THE BUILDING STONES.

SERIES: THE CHURCH-A SPIRITUAL BUILDING

TEXT: 1^st PETER 2:5

Like a building, the church is set up by binding stones together. Without the stones there is no building. We believers are the building stones of the church of the Lord. Even in the perfect sinless environment of Eden, God said “It is not good for man to be alone.” We are created for community, fashioned for fellowship and formed for a family and none of us can fulfil God’s purpose alone. More about the building stones:-

YOU ARE A STONE, MEMBER OF THE BUILDING.

The Bible knows nothing of solitary saints or spiritual hermits isolated from the building, the fellowship of other believers.
The Bible says that we are put together, joined together, built together and will be caught up to meet Jesus our LORD together. In God’s building you are connected to every other believer.

A BELIEVER MUST ATTEND CHURCH-Hebrews 10:25.

We are commanded not to neglect the coming together in fellowship, as we see the return of the Lord draw near.
In the church fellowship it is where we get the necessary sacraments commanded in the Bible:-

Water baptism; you cannot be baptized when you are at home alone, it must be done in church.
Holy Communion; you can’t do Holy Communion at home.

In the book of Revelation, Jesus our LORD dealt with churches-Rev. 2,8,3. He didn’t send messages to individuals who are not in church. The Lord’s plan for every believer is to be in church.

UNITY IN DIVERSITY IN THE CHURCH.

To each member is given a manifestation of the Holy Spirit-1^st 12:7. God has given you some gift with which to serve Him in church. Identify it and utilize it to serve the Lord.
1^st 12:12-27 says that we perform different functions but we are not in competition against one another, we complement each other’s function so that the building is complete.
In Phil. 4:2-3, Paul mentions church member and who have differed with each other and have become enemies-both of them are saved.
In 1^st 3:4-6, Paul mentions of differences and groupings arising in the church.
Differences in church are real in almost every congregation.
The church as an army fighting, cannot win many battles against Satan, when divided. In Psalm 133:1, the Bible says that God commands His blessing where there is unity.
In Prov. 6:16-19, the Bible says that God hates a person who brings division among brethren.

CONCLUSION

As a believer in church, you have a duty to:-

Pray for unity of the church of Jesus, not just the denomination church but the entire church in the world.
To love other believers-everyone who is born again even if in a different denomination.