Why Church Matters, Part 2
Victory Life Church, Central — Sunday, September 21, 2025
Part 2: “Why Gathering for Worship Matters”
Link to a downloadable PDF
2025-09-21 – Why Church Matters, Part 2 (Full Draft)
Scripture Reading
Acts 2:32–42 (NLT)
Introduction
These are the questions we are asking in this series over the next few weeks: “Does the Church Matter?” Why bother with the Church? [ The Church is the Body of Christ. ]
The Church is the physical presence of Christ on earth. By filling us with His Spirit, we become His Temple; we are the extension of Christ’s presence on the earth. Where you are, so Christ is, because of His indwelling Spirit. [ The Church is the “Embassy of Heaven” on earth; we are ambassadors. ] How does Christ’s presence manifest in all the world? Through the church. The church is the one mechanism by which His presence and power flood all of creation.
What is the Church? The Ekklesia
When you hear the word “church,” what does it even mean? The word for “church” in Greek (the language of the original New Testament) is “ekklesia,” it means assembly, or more specifically, a “gathering” of those who are called out for a purpose.
[ “Ekklesia” ] — assembly, a gathering of people assembled by a herald that meets together for various political, religious, and civic purposes.
The Septuagint (the Greek OT) uses the term ekklēsia to translate the Hebrew word qāhāl (קָהָל), which means “assembly” or “congregation,” especially when gathered before the Lord for religious purposes. In Deuteronomy, ekklēsia describes the people of God gathered to receive the covenant, those whom God delivered out of slavery and brought them to Himself to form a covenant with Him. Ekklesia becomes a way of describing God’s family.
[The ekklēsia is the covenant people of God called out for the covenant purposes of God.]
In Graeco-Roman culture, the term “ekklesia” was a common and non-religious, secular term. An ekklēsia referred to a political or civic assembly. Citizens met to discuss, discern, and legislate local policies.
A Greco-Roman “ekklesia” meant a civic body gathering together for policy-making.
The New Testament writers intentionally used the word ekklēsia to reflect both of these uses of the term: the covenant family of God and an assembled civic body for policy-making. Churches were social bodies practicing discernment and decision making. But unlike civic assemblies, they gathered under the authority of Jesus as Lord. The early church was a people united by allegiance to Jesus and shaped by practices of life in Him.
The church (ekklēsia) is the covenant people of God, under the authority of and in allegiance to Jesus as Lord, called out to live for the covenant purposes of God.
Acts 2:40 (NLT) 40 Then Peter continued preaching for a long time, strongly urging all his listeners, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!”
Why Gathering as the Church Matters
Part of our history and church root systems come from the Protestant Reformation, which was a protest against the extremes that were taking place in the catholic church in that era. For Protestants, during the Protestant Reformation, they talked about three main marks of what defined the Christian church over against the Catholic claims.
Protestants described the Church as: (1) The faithful preaching of the Word; (2) The right administration of the Sacraments; and (3) The authentic discipline of its people.
I would like to add one more important element to what makes a gathering the church and that is the presence of the Holy Spirit in our worship and fellowship. What makes the “Gathering” a Church: (1). Spirit, (2). Scripture, (3). Sacrament, and (4). Shepherding.
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- Spirit (Worship/Presence)
By filling us with His Spirit, we become His Temple; we are the extension of Christ’s presence on the earth. It is critically important that we remain calibrated to the Holy Spirit. One of the primary ways in which we do this is to belong to the community of faith and commit to consistent gathering together for worship.
Acts 13:2 (NLT)2 One day as these men were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Appoint Barnabas and Saul for the special work to which I have called them.”
The Holy Spirit manifests the personal presence of God with us.
[ Gathering by the Spirit is a call to faithful worship in a culture of idolatry. ]
“Wherever the Spirit unites worshipping souls to Christ and to each other, there is the mystery of the church.”
Calvin explains how the human heart is constantly inclined toward idolatry—creating false gods, images, and substitutes for the true God.
“Man’s nature, so to speak, is a perpetual factory of idols.” ~ John Calvin
Never underestimate our capacity for idolatry. We are constantly tempted by the forces of the world and the devil, as well as the weakness of our own flesh, to give our attention, our affection, and our devotion to things other than Jesus. Idols are everywhere, and our access to entertainment, news, and politics have brought this to the forefront. We may pay lip-service to Jesus, but where is our ultimate identity and allegiance?
Our gathering for worshipping the Lord calibrates our heart back to the One whom we have surrendered our lives to, given our allegiance to, and are commanded to give our love and devotion to. This is a call to faithfulness to the original first commandment, “you must not have any other god but me.” We are tempted continually to give our worship, our devotion, and our affections to other things. We are prone to idolatry. American Christianity has, as a whole, accommodated a mediocre allegiance to Jesus while condoning the worship of worldly idols.
In Revelation 2-3, you get Jesus’s direct message to the churches, the gathered assembly of the people of God in the region. The church in Ephesus had gotten many things right: their work for Jesus, their endurance against opposition, and their doctrinal integrity. However, Jesus took serious their loss of love enough to sharply correct them. The church in Sardis had a reputation of being “alive,” but Jesus had a different opinion, he said regardless of your reputation to others, “my perspective is that you are dead.” The church in Laodicea had allowed their wealth and prosperity to make them apathetic and lukewarm and miss the reality that they are, in fact, wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.
We must not allow ourselves to drift into a loveless religion of obligation, nor can we allow ourselves to become apathetic in religious routines. Even though we may have a reputation of being alive, what matters is if Jesus says it to be so; and the way in which that is the case is if we give our devotion and affection to Him as supreme.
[ Gathering by the Spirit is a call to faithful worship in a culture of idolatry. ]
If the church is to become the source of healing for the world, as Jesus has envisioned it, we must get our allegiance corrected and our attention focused on Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. What are we reflecting if our attention is on ourselves or the world?
2 Corinthians 4:6 (ESV) For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
We will reflect the nature of the presence we are most attentive to.
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- Scripture (the Word of God)
The second aspect that makes the church what it is is the faithful preaching of the Word. We are in a culture and era of church where the emphasis is more on the emotional experience of worship and the expectation for the sermon is, more or less, a short reflection or encouraging message. The Reformers saw that preaching the Word was the primary task of the true church. We have been entrusted with the truth of God.
2 Timothy 4:1–4 (NLT)1 I solemnly urge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who will someday judge the living and the dead when he comes to set up his Kingdom: 2 Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching. 3 For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will reject the truth and chase after myths.
The church exists where the Word of God is proclaimed clearly and faithfully; the preaching of the Word is not entertainment, not opinion-sharing, nor is it moral advice; God’s word is to be cherished, opened, and applied for the furthering of the mission of God in the world. No matter how beautiful the building, nor uplifting the liturgy, nor enjoyable the fellowship, nor expressive and emotive the worship, none of these make for a replacement to the Word of God, none of these make the church if the gospel and the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ made clear through the Scriptures rightly and faithfully taught.
[ Gathering around the Scriptures is a call for truth in a culture of deception. ]
The church stands as ground zero for truth. Regardless of what culture says and where it goes, the church upholds the Word of God as the testimony of truth, and stands as a herald of that truth in the midst of a culture given itself over to lies and deception.
1 Timothy 3:15b (NLT)15This is the church of the living God, which is the pillar and foundation of the truth.
If the church gives in to lies and deception, there no longer remains a dam that holds back the bondage that comes from lies and deception. There are no pastors or teachers of the Word of God that are perfect or get everything right when we communicate. But where do we plant our flag? Is it in the Word of God or in the cultural values of the day?
John 8:31–32 (NLT)31 Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. 32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Yes, we can disagree about interpretation and application, but do we agree where the authority lies? The authority lies in the Word of God, the teachings of Jesus. Jesus upheld the Scriptures as the faithful testimony of truth through history. The church exists where the Word of God is faithfully and consistently preached. Sermons, however long, should be grounded in the Word of God in order to proclaim the truth. The preaching of the Word of God should train your ears to truth. We are exposed to lies all the time in our day-to-day lives, and the nature of deception is that you do not know when you are deceived. That is why we acknowledge the authority of God’s word and submit to his authority in it. It may be painful at first, it may hurt our feelings or make us made initially, but ultimately the truth leads us to freedom. We are called to preach the truth in love, which is what contributes to our growth in Christ.
Ephesians 4:15 (NLT)15 Instead, 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.
[ Gathering around the Scriptures is a call for truth in a culture of deception. ]
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- Sacrament (Baptism and Communion)
The third thing that makes the church what it is is the right administration of the Sacraments. The Reformers insisted in baptism and the Lord’s Supper (communion) be practiced according to the Scriptures. Now there is variation within the Protestant tradition as to how that works out, but these sacraments were seen as visible ways to confirm the Word that is preached and the life and presence of the Holy Spirit (not just charismatic and expressive worship). Baptism is embodying the truth of the gospel with Christ, participating deeply and mysteriously in His death, burial, resurrection. Years ago we redesigned our baptismal services in order to experience the power of this moment as heaven experiences it. We throw a big party and celebrate every single person baptized because that is what heaven does. If you have not joined us for these services, you are missing out. They are, by far, my favorite thing we do. I have yet to do a baptismal service where I did not cry, and if you are paying attention and joining in the celebration, you won’t escape without laughing, crying, and celebrating with those who are joining the family of God. When a person goes down into the water, they are saying that “just as Christ died, so I died; and just as Christ was raised from the dead, so I am raised to new life.”
At the Lord’s Table, we are being nourished by the life of Christ. We will talk about this more in a couple of weeks, discussing how it is “The Table that Heals the World.” However, I want you to know that this will be something we will begin increasing the frequency of coming to the Table of the Lord in our Sunday gatherings. The Apostle Paul said “as often as you” do this, not “as rarely as you do this.”
In the sacraments, we are remembering and proclaiming the true story we live in.
There are so many lies in our culture, so many stories we are being coerced and deceived into believing. It isn’t just the individual lies that are deceptive, it is the stories of who we are, who God is, the kind of world we leave in, and the solutions to the world’s brokenness that are narratives being fed to us deceptively that are so dangerous. The sacraments, grounded in the truth of the Word of God, that remind us what story we are living in, and proclaiming the truth of what will actually heal the world: Jesus, made know through His church. These sacraments also remind us that we are not just “thinking beings” or “brains on a stick.” They help us understand how our faith is more than a philosophy or theology, but an embodied faith, and incarnational life we live.
John 1:14 (ESV)14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
[ Gathering for the Sacraments is a call for embodied faith in a culture of digital substitutes. ]
Our culture is fully in the digital age and is moving our lives more and more into the digital space. Technology and digital connectivity has its role in society, but nearly two decades into this experiment we can see how it is unraveling the fabric of society. We are immersed in a marketplace of ideas in which the lines of truth and lies are completely blurred. Our ability to cultivate a healthy society has been almost eradicated in a single generation. We are losing our capacity for real relationships with real people. We are losing touch with what it means to be human. Even our Christianity and discipleship to Jesus has been moving more toward digital consumption and argumentation. We are losing what it means to be a human made in God’s image, called to bear the image of Christ. He was “embodied” in his life, not just a thinker and philosopher.
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- Shepherding (Discipline, Correction, Care)
Lastly, the fourth thing that makes the church what it is and why the gathering matters is for the Shepherding of God’s people. The Reformers described this as the “authentic discipline of the people.” This needs to be clearly defined in today’s climate. When you hear the concept of church discipline, it may evoke images of oppression and abuse. There is a substantial amount of abusive leaders within the church. Church hurt is real, and it is really painful. Many people have left the faith entirely because of being hurt by abusive church leaders; a greater number of have simply left the church without leaving Jesus because of poor and abusive leaders within the church.
Let me say three things: first, there is no excuse for abusive church leadership. God is vehemently against shepherds who are abusive and self-serving.
Second, for every abusive, narcissistic, self-serving leader, there are dozens and dozens, maybe hundreds, of pastors and church leaders who live with integrity, humility, and sacrificial love and care. There are so many more names of church leaders who shepherd like Jesus that you will never hear of than all the names of poor or abusive church leaders. This is not to diminish the hurt you may have experienced from poor or abusive church leaders, but this is an appeal to not let hurt, unforgiveness, or cynicism harden your heart towards good and Christlike shepherds in the church today. However, in addition to this, for every person who has been hurt by abusive shepherds, there is a shepherd who has been abused and hurt by an immature and self-serving church. All of us, shepherds and church members alike, should be a part of healing and restoring each other, and creating an environment of health and healing for all who have been hurt by the church, whether that be immature church members or abusive shepherds.
Third, we need to define church discipline a little more clearly. It may sound harsh, hurtful, or even abusive, but this is not the reality of discipline. Shepherds are to cultivate a culture of discipline, which should be defined as loving correction and compassionate care.
Shepherding in discipline is defined as loving correction and compassionate care.
Loving correction is for the sake of people’s spiritual maturity, not abusive manipulation. Though this has been abused grossly, this is actually something we desperately want and need. Everybody its looking at the church and wondering, “Why do you tolerate the hypocrisy and abuse?” That is a call for church discipline. It is not good to tolerate certain things. Church discipline (correction and care) says that we will not tolerate hypocrisy, abuse, sexual sin, gossip, back-biting, etc. We are all asking, “Why does the church have so many scandals? Why are you tolerating this?” Church discipline, true shepherding, says that we will not tolerate this in the life of our community; shepherding exists to deal with these things. This is something we all want in the community…until it’s you. Everybody loves the idea of shepherding, church discipline, and correction until you are the one who needs it.
[ Gathering for Shepherding is a call for correction and care in a culture of unbridled self-expression. ]
Everybody wonders, “Why doesn’t someone do something about this?” And then a church leader comes to you and says, “Yes, we need to talk about this in your life…” and we bow up and say, “this is abusive leadership. I can’t be a part of this anymore.” Yes, this has been taken to the extreme by many church leaders and has been used as a mask for abuse, oppression, and manipulation. Shepherds and sheep alike should be held accountable and be corrected when necessary. For church leaders, this is the role of an elder in the life of the church. For the congregation, this is the role of shepherds (pastors, by definition). Shepherds bring correction and care to the congregation.
We are immersed in a culture of unbridled self-expression. The ultimate cultural value is “authenticity,” which is simply defined by our feelings have permission to be fully expressed and unquestioned approval. “I am what I feel.” This is reinforced by the philosophical underpinnings of there being “no objective truth,” there is simply “your truth” and “my truth.” This removes entirely the idea of accountability, correction, and discipline. This creates a culture of narcissism, and this is our current cultural reality. It has seeped into the church subtly, but must be confronted lovingly and corrected compassionately.
Revelation 3:19 (NLT)19 I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference.
Jesus, as the chief shepherd, will correct and discipline us. We are to do this for each other. An analogy would be parenting. Just because there are abusive or manipulative parents does not mean there should be no such thing as parents, or to offload parenting onto the government. There is a desperate need for good parents. The existence of abusive or manipulative parents does not call for the eradication of all parenting. It means that the need for good parents calls for parents to mature and grow into Christlikeness. The same is true for shepherds. Just because there are abusive or manipulative shepherds, and just because you may have experienced the hurt and pain of abusive and manipulative shepherds, does not mean there is no need for shepherds. We all need good shepherds. Jesus has ordained it this way. He is the chief shepherd, and has expectations for those who stand in the position of shepherding.
The reality is Jesus has set shepherds over his flock, the church, and has expectations for them, but also has a specific role in the spiritual maturity of the congregation: discipline, as defined by loving correction and compassionate care.
[ Gathering for Shepherding is a call for correction and care in a culture of unbridled self-expression. ]
Conclusion
The church is not about size, power, attendance, finances or recognition.
“There are certain elements that the church in every place will share: worship and fellowship. Gathering together on the Lord’s Day, praying, singing God’s praise, hearing the word read and preached, celebrating baptism and the Lord’s Supper, giving materially to the church’s work–these are things all Christians should do when gathered together… The most powerful witness to the gospel is the church herself, simply going about the business of worship.” ~ Carl Trueman
What makes the “Gathering” a Church:
The Church is the covenant people of God living for the covenant purposes of God in the world, as defined by the Spirit of God being present and rightly honored, the Word of God rightly preached, the sacraments rightly administered, and the people rightly shepherded through care and discipline.
Citations and Read More
Ephesians 1:22-23; 4:12, 16; 5:23, 30; Colossians 1:18, 24; Romans 12:5; 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, 27
Ephesians 6:12, 2 Corinthians 5:19-20
See also Deuteronomy 4:10 and 23:1-8, Psalm 22:22, cited in Hebrews 2:12; Joshua 8:35; 1 Kings 8:14: See also Acts 7:38, Stephen describes Israel as the church/congregation (ekklesia) in the wilderness
During the conflict of Paul and the Ephesian artisans, this council is referred to as an ekklēsia (Acts 19:32-40).
1 Corinthians 14:18-19, 23-25; Acts 15:2, 22; Hebrews 12:22-24
1 Corinthians 6:20; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 2:22; see also John 14:16-17
John Calvin. Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1559 edition, 1.11.8
Matthew 15:8-9 and Mark 7:6-7, citing Isaiah 29:13. Jesus says honor with the lips does not mean faithfulness.
Mark 12:28-34, citing Deuteronomy 6:4-5; see also Matthew 22:34-40 and Luke 10:25-28
Exodus 20:3–4 (NLT)3 “You must not have any other god but me. 4 “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea.
Revelation 2:1-7. Jesus says that he will remove their lampstand if they do not restore their love.
Revelation 3:1-6. He instructs them to wake up, strengthen what remains, remember, and repent.
Revelation 3:14-22. Jesus harshly critiques this church, and calls them to be zealous in their repentance.
Luke 15:7, 10, and 32. The conclusion of the story of the Prodigal Son says, “We HAD to celebrate…” (NLT)
Romans 6:4-5. We are “buried with Him in baptism,” and raised that “we might walk in newness of life.”
1 Corinthians 11:23-26. 11:26 — “as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup…”
Romans 8:29, 2 Corinthians 3:18, 1 Corinthians 15:49
Ezekiel 34:1-10. See also Matthew 9:36, Jude 12, 1 Peter 5:1-5.
John 10:7-18 and 1 Peter 5:1-5
Trueman, Carl R. Strange New World, p. 176.