THE PURPOSE OF THE CHURCH

For years, in the early part of  my ministry, most of my sermons were evangelistic sermons, because I believed that the primary purpose of the church was to evangelize the world.  It ws only when I began a careful study of Ephesians and read these verses that I came to the conclusion that the purpose of the church is not to evangelize the world, but to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ.

The problem with evangelistic messages is that they don't help the people to grow and mature.  I kept church members in a state of perpetual infancy by preaching the same basic sermons to them over and over again and not taking them onto maturity in Christ.

I have discovered that the real need in the church is solid, systematic, expository teaching of the Scriptures.  That is what leads to spiritual growth in the people and equips them to go out and do the work of the ministry.  If I do my job, all those who listen and learn will then go out and evangelize and minister in many other ways, which will lead to the body of Christ being built up.  It just works.
Chuck Smith