In this final teaching on the ekklesia, we explore 1 Cor. 12:12-27. In this teaching Pastor Kyle walks us through a very practical metaphor that helps us understand God's design for the church and how He would like us to work together.

Last week the Apostle Paul told the church in Corinth to deliver a man to Satan and remove him from the congregation. What happened to that man? Did the church do what Paul commanded? In this teaching Kyle Truman will attempt to answer these questions and then will turn to John 20:19-23 which may be the most significant story of forgiveness and restoration in the Bible.

Sometimes church members don't act like church people should. As we learned last week Christians are called to live a life worthy of the gospel of Christ, but what should happen when that doesn't happen? In this teaching Kyle Truman leads us through 1 Corinthians 5 where the Apostle Paul has to address a situation where a church member is participating in gross sin and the church is proud of it! He tells the church family to deliver this man to Satan. What does that mean? Should we still do this today? All of these questions and many more are answered in this teaching.

In Philippians 1:27-2:11 Paul instructs the Christians in Philippi to live a life that is worthy of the gospel of Christ. What doe that mean? We are to stand strong, to strive together, to be fearless of our opponents, and to do all of this in unity.

There is much in this passage about how the church is to walk through sufferings. We live in a day and age where things are very quickly changing. For many generations American Christians have been able to call themselves a Christian without suffering or having to pay a personal price for their profession. We are in a new season where being a Christian will cost us, how are we to navigate these changes? In this teaching Pastor Kyle will show us how we are to move forward through difficult days that may be ahead.

In this teaching Pastor Kyle looks at what the scripture says to church members about how they are to relate to the leaders in the church.

Scriptures covered include 1 Thes 5:12-13, 1 Cor 16:15-18, Heb 13:7, Heb 13:17, 1 Peter 5:1-7.

If you have ever been hurt by a leader in the church then this teaching is for you.

In this teaching we look at the Apostle Peter's instruction to pastors/elders in 1 Pet 5:2-3. Pastors/elders are to lead in a way that is not domineering or authoritarian but they are to be examples to the church family.

In this teaching we explore the development of the position and role of the elder in the early church. An elder is a shepherd of God's people. The word "pastor" means "shepherd." Elders are pastors, pastors are elders, pastors and elders are shepherds. What does this mean for how are churches are structured? 

Passages covered in this teaching are Acts 20:17-38, Eph 4:11-12, Jer 3:15, 1 Tim 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9, 1 Peter 5:1-2, and Psalm 23.

In this teaching from Acts 6:1-6 we see how the young church in Jerusalem had to change some things so that they could fulfill their responsibilities and accomplish Jesus' mission. In this teaching we see that while the local church is the family of God it also has an institutional or organizational element to it. We must embrace this dynamic that God has created within His family. We learn how to handle complaints and how church leaders can work together with church members to meet needs within the church. In this passage we see the importance of roles within the church and how responsibilities should be delegated. What we see in this passage is a great example of the apostles/church leaders using the keys of the kingdom (mentioned last week) to build the Kingdom of Heaven.

In this teaching we examine what Jesus said about the church. The Bible only records him using the word "church" three times. Jesus makes it clear that the church is His idea and His project and He plans to build the church through His people.  As we explore Matt 16:13-20 and Matt 18:15-20 we see that Jesus hands over authority to the apostles, to subsequent church leaders and to all the members of the church. He will build His church and no plan of Hell will prevent Him from doing what He set out to do! He wants you to be a part of this building project, will you participate?

In this first teaching on the ekklesia we examine 2 Cor 6:14-7:1 and a number of other passages and discover that the church is commonly referred to as a family.

How does this change how we think about the church? How does this challenge our assumptions and experience? Although the church has an institutional/organizational element to it, we must realize that we are much more of a family than most of us realize.