Near the climax of His ministry, Christ asked His twelve followers,Whom say that I am? Peter speaking for the disciples declared , Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. To this great confession Jesus replied, saying, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock, I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Jesus Christ built the Church upon Himself and He built it with human material such as these men who confessed their faith in Him. Confessing believers who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, as eternal Son of God is the core and structure of the Church and become equipped with invincible power in which the entrenched powers of sin and death cannot prevail. The true identity of the Church is that it is a redeemed community of men and women who under the leadership of Christ must overthrow sin and establish righteousness. The true Church is an invisible body of believers (to the visible world of sights and sound). It is joined together by one Lord, one Spirit, one faith and one baptism. This Church knows no denominational bars, no racial restrictions, or geographical limitations. It is universal in its outreach and embraces the whole humanity with Divine Love. Its Spirit is Missionary; its Mission is Evangelistic and its power is Pentecostal. Christ is it center and chief architect. The Gospel is its message. This church is God's Church and is the one who Christ shall receive into the mid-air upon His second return.
This text is not by far a conclusion of the church presents upon these subjects of the Church's Five Ministries but rather a continual presentation toward the whole person in Christ for the fulfillment of His church,s Ministry. We seek Christ's directions in the ministry: His life, ministry, His teaching, His call and service. We invite all to consider the guidance of this text; it's instructions, pattern, and rule of order for us in today's church thought, practice and procedures. I pray the use of it will be helpful in your church efforts and building. Our time spent in preparation of this text has caused us to evaluate the faith and practice employed by the church today. This text has this in mind as we re-examined what we have lost as we are moving ahead in what is called a modern age. Have our spiritual progress been equal or excel our so-called modern progress? Can our age be rightly called the age of the kingdom of God? Is there something that can awaken us out of our spiritual slumber and wrong directives? Can we as a general church be reformed before it is too late? The true church, does it exist? Is there a body of ministry believing and practicing the forgoing principles and order of ministry presented in this text? “ THE FIVE MINISTRIES. These questions and many more parade before us in wake of our Lord's soon return.
