In the course of sermon preparation, as you consider applications of the text, who do you have in mind? Maybe you picture particular church members. Perhaps you think of different life stages. You ask, “How does this passage apply to business professionals, young marrieds, youth, parents, grandparents, singles, empty nesters?” Typically, these applications are aimed at how an individual believer might live out God’s Word. But there’s an obvious category that you’re probably overlooking: your church. You might call it corporate, or congregational, application.
Corporate application addresses how God’s Word speaks to a church’s congregational life together. This includes how members relate to one another and work together to live out the Scriptures. It also includes how the church as a whole can apply the text.
Every text has corporate applications. After all, the Bible is a congregational book—written about a people, to a people, for a people. While stories of individuals are scattered throughout Scripture, they’re told within God’s greater work among his people as a whole. From the Pentateuch to the prophets, the Old Testament addresses God’s distinct, covenant people, Israel. From the Gospels to Revelation, the New Testament reveals the formation and deployment of God’s new covenant
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