{"id":16883,"date":"2025-05-15T15:50:15","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T06:50:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/myuchisoto.org\/en\/?post_type=lesson&#038;p=16883"},"modified":"2025-10-28T10:01:54","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T01:01:54","slug":"my-uchi-soto-lesson-9","status":"publish","type":"lesson","link":"https:\/\/myuchisoto.org\/en\/lesson\/my-uchi-soto-lesson-9\/","title":{"rendered":"The Church"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Opening Question<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What kind of people do you think are part of a church? Why do you think that?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In the last study, we learned that the resurrected Son of God \u2013 Jesus Christ \u2013 has given the gift of his Holy Spirit to live inside (<em>uchi<\/em>) each person who believes in him as Saviour and Lord. Jesus lives today and his life fills believers too. Forgiven all their sin on the basis of Christ\u2019s sacrifice outside (<em>soto<\/em>) the holy city, believers in Jesus now live a new life as the temple\/house (<em>uchi<\/em>) of God\u2019s Spirit. They aim to live like Jesus did in this world, and are delivered from the fear of death and eternal separation from God in the world to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This new relationship of <em>uchi<\/em> fellowship with God that believers are welcomed into is not just a personal (\u201cme and God\u201d) relationship. Instead, believers are welcomed into a new family, which the Bible calls the \u201cchurch\u201d. The biblical word for \u201cchurch\u201d refers not to a building but to a people, called out of the world by God, and gathered together to worship and serve him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s one description of the church in the Bible, addressed to believers in Jesus:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>[Y]ou are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets<sup><strong><a href=\"#footnote1\">1<\/a><\/strong><\/sup>, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<cite>Ephesians 2:19-22<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What do these verses say about the relationship between believers and Jesus?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What do these verses say about the relationship established between believers?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Remember that last time we saw how each believer is now a temple of God\u2019s Holy Spirit? In the verses above, there\u2019s something additional to that: believers are gathered <em>together<\/em> to make a temple\/dwelling-place (<em>uchi<\/em>) for God. The church is therefore a living, tangible expression of <em>uchi<\/em> fellowship in the midst of a world that has, for now, mostly rejected God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Believers in Jesus were soon called \u201cChristians\u201d. At first, this was a term of abuse, used by the enemies of the church. But in time, Jesus\u2019 people adopted the word to describe themselves. The word refers to people who are \u201cin Christ\u201d, which is the way the Bible often talks about believers, to express the special, close relationship they have with Jesus. The Bible has lots to say about how Christians should relate to one another in the church. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Put on then, as God\u2019s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<cite>Colossians 3:12-15<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What reasons or motivations are given for holy living in these verses?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Some people think that the Bible contains rules or conditions for holy living, which we must obey or fulfil in order for God to accept us into <em>uchi<\/em> fellowship. Why is this a misunderstanding of the good news (gospel) message?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If you have experience of church, is it like this description? Why, or why not?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Christians enjoy a new kind of fellowship with one another, as brothers and sisters in God\u2019s household (<em>uchi<\/em>). They come together to worship God and to love one another. But that\u2019s not all. Christians are also sent out (<em>soto<\/em>) from their gatherings to share the good news (gospel) message about Jesus with the world around them. In this calling, we hear an echo of the command given in Genesis to Adam and Eve, to fill the earth and extend the boundaries of the holy temple that was the Garden of Eden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jesus himself gave this commission to his apostles after his resurrection. By extension, the same commission is received by the whole church today:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201dGo therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.\u201d<\/p>\n<cite>Matthew 28:19-20<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>How do you understand the command to \u201cmake disciples of all nations\u201d?&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How is the church doing this today?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Concluding Question<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Jesus is calling you to belong to his church and be baptized. How will you respond?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:1.2rem\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/myuchisoto.org\/en\/manga\/my-uchi-soto-lesson-9-manga\/\">View the Lesson 9 Manga<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:1.2rem\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Footnotes<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><a id=\"footnote1\">[1]<\/a> The apostles were particular messengers commissioned directly by Jesus to teach with his own authority. The prophets spoke the word of God to God\u2019s people. The words of the apostles and the prophets are written in the Bible. Their words carry the authority of God, so much that we can say the Bible is the written word of God. What the Bible says, God says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em>The ESV Bible<\/em>. Crossway, 2001, www.esv.org\/.<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":16824,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":true},"class_list":["post-16883","lesson","type-lesson","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"single_language_page":false,"og_url":"","og_type":"article","og_title":"","og_description":"","og_image":16824,"og_image_type":"","og_image_width":"","og_image_height":"","twitter_card":"","twitter_site":"","twitter_title":"","twitter_description":"","twitter_image":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myuchisoto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/lesson\/16883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/myuchisoto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/lesson"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/myuchisoto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/lesson"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myuchisoto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myuchisoto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}