one place, but they were gathered for a purpose, to pray and to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Being filled with the Spirit is not a one-off moment. We are baptized in the Holy Spirit and continually filled (Acts 1:8, Ephesians 5:18, Acts 4:31).

To Scatter: Ministry

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). Matthew 28:16-20 speaks of the mission of the Church, this is called the Great Commission, to go into all the world and make disciples.

The Church was never meant to hold onto the Gospel message for ourselves, but we have been empowered, as Acts 1:8 states, to be "witnesses" of Jesus Christ and have been given the Spirit to empower us as we do so.

Prayer Point: Lord, I pray that you would give me wisdom through your Word to know what the Church is and the mission of the Church. I pray that I would understand that gathering is not the goal, but the goal is to empower and equip me to impact my community, family and my workplace.