The Church Fulfills Its Mission by Transforming People into Christ’s Image

Section 8: The Church

Week 1: The Nature of the Church and It’s Mission

Day 5: The Church Fulfills Its Mission by Transforming People into Christ’s Image

Eph. 4:11-16

Earlier we discussed the need to worship God with all of our lives. Every thought, word and action ought to be committed to God in response to what he has done for us. How do we get to the point where we become that kind of person? As we noted in the section on sanctification, it’s a process – sometimes a frustratingly slow process. The point we want to add here is that it is also a process the Church is intimately involved in.

We’ll talk about this more in the section on the role of spiritual gifts in the Church, but one of the main reasons God give us gifts is so that we can use them “to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:12-13).

When a person comes to Christ, that is obviously a great thing. At that point, though, the Church’s job has just begun.

Challenge:

Look back at the list you made earlier in the week of your church’s programs and activities.

Reflection Questions:

Would you say your church is doing a good job of helping people to become more like Christ? If so, what makes your church’s efforts effective? If not, what more could you do?