Pastor's Circle - Jerry Horner

Jerry Horner serves as the Executive Director of New Creation Ministries. He joined the Pastor's Circle to discuss the recent emphasis on having Jesus without "religion". Below are the "CliffsNotes" of his interview.

Can you come to Jesus without the Church?

People ought to realize that the Church is God's chosen instrument to carry out his plan for the redemption of the world.

The Church is so important that Jesus loved it and gave himself for it. There's no such thing in the New Testament as lone-sheep Christianity.

You never find the word saint in the singular in the New Testament. One of the most striking features of the New Testament is the body of believers. 

We're talking, of course, about the true Church.

What does it mean that Jesus and the Church are one?

A head must have a body. A head without a body doesn't accomplish much. Conversely, a body without a head is dead.

The Church is the body of Christ. The head gives the direction, the body carries out the desires of the head. We are one.

Why does the younger generation disdain the Church?

I think it's due to a misconception of what the Church is. Is it possible for a person to live without food, without air, without water, without nourishment? No.  

The world today seems to be dismissing the Church as a worn-out institution that is past its time. 

The farther we get from the New Testament picture of the Church, the more disdain the world will have for us.

But the Church will never die. The gates of hell will not prevail against it.