From our Sunday service on November 9, 2025, Matthew 16, Matthew 28, Acts 1 and 2, and 1 Corinthians 15. This is part 1 of our Built for a Purpose series. Watch the full message: The Purpose of the Church – Built for a Purpose #1 on YouTube.
This month we’re taking a series on the purpose of all the things we do here in church. It’s called Built for a Purpose. There’s no point in talking about the activities and roles of the church, like baptism, the Lord’s Supper, deacons, bishops, pastors and elders, if we don’t know the core purpose of the church. We should probably know why we’re here before we talk about why we have baptism and why we have deacons. If we don’t know our purpose, why are we meeting here every Sunday, and how will we accomplish the goals God set for us?
Today we’ll look at the basic fundamentals, and specifically at what Jesus said about why the church is here and what it’s for. God wants you to know that the purpose of the church is to point people to Christ and to make people like him.
The Church Foreshadowed
In Matthew 16, Jesus is talking with his disciples and mentions for the first time this idea of the church. We’ll start there and work our way to the fulfillment of the church. Matthew 16:13-15:
When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
Matthew 16:13–15
This is a very important question: who is this Jesus? Nobody cares what other people think about Jesus. When you meet Jesus and he asks, “Whom say ye that I am?” he’s going to want to know what you specifically believe about him. He’s not going to ask what your mom, your grandmother or your great-grandfather believed. Some said he was John the Baptist, who had been killed, come back in spirit. Some said Elijah, some Jeremiah. Then Jesus asked the more important question: “But whom say ye that I am?” Verses 16 to 20:
And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.
Matthew 16:16–20
Simon Peter, who usually messes up, steps up for once and says the right thing: “You are the Christ, the Messiah, the anointed one of Old Testament prophecy, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus says, “You are blessed for saying this, because God revealed it to you. You gave the right answer.”
There’s a lot of debate about “upon this rock I will build my church.” Catholics will say it means something totally different from what Baptists will say, and Presbyterians and Congregationalists have their own interpretations. But the statement is twofold. First, Jesus foreshadows that the church will be built on what Peter said: that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Can we all agree that the foundation of the church is the belief that Jesus is the Son of the living God, the Messiah of the Old Testament? Second, there is the person, Simon Peter. His name in Greek is Petros, which means a rock or stone. Jesus is saying, “Peter, you’re going to be foundational in how this ministry begins. When my church comes, you’re going to be on the front lines serving me.” We’ll see how this is fulfilled as the Holy Spirit comes and changes Peter.
The Church Commanded
So far we’ve learned that the foundation of the church is the statement that Christ is the Son of the living God. Now, as Jesus prepares to usher in the church after the resurrection, let’s see what he says about its purpose. Matthew 28:16-20:
Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Matthew 28:16–20
After the resurrection Jesus spent time making appearances among his disciples and many other witnesses to verify that he had truly risen. Luke was a doctor, but more importantly he decided to be a historian of the account of Jesus. He did research and interviewed the people who saw the resurrected Christ. Because we know Jesus rose from the dead, we have to take his teachings seriously. Before he ascended, he gave one final charge with three responsibilities.
First, teach all nations. No longer were the Jews the representatives of Christ in the same way, the ones who would get the revelation of God. It wasn’t good enough for the disciples to keep working in Galilee, Nazareth, Decapolis and Jerusalem. Jesus gave them a much broader, more dangerous mission: “You followed me through the local communities, but now I’m sending you north, south, east and west, across the globe, to tell people what I’ve done.”
Second, baptize them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We have a whole service dedicated to baptism, so I won’t dive into it today. But at the beginning of the Gospels, John was teaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, a symbol of people confessing their sins. When do you baptize? After people have converted, heard the gospel, and said, “I know what Jesus did for me on the cross. I know I need a savior.” To repent simply means to change one’s mind, to reconsider. When people reconsider their stance on their sin, say, “I’m a sinful man, I can’t save myself, and there must be something outside me that can,” and trust Jesus for their salvation, they are to be baptized, to give an outward demonstration of an inward change. And it’s in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, recognizing all persons of the Godhead, not just one.
Third, teach them to observe all things whatsoever Jesus commanded. We’ll look at those in a bit more detail shortly. First, let’s see what happens next.
The Church Empowered
Turn to Acts 1. There’s a second half to this story that isn’t recorded in the main Gospels. This is once again Luke, who does a good job of bridging the narratives of the Bible together since he was writing a history. All the Gospels end at the resurrection, and Luke continues in Acts. Verses 4 and 5:
And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
Acts 1:4–5
We’re back right before the ascension. Jesus said, “Go ye into all the world,” and he also said, “Wait for the promise of the Father.” They were called to do the mission of the church, but they were not yet equipped to do it. They needed the promise of the Father, the Holy Spirit. The work of the church cannot be done without the Holy Spirit, and you can’t work for the church unless you’ve been saved and regenerated. There were still a few days until the Holy Spirit would be given. Verses 6 to 8:
When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Acts 1:6–8
The disciples are told clearly: don’t try to do the work of the church, or go into the world, without the Holy Spirit to guide you. They were worried about when the nation of Israel would come back into power and the shackles of Rome would be released. Jesus says, “It’s not for you to know that time.” In fact, it wasn’t coming anytime soon. In AD 70 the Romans would wipe out Jerusalem, one of the most devastating times in Israel’s history. Jesus says, “That’s not in your power, but I’ll tell you what power you have: the Holy Spirit is coming, and he will equip you to do my purpose on earth.” The Holy Spirit enables the Christian to be a faithful witness of Christ.
Remember how many times the disciples tripped up and stumbled. How many times did Peter say something he regretted immediately, when Jesus rebuked him? Jesus said, “Get thee behind me, Satan,” to Peter’s face. Remember that, because Peter is about to do something amazing when the Holy Spirit comes. Acts 2:1-8:
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?
Acts 2:1–8
A little history lesson. During the Roman conquest of Palestine, the Romans did what they always did: they took the natives and spread them across the other lands they conquered, into what’s modern-day Germany, up toward Britain, or south toward Egypt. So now there were Jews who had grown up in other countries speaking languages other than Aramaic. They all came to Jerusalem on a pilgrimage to worship God, and something amazing happened. The goal was to send the gospel to every nation, and it just so happens that faithful Jews from every nation were there, ready to receive the Messiah and go home to their countries. The Holy Spirit gave them the gift of tongues.
A lot of times today people get this wrong and think the gift of tongues is saying nonsense. In the Greek it is literally the gift of languages. They had the ability to speak in unknown languages. The people were confused because the disciples began to preach the gospel and every one of them heard it in his native language, Egyptian, Greek, Coptic, Syriac. “Aren’t these Galileans?” Galileans were not known to be well educated. Calling someone a Galilean would be the equivalent of calling someone a redneck in America. These rednecks were speaking way above their education level, people who wouldn’t even have made it to the equivalent of eighth grade. Some assumed they were drunk, but the disciples rebuked that very quickly. Verse 14:
But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:
Acts 2:14
Here Peter fulfills what Jesus said about him being the foundation of the church, because he’s about to deliver the first message of the kingdom. We don’t have time to go through the entire message, but he preaches how Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament, starting from the beginning, to all these Jews on their pilgrimage to Jerusalem. We’ll pick it up in verses 29 to 33:
Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.
Acts 2:29–33
Peter begins giving a defense of what’s going on: “I have seen the Messiah, put to death and laid in a tomb, and all of us standing here have seen him resurrected. We saw him ascend into heaven. He has given us the gift of the Holy Spirit, telling us it’s time to become the church and tell the world what Jesus did. It’s not up for debate. Jesus was dead and now he’s alive. If he weren’t alive, I wouldn’t be here right now.” Thomas said he wouldn’t believe unless he saw the holes in Jesus’s hands and feet, but when he saw Jesus walking before him, talking to him and eating with him, he could no longer debate what had happened.
With the gift of the Holy Spirit, these disciples finally understood what Jesus had been talking about all along. Peter had rebuked Jesus when he said he was going to die on the cross, saying, “Be it far from thee, Lord,” and Jesus said to him, “Get thee behind me, Satan.” But now, with the power of the Holy Spirit, Peter gets it. The Spirit discerned what his mind and flesh could not: that when David spoke, he was talking about Jesus, and that the death and resurrection were part of the plan. Only with the Holy Spirit could Peter get those last pieces he was missing to be the rock he was supposed to be. Peter’s name didn’t make sense before he had the Holy Spirit. Jesus knew that with the Holy Spirit on his side, the areas Peter lacked could be accounted for and he could begin something new. Verses 37 to 41:
Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
Acts 2:37–41
Wow, Peter, you’ve gone places in the last ten minutes. You were stumbling over everything God called you to do, and suddenly, with the power of the Holy Spirit, you gave one of the most effective sermons in human history. You spoke from the Old Testament to the New and got three thousand converts in your first message. Do we see why the Holy Spirit is important in our mission as the church? Without him, we are utterly helpless to do the work of the church, to win souls for Christ. Here Peter fulfills the role of the church in completion. These new believers were the first to take the gospel back to their home nations. They came to Jerusalem to worship God, and when they went home they became the first missionaries. They went back to Egypt, Greece, Italy and other nations and began to tell the other Jews there that the Messiah had come, and the gospel began to spread.
Paul talks about this in 1 Corinthians 1:23-25:
But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
1 Corinthians 1:23–25
Paul recognizes that to those who don’t want to hear it, the gospel is a stumbling block and foolishness. It seems crazy to preach about a man who died on a cross two thousand years ago. The Bible doesn’t shy away from that. It tells us all the time that what we believe in sounds insane. But it also tells us that there were hundreds of witnesses, and that even the disciples struggled with belief, but because they were eyewitnesses they couldn’t argue with what they saw. To the Greeks, whose philosophy held that anything fleshly is bad and anything holy is mental and emotional, God becoming flesh was foolish. Why would a perfect God become imperfect flesh? They thought it was blasphemy. Yet God called these people to testify to nations that would struggle with the truth of the gospel. To those who are called, whom the Holy Spirit grabs hold of, it’s not a stumbling block or foolishness, but the power of God to change them and the wisdom of God to direct them. Preaching is called foolishness, but that’s how God has called us to minister to the world.
Teaching What Christ Commanded
Once people are saved, the secondary purpose of the church comes into effect. First, they preached the gospel and people were saved. The second step is to teach what Christ commanded. The New Testament is a big series of books and there’s a lot Jesus taught, so I’ll list just a few important ones.
Number one: love God and love others. Matthew 22:37-39:
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Matthew 22:37–39
Jesus says that on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. If you don’t know any other command of God, know to love God and love others. If you can love God rightly and love your neighbor rightly, you don’t have to worry about the other rules, because all the other commands flow from these two and exist to enforce them.
Number two: repent and believe the gospel. Mark 1:15:
And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
Mark 1:15
If you’re going to follow what Jesus commanded, the first step is to be saved. Repent. Have a change of mind. Decide that your righteousness isn’t as good as you thought and that Jesus is what we need to make it right.
Number three: follow me. Luke 9:23:
And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
Luke 9:23
Jesus doesn’t invite us just to be saved. He invites us to discipleship, where we carry our cross. That means it’s not easy. Not every day will we want to extend grace to our neighbor, forgive those who have wronged us, or go out of our way to help someone in need. But when you don’t want to do it, take up your cross and follow Jesus. We’re not called to follow Christ because it’s easy, but because it’s right. It’s not good enough to say, “I’m sorry,” or “I want to get out of hell.” Jesus says, “I want you to do the hard part and serve me right.” The ultimate call of the Christian is to be conformed to the image of God.
Number four: pray and depend on God. Matthew 6:9-13:
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
Matthew 6:9–13
That was a whole lot of commands. In verse 9, honor God’s name by how you live your life. In verse 10, enable God’s will to be done on earth. What’s God’s will? That all would be saved, that none should perish but all come to repentance. Do the Lord’s will and save souls. Verse 11 tells us to trust God to take care of our daily needs. Verse 12 tells us to forgive others as we were forgiven. Verse 13 asks both to be delivered from the devices of sin and to give glory to God.
Number five: love your enemies. This is the “take up your cross” one. Matthew 5:44:
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Matthew 5:44
These aren’t easy commands, but if we want to follow Christ’s teachings and fulfill the purpose of the church, we need to follow them. Radical grace is the mark of true discipleship.
Number six: serve others. John 13:14-15:
If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.
John 13:14–15
How many of you enjoy washing feet? Nobody. Jesus doesn’t call us to do what we enjoy. He calls us to do what is right. At the Last Supper he set an example for his disciples. When you wash someone’s feet in that culture, you place yourself under them, as if to say, “I am your servant. You are of a higher class than me.” Jesus, the teacher and rabbi, placed himself below his disciples. In that culture that would have been very frowned upon, and Peter rebuked him for it. But Jesus is saying, worry less about what other people think and more about what your service looks like to others. Even if it humiliates you to serve somebody, do it. Even if everybody else says it’s wrong to do the right thing, do it. Even if your society says it’s okay to do wrong, don’t. Serve instead. Jesus commands our humility through service to each other.
Number seven: go, make disciples and baptize. That’s Matthew 28:19, which we already read today. Once you’ve got your life together, you have an example on which to build an invitation for others to take part in the kingdom and to change as you have been changed.
Number eight: observe the Lord’s Supper. Luke 22:19:
And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
Luke 22:19
We have two ordinances of the church, baptism in Matthew 28:19 and the Lord’s Supper here, and we’ll talk about them in future messages. Jesus calls us to do both in memory of him: baptism as a sign of our inward change in salvation, and the Lord’s Supper to remind ourselves of the cost Jesus paid for our sins.
The First Christian Creed
We have a little extra time, so let’s turn to 1 Corinthians 15. This is a little bit of history to go with your theology. Scholars for years have tried to figure out the oldest part of the New Testament, the first words written about Jesus, and almost all scholars, secular and Christian, agree that some of the earliest are here in 1 Corinthians 15:1-7. Verses 1 and 2:
Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
1 Corinthians 15:1–2
Here Paul gives his introduction. He is going to quote what is known as the oldest written part of the New Testament. We don’t really have a name for it. I’d call it the Apostles’ Creed because it was made by the apostles, but that name has already been taken, so we’ll call it the first Christian creed. Almost all secular scholars accept that it was written no more than two to five years after the resurrection, and Christian scholars would probably place it sooner. A creed is a formal statement of religious belief, what the church had to agree on to be part of the community. Church denominations fight a lot, but we all have foundational beliefs, and here we have an example presented by the apostles after the ascension. This is the most fundamental written description of the church’s message in the entire Bible. Verses 3 to 7:
For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.
1 Corinthians 15:3–7
When the disciples began making converts, they passed this out to the churches. This is what we need to agree on to continue the church. It teaches six things.
Number one, that Jesus was the Christ: the Jewish Messiah, the anointed king of Israel from the line of David, the prophet like Moses who would give new law, the offspring of Abraham through whom all nations would be blessed, and the offspring of Eve who would crush the serpent’s head.
Number two, that Jesus died for our sins. We are unable to pay for our own sins, and the church is to preach that. The good news is that Jesus has paid for all sins.
Number three, that Jesus fulfilled the Scriptures, both the law and the prophets. The Old Testament points us forward to Christ. The Bible says the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. Those Old Testament laws were there so we would know we weren’t good enough to keep them all, that we had shortcomings and were guilty before God, and the prophets all taught in order to point to Jesus Christ as the Messiah.
Number four, that Jesus was really buried in a tomb for multiple days. He was literally and truly dead. He wasn’t unconscious or sick with a fever and a coma. He died on a cross and was buried.
Number five, that Jesus rose from the dead on the third day to fulfill the Scriptures. He literally and truly came back to life. The resurrection wasn’t a metaphor or a scandal. It was a historic fact witnessed by over five hundred people who would tell you, if you went to their house and asked, that they saw Jesus alive.
Number six, that there were many witnesses to verify it. The creed says this is not an opinion or a metaphor, but a well-documented, well-witnessed historical fact: Jesus was dead, and he is alive.
Pointing to Christ and Becoming Like Him
Ultimately, the purpose of the church is to point others to Christ and to help ourselves become more like him personally. From the moment Jesus declared, “I will build my church,” to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, God’s plan for his people has been clear. The church exists to point the world to Jesus Christ and to shape believers into his likeness. It was foreshadowed in Peter’s confession, instructed in the Great Commission, empowered by the Spirit, and established through the preaching of the gospel. Every local church that gathers today continues to share in that same mission. We proclaim Christ crucified and risen so that the lost may be saved, and we teach his commands so that the saved might be made holy like Jesus is.
The church is not a building. The church is a people redeemed and sent by God, invited to show the love of God by loving others, serving one another, and going into the world with the gospel of grace. As we move through this series and explore the leadership, ordinances and practice of the church, remember this truth: the church is only the church when it reflects Christ. God wants you to know that the purpose of the church is to point people to Christ and to make people like him. So let’s be a church that faithfully points to Jesus and helps others walk more closely with him until the day he returns for his people.
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