Hey folks, my name is Johnny Artivannis and this is Dialin. In this series we've been examining

the identity, structure, and leadership of the bride of Christ, which is the local church. And in this

episode, I want to continue our series by looking at the part that you, if you're a Christian, play

in the body of Christ. The reality of scripture is that every member of the body is a minister.

And over the next two weeks, we are going to dive deeply into God's Word and study the great theme

of your service to the local church. Let's dial in.

If you've been following along with our series on the church,

we initially looked at the reality that Jesus Christ is building his church.

Jesus approaches Cessaria Philippi and Matthew 16, and he asks his disciples,

Who do you say that I am? And Peter responds with

simple profundity, saying, quote, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. Jesus responds and

says, blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my

father who is in heaven, meaning this, that the

confession that Peter makes regarding the identity of Jesus Christ can never be made apart

from what? A miracle of God. And then Jesus responds and says, and upon this rock, I will build my church,

and the gates of hell will not prevail.

In examining Jesus's statement, we considered what is the nature and purpose of the church.

Jesus says that the church is in the Greek, an ecclesia, those who have been called out of the world,

and called together into an assembly who are mutually committed

to loving, obeying, and serving Jesus Christ. Furthermore, we examine that Jesus is the one who is

building his church. The church is not, remember, a human invention. It is a divine institution.

And if it's a divine institution, here's the encouraging reality for you.

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