We are building church
I think I should explain right away what I mean. It’s generally believed that church and cathedral are one and the same thing, so that’s why when a spiritual, faith and church revival movement started in our country 10 years ago, many people saw church revival as simply building new church buildings. Well-off people generously donated money on building new cathedrals, bell towers and temples.
How does the Bible, the primary source see church?
New testament was originally written in Greek and the word “church” in ancient Greek is pronounced ekklesia, and is translated as first of all, a gathering of people. Not a house or a cathedral or a building, but just people who gather together in the name of the Lord.
In Acts 7:48 it is said: “However the most High does not live in houses made by men”. Apostle Peter, talking to the believers says in I Peter 2:5: “…you also like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house…” So, church is being made of living men as of stones. It is, first of all, a spiritual creation, and only after that a building made of bricks or other building materials. First Christian were persecuted and had to gather their church in catacomb, but still it was a true church. During 70 years of atheistic regime a lot of effort and finance had been put to make people forget about God. Two, three generations had been raised up on atheistic propaganda.
Today the time has come to gather stones. It’s good that cathedrals demolished in Revolution, are being built and reconstructed, but it’s not enough for true spiritual revival and for revival of faith and church.
Russia with its temples had already paid the price for people not knowing God and the Gospel once. During revolution professor Martsinkovski, a true believer, took a risk and dared to talk to a wild crowd of sailors, robbing and ruining a cathedral. He asked them: “How can you do this? Is it that what the Gospel teaches you?” One of the sailors answered: “As if I read it. I only got to kiss its cover during the church services…”
“People have forsaken God, that is the root of all” – that’s how Alexander Isaevich Soljenitsin opened his Nobel speech. Think about it – if a person believes that God created people in His image that enables him to see dignity in himself and gives him rights to respect dignity in others. Otherwise, if a person believes that people descended from a monkey, his attitude towards him and others can only change for the worse. What dignity and rights can an animal possibly have?
May be that is one of reasons why talks about rightful or lawful society aren’t anything more than just talks in our country. For 70 years Soviet people had been taught that a man had descended from a monkey and it seems like many had believed in that.
King David puts it this way in Psalm 14: “The fool says in his heart “there is no God” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile, there is no one who does good”. The Lord Jesus Christ before He ascended to heaven gave His disciples the great commission: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always to the very end of age. Amen”
We are Christians, that is we are the disciples of Jesus Christ, we were called to learn ourselves and to teach the others to obey that what He had commanded. By this we are building His church, ekklesia, the gathering of people, united by faith in God, willing to know His will and live according to it. We believe that only in church like that one can get healed and his personality can be revived. And that will result in revival and healing of the society through revived people.
God’s called us to spread the Gospel among people of Middle Asia.
Jesus had called His disciples to go teach all the nations. In Russia we are facing a very interesting situation when we see people from ex-Soviet republics living next door to us. Hundred thousands of people come to Russia to make money. But they can receive more than just money here, the can hear about Jesus and get saved through Him. They don’t have such an opportunity back home. We don’t need to go to their nations because God has brought the nations to us. In Mark 9:41 Jesus tells His disciples: “I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward”. God’s promised a reward to His followers and to those who support them even just by giving them a single glass of water.
If you e-mail us we’ll answer you questions.
Our e-mail address is: haim@perm.raid.ru
