Citizens of the Kingdom (Part 4): Ekklesia

The Ekklesia is a group of Christ Followers who come together to be the living body of Christ. We image him by living in love and unity and continually being a witness to the Kingdom Rule of Christ in the world. 4 Things the church is: a Bride, a House, a Body, and a Family Bride Rev 19:7; Eph 5 House Ephesians 2:11-22; 1 Peter 2:1-10; 1 Cor 6:19 Body 1 Cor 12:12-30; Eph1:20-23; Col 1:21-29 Family The church is described as New Birth, Children of God, sons of God, brothers and sisters, fathers, an household in the New Testament: Gal 6:10; Rom 8:29, Eph 2:19, 1 Tim 5:1-2, 1 Tim 3:15, 1 John 2:12-13, 1 John 3:14 How should the church family act? The Members take care of each other. James 2:14-17, Eph 4:28, Gal 6:2, Rom 12:13 Spend time with each other. Acts 2:42,46 Show affection towards each other. Grow: internally (spiritually) and externally (in numbers) Share responsibility Reflect the triune God in their relationships 1 John 1:1-3, The Lord’s Supper In the Roman context they would have these banquets where there were 3 parts. First course was a meal together with people ranked from greatest to least (remember Jesus’ saying about not seating yourself in the pace of honor at a banquet?) Second part was when a cup was raised (drink offering) to Caesar and pledged allegiance to him Third part consisted of poems, songs, speeches and etc in honor of the emperor. The church's banquets (meetings) were subversive.  1 Cor 8-11 1 Corinthians 8 and 11:17-34: The importance unity in relationships and community when taking communion. 1 Corinthians 9 and 11:17-34: Communion represents the fellowship meal of the priesthood in the OT. The church is the priesthood and communion is our fellowship meal. 1 Corinthians 10 and 11:17-34: We connect with God and proclaim our allegiance to Him during communion. 1 Corinthians 11:1-16 and 11:17-34: the necessity for equality within the Church and the importance of meeting needs in the Body. We come to the table as equals. Gifts and Meetings Rom 12:6-6 1 Cor 12:8-10 1 Cor 12: 28-30 Ephesians 4:11 1 Peter 4:11 We need all the gifts in action because they display and model Christ. We cannot elevate one over another (such as pastor or teacher). Church Unity Rom 15:7; 1 Cor 1:11-13; John 17:20-23 In short, whenever the church gathers together, its guiding and functioning principal is simply to incarnate Christ (1 Cor 12:12)