Tag Archive | What Is a Church?
Audio: “Paul’s Prayer to the Father, Part 2″
What Is a Church? Ephesians 3:14-21 Matthew Raley (11-13-11) Humans have all sorts of ways they try to change the inner person. The military has boot camp, which breaks down and rebuilds a person in the space of weeks. Advertising uses imagery to speak past a person’s reasoning and empower his emotions to take over [...]
Audio: “Paul’s Prayer to the Father, Part 1″
What Is a Church? Ephesians 3:14-21 Matthew Raley (11-6-11) These past several weeks as we’ve asked the question, “What is a church?” we have found that the concept of church today is confused and that much of what today’s churches do is not only irrelevant to our society but also to God’s plan. In today’s [...]
Audio: “The Least of All the Saints”
What Is a Church? Ephesians 3:8:13 Matthew Raley (10-30-11) Imagine yourself in a room with a huge mirror on the wall which reflects your every gesture and facial expression back at you. Imagine further that after some time you realize the mirror is one-way glass, that you are under observation, and that you can’t see [...]
Audio: “Paul, the Prisoner and Servant”
What Is a Church? Ephesians 3:1-7 Matthew Raley (10-23-11) In Ephesians 3:1, Paul starts to pray about the high things of the hope of salvation, the riches of the Church, and the Father’s power. But he stops short. He needs to explain more about his own role in the unfolding of God’s plan. As he [...]
Audio: “The Temple in the Spirit”
What Is a Church? Ephesians 2:19-22 Matthew Raley (10-16-11) In Psalm 118, the people rejoice to see that a stone which the builders once rejected has been made “the chief cornerstone”. In Ephesians 2, Paul uses the imagery of this Psalm to describe Christ as the chief cornerstone of a new temple being built by [...]
Audio: “Christ Is Our Unity”
What Is a Church? Ephesians 2:14-18 Matthew Raley (10-9-11) While churches tend to see themselves as being “near” to God and having goodwill to those who are “far”, outsiders often do not feel this compassion, viewing it as born of hypocrisy and arrogance. As we continue to discuss the question, “What is a church?” today’s [...]
Audio: “Those Who Were Far Off”
What Is a Church? Ephesians 2:11-13 Matthew Raley (10-2-11) The word church has become a source of confusion for many in our day. Is it a building, or is it a family? What sort of model should it follow? Should it be like a mall with a little of something for everyone; or entertaining, like [...]
