Why We Are Here

What does it mean to be part of a church? The word most commonly translated as “church” in the New Testament is the Greek word ecclesia, which literally means “called out.” The church is comprised of people whom God has “called out” for a purpose. There is an intended goal to being a Christian and being a part of the church. To understand our calling as “called out” ones, we first have to ask what it means to be a Christian.

The Bible answers this question for us in 1 John 2:6, when it says “whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.”  A Christian is one who builds his/her life on Jesus Christ, committing to hear his teachings and to reorder his/her life by them (Matt. 7:24-26). Jesus said that his way of life was “the true and living way” (John 14:6), the only way to really live, to really know God (John 17:3) and to really understand ourselves.

One of the earliest and most significant terms by which followers of Jesus were known was “the Way” (Acts 9:2; 19:9,23; 22:4; 24:14, 22). Jesus first embodied the way of life to which he calls us. He did not have a double standard, one for himself and one for his followers. As the “shepherd” of his sheep, Jesus did not drive; he led (John 10:4). He went before his people in character, devotion, and sacrificial service.

Jesus came to create something which the New Testament calls koinōnia, often translated as “fellowship” or “communion.” Koinōnia conveys the idea of a common life, of our participating together in the very life of Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 10:16-17). This term summarizes why Jesus came and why our church exists. We want Jesus’ kind of life to be reproduced in us and in you (Gal. 4:19). To be “called out” by God into Christian discipleship is to be “called into” and be calling others into “the fellowship (koinōnia) of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Cor. 1:9). We invite you to share in “the Life” Jesus offers together with us here at Piedmont Presbyterian Church.

We believe that Jesus was raised from the dead on the first day of the week, and so we follow the practice of his earliest disciples and gather on Sundays to express our faith in his resurrection. We do not gather to memorialize a dead hero but because we believe that Jesus Christ, as a living and transforming presence, is able to use worship and fellowship as a means of bringing us into shared life with him and with one another. We pray together, sing hymns of praise, listen to God’s Word, and respond in faith and commitment because we believe Jesus is risen and really present wherever his disciples gather together (Matt. 18:20).