Ecclesiology: What is the Church's Purpose and Why It Matters

What does it mean for us to be the church, and what is God calling us to as His people to be? Is it enough to just "have church," or is God calling us to more? I explore the "Ephesians Paradigm" (thank you Dr. Stephen Gibson) and my own experiences in making a case for the church being more than just a "dispenser of religious goods and services." I believe that the church is intended to be the Body of Christ - the continuing manifestation of Christ in the world, and that it is intended to reveal to a broken, watching world the "manifold wisdom of God." If that is true, then there is much to discuss and even more to do. What is the wisdom of God as it relates to agriculture, childcare, public safety, food, and 100 other issues of "real life?" Do we believe that the wisdom of God speaks to these things? Do we see this as part of the work of the church, or is all of that just "secular?" These are some of the issues explored in this episode.