In this video, Rev. Ken Jones shares the importance of the local church in the life of a Christian.
The reason it’s important for Christians to be rooted in a local church is for one thing we are told that essentially faith in Christ is to be in Him. In other words, it brings us into union with Him. And what that means, of course, in a broader doctrinal sense, it means that Christ is our substitute. We are in Him by virtue of our faith. We have been brought connected to Him. But the language of being rooted in Christ is also extended to the church. So to have faith in Him, which is to be connected to Him, is to be connected to Him even at the level of where the gospel is preached.
In Matthew 16, when Jesus asked, “Who do men say that I am?” and they gave all these different answers and then He turns to His disciples and He says: “Who do you say that I am? You’ve been with Me.” And then Peter’s the one who speaks up, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” That profession of faith, Jesus says, “Flesh and blood didn’t reveal that to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” And then He says, “Upon this rock—you are Peter, the rock—and upon this rock, I will build My church.” What is meant by that is not the person of Peter, but the profession of faith that Peter makes.
Later in Ephesians, Paul tells us that the church is built, is knitly joined together, with Christ being the head. So anyone who is brought to faith in Christ is brought into union and fellowship with everyone else who has faith in Christ. That is worked out. That’s true universally. So whoever in every place names the name of Christ, they are part of the body of Christ. But it also manifests in a local sense and it’s in that local sense—going back to the passage in Ephesians 4—where we are knitly joined together as we are knitly joined to Christ. And then He makes the statement with each joint supplying strength to the other as each one does its part. So Christ builds us up individually as we are brought into fellowship one with another.
So the importance of being rooted in a local church, certainly it provides the means of grace where the Word is preached on a regular basis, where the sacraments are received, and we are connected to one another. I often say that when God hugs us, He uses human flesh. So in our times of weakness as our brothers and sisters pray for us, that’s Christ at work through them for us. And then it also gives us an opportunity to connect with one another where we see others who are hurting and as we extend our love to them, then that again is Christ at work through us to them. Certainly in our patience because when we are connected to Christ—who is it that is brought into the body of Christ? Sinners—And so, we are connected to other sinners. And so all of the exhortations to love as you’ve been loved and to forgive as you’ve been forgiven, the context in which that is played out on a very practical level is life in a church; in a messy church where the grace of God is dominant and that is the thing that brings us together and that’s what strengthens us to serve one another even in that local setting.