The Key Study: What Is the Church?

(15 minutes, easy set-up)
Download the Student Worksheet. Provide a copy for each student.

Say: With this lesson we embark on a journey that will last a year. This series, called "Community," is a yearlong study of the New Testament Church. Discuss that by studying the early Church, students will learn what it means to have a vital part in the local and the global Church as well as how to build community in their own church.

Distribute worksheets and divide students into pairs. Tell them to read Matthew 16:13-20 and Acts 1:1-3, and to then then answer all the questions they can on the worksheet. Tell students they will not find answers to all of the questions in the assigned passages. They will need to draw on other New Testament passages. After five minutes bring students back together and ask them to share the answers they found. Encourage students to make notes on their worksheets as other pairs share. Provide answers to questions that students could not find. (Answers: 1-Pentecost; 2-Peter; 3-a stingy couple whose lying cost them their lives; 4-Stephen; 5-Paul; 6-Timothy; 7-Corinth, Ephesus, Galatia, Philippi, Colossi, or Thessalonica) Say: This was a test to see how much you knew about the New Testament Church. By the end of the year, you should know the answer to all of these questions and many more.

Ask a student to read Matthew 16:13-20. Tell students to share a synopsis of the events recorded in the passage. (Jesus asked His disciples who the people thought He was. The disciples gave different answers. But Peter confessed that Jesus was the Christ-the Messiah, the Savior-the Son of the living God.) Ask: Why was Peter's confession so important? (Jesus' teachings had affected Peter. The disciples had opened their hearts and minds for God to reveal truth to them.) In verse 18, Jesus said something that, at first glance, seemed a little unusual. What did He say? (Thoughts will probably revolve around the idea that Peter was the rock upon which Christ built the Church.) Explain that Jesus meant the Church was built upon the faith of the apostles and prophets, but that He was the cornerstone of that foundation.

Ask a student to read Acts 1:1-3. Say: Luke wrote that Jesus had appeared to the disciples many times. Jesus did this to remove any doubt that He had risen from the dead. He did this so the disciples could completely place their trust in Him as the Son of God. The disciples would be responsible for starting the Church. Ask: Why was it important that they fully believed Jesus was the Son of God? (They would endure many hardships as a result of their efforts to spread the gospel. If they were not 100 percent sure of His true identity, they might falter in their efforts.) Lead students to see that the first verses in Acts serve as the continuation of the Gospels. The disciples were tasked with spreading the gospel, and Acts tells their story.

Locate The Church is God's Plan essential truth on a We Believe bookmark or poster. Share that that this lesson shows The Church is God's Plan. The purpose of the Church is to glorify God by taking the gospel to the entire world. This can be accomplished through preaching God's Word, fellowship, service, worship, and prayer. Remind students that they will learn all year about the powerful presence of the New Testament Church. Say: If the modern-day Church is going to impact the world, we must realize the foundation upon which it was built. Like Peter, we must confess Christ as the true Messiah, God's only Son. And like the disciples, we must fully believe in Him. When we recognize Jesus as our authority, we claim the power that only He can give.