Introduction

Why do we exist as a congregation? Do we need to be here?

In the Discovering Membership book, on page 35, we have “Our Purpose Statement” and this is explained to mean “Why We Exist as a Congregation.” If we do not fulfil this purpose, we have no reason for existing. So, what is our purpose as a congregation?

The same page explains that “the purpose of our congregation is based on two key biblical statements both made by Yahshua and they summarise everything that we do.” These are “The Great Commandment” and “The Great Commission.”  We shall discuss these two statements to see why we should exist as a congregation at all. All scriptures are quoted from New King James Version unless otherwise stated.

The Great Commandment

For the great commandment, Discovering Membership, gives the reference of Matthew 22:37-40. I prefer using Mark 12:28-34 which says

²⁸ Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?”  ²⁹ Yahshua answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, Yahweh our Elohim, Yahweh is one.  ³⁰ ‘And you shall love Yahweh your Elohim with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.  ³¹ “And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”  ³² So the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one Elohim, and there is no other but He,  ³³ and to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbour as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”  ³⁴ Now when Yahshua saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of Elohim’ but after that no one dared question Him.”

This is the whole duty of man and of the Congregation. Yahshua was asked about the most important commandment of all, the one which is above all. {NIV[1] says “. . . of all the commandments, which is the most important?”  ²⁹ “The most important one,” answered Yahshua, “is this. . . .” (vv 28, 29).} He quoted Deuteronomy 6:4, 5. Mark quotes it more elaborately than Matthew because Mark begins with verse 4 while Matthew quotes verse 5 only. Matthew cuts off a very important part of the whole commandment; who Yahweh is. Moses says “Hear, O Israel.” He urges Israel to hear, to listen and get it. “Yahweh our Elohim, Yahweh is one.” Yahshua said the same words according to Mark. It is important we hear and get it. Yahweh our Elohim, Yahweh is one and only one.

We must first recognize that. There is no other Elohim but Yahweh. We do not have two, three or more Elohim. In verse 31, the scribe said, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one Elohim, and there is no other but He.” The scribe understood this to be critical that “there is one Elohim, and there is no other but He.” Before we start talking of loving Him, we must acknowledge that He alone is Elohim and there is no other. We cannot love Yahweh with all our hearts, souls and all that is ours if He is not one in our minds. Yahshua one time said, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve Elohim and mammon” (Matt. 6:24). This is repeated in Luke 16:13. We cannot love Yahweh with all our hearts, souls and all we have if we are also loyal to other Elohim. It is not possible. No wonder people are confused about Yahweh and Yahshua.

This statement in Deuteronomy 6:4 & 5 is the same as the first of the Ten Commandments, “I am Yahweh your (singular) Elohim who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out the house of bondage. You shall have no other Elohim before me” (Exod. 20:2, 3). These were Yahweh’s first words when He spoke to the whole congregation of Israel at Mount Sinai

According to Yahweh, Moses and Yahshua, the first thing that all must recognize is that Yahweh is the only Elohim and we should have no other Elohim in our minds or physically. He is the only Elohim we should recognize. This was what the scribe also understood and told Yahshua, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one Elohim, and there is no other but He.”

At Mount Sinai, Yahweh could have just said those first words (“I am Yahweh your Elohim who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out the house of bondage. You shall have no other Elohim before me”) and left it at that because once we recognise Him as the only Elohim, then we are ready to worship Him and do His bidding. But in verses 4-6, Yahweh makes it clear what it means not to have other Elohim. Exodus 20:4, 5 says, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, YAHWEH your Elohim, am a jealous Elohim. . .”

These words of Yahweh agree totally with what Moses says in Deuteronomy 6:5;  ⁵ “You shall love YAHWEH your Elohim with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” If we love Yahweh with all our heart, with all our being and with all we have, we cannot have room for any other Elohim. Yahweh is the only Elohim we shall bow down to (or worship) and Him only shall we serve.

The purpose of the congregation is therefore to recognize Yahweh as the only Elohim, and worship and serve Him only.  This is how we shall show we love Him totally.

John tells us, “For this is the love of Yahweh, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3).

We shall therefore meditate on Yahweh’s law wherever we are at all times. We shall “observe to do according to all that is written in it” (Josh. 1:8). We shall then prosper in all we do as a result.

Moses tells us, ¹¹  “Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. . . .   ¹⁴ No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so that you may obey it.  ¹⁵  See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.  ¹⁶ For I command you today to love Yahweh your Elohim, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and Yahweh your Elohim will bless you in the land you are entering to possess,” (Deut. 30:11-16).  Moses says that obeying Yahweh is not too difficult. It is something we are totally capable of doing. It is not something we need help to do. The commands of Yahweh are in our mouths and our hearts so that we may obey them. In verse 16, Moses says he commands us to love Yahweh, walk in His ways and walk in His commands, decrees and laws. This is all Yahweh demands of us. It is our purpose as a congregation, to acknowledge Yahweh as the only Elohim and to show love to Him by obeying all He commands.

The Great Commission

The Great Commission is part of the second greatest commandment; LOVING OUR NEIGHBOURS AS OURSELVES. Yahshua quoted this from Leviticus 19:18  “‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself’: I am YAHWEH.” Yahweh is the one who had said this. Yahshua says that this is the second greatest commandment.  Paul says in Romans 13:9-10 that love is the summary of the whole law. If we truly love our neighbours, we shall invite them to love and obey Yahweh.  We shall tell them of the good news of the Kingdom of Yahweh. We shall encourage them to repent and enter into the Family of Yahweh. When we fail to do this, we fail to fulfil a big portion of the purpose of the congregation; inviting others into the Kingdom.

Moses and the Great Commission

Moses says in Deuteronomy 6:6-9  ⁶ ” And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.  ⁷ “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.  ⁸ “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  ⁹ “You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” This is evangelism

1. The commands of Yahweh WILL BE IN OUR HEARTS. This is the New Covenant.
2. WE SHALL TEACH THEM TO OUR CHILDREN DILIGENTLY, first line of discipleship
3. WE SHALL TALK OF THEM
   1. When we sit in our houses: evangelism in our houses
   2. When we walk by the way: evangelism everywhere we go
   3. When we lie down: evangelism as we rest
   4. When we rise up: evangelism when we awake
4. We shall BIND THEM as a SIGN ON OUR HANDS: evangelism by our actions
5. These commandments shall be AS FRONTLETS BETWEEN OUR EYES: evangelism by what people see on us or how we appear or present ourselves to them.
6. We shall WRITE THEM ON THE DOOORPOSTS OF OUR HOUSES: evangelism by what people see as they enter our houses
7. We shall write them on our GATES: evangelism by what people see as they enter through our gates.

We shall be ambassadors of Yahweh all the time and in every place. Moses explained what it is to preach the Good News everywhere. We are to assimilate (take in) the Law of Yahweh into our hearts and then spread it everywhere and all the time and in all circumstances.  Talking about the Law of Yahweh everywhere we go is evangelism. This is the Great Commission. This is how we show that we love Yahweh totally and love our neighbours as ourselves. It begins with us putting the Law of Yahweh into our hearts (showing we are in the New Covenant) then teaching it to our children, and then spreading the news everywhere and all the time.

No wonder Yahshua said in Matthew 22:40  “On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” This is all that Yahweh requires of us in summary. This is the whole word of Yahweh.

Yahshua and the Great Commission

^NIB Matthew 28:18-20   “Then Yahshua came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

The command is as we go we make disciples of all nations. Greek says “as you go.”  This is our main business wherever we go; making disciples by telling them to come to Yahweh, be baptised in the name of Yahshua and be forgiven. Then we teach them all that Yahweh has commanded as Yahshua did. (John 5:30; 12:49, 50). He commands his disciples to teach the nations all that he had commanded them. This is in agreement with what Moses had commanded that we teach our children and talk of Yahweh’s law everywhere we go. This is part of the second greatest commandment, loving our neighbours as ourselves.

The Purpose Practically

This is what we are here for as a congregation; the true Worship to Yahweh. We acknowledge Yahweh as the only Elohim and love Him with all we are and have, and then we love others as we love ourselves by telling them of Yahweh’s love and purpose for them.

In doing this, we shall endeavour to attract people from the surrounding communities to our services. The AIM is to continually move people toward the core of the congregation by encouraging personal, spiritual development and commitment.

The congregation will endeavour to

1. Establish a spiritual family through fellowship; people committing themselves to Yahweh and to the family of believers at CoY.
2. Promote spiritual growth in through discipleship, people committing themselves to OBEDIENCE and DISCIPLINES necessary for spiritual growth
3. Demonstrate the love of Yahweh through SERVICE, people committing themselves to discovering their Yah-given gifts and abilities to serve Yahweh and others.
4. Reach out to the lost people through EVANGELISM, people committing themselves to sharing the good news of the Kingdom of Yahweh with others; people committing to tell others to turn from sin and turn to Yahweh in total submission and obedience to Him, worshipping Him thereby.

This spiritual family of Believers will love Yahweh with all their being and will worship Him in obedience to Him in all circumstances. THIS IS WORSHIP TO YAHWEH, walking in love and obedience to Him. This is a none-stop job and is the purpose of the congregation.

Conclusion

We have seen that the purpose of the Congregation of Yahweh is based on two statements of Yahshua in Mark 12:29-34, Matthew 28:19-20 and other passages in the New Testament. We have seen that Moses had said the same thing in a different way. Our purpose as a congregation is to recognize Yahweh as the only true Elohim (John 17:3), love Him with all we are and have and obey all that He commands. With this deep in our hearts, we shall spread the Good News of Yah’s Kingdom to all.

The purpose of the congregation is therefore to WORSHIP YAHWEH IN ALL WE DO by acknowledging Him as the only Elohim, loving Him above everything else and obeying His commandments while inviting and encouaging others to do the same.

[1] NIV – New International Version Bible