What Is The Church?
By Charles Stanley
Also available in a podcast at: http://talk.thelife.com/blogs/experience/kindle/2008/03/06/what-is-the-church-3/
Does it seem difficult for you to accept others at your church? Let us pray with you! http://mentodayonline.com/chat/share.html
“He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything” (Colossians 1:18).
When most people hear the word church, the first thing they think of is a certain type of building. But let’s see what Christ said about the church so that we can understand its biblical meaning.
In Matthew 16:18, Jesus proclaimed, “…I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (KJV). He obviously had in mind something much greater than a mere architectural structure. In fact, He was referring to the whole body of Christ, which is comprised of all believers worldwide – everyone who, having trusted Jesus as personal Savior, is a child of the heavenly Father. The church began on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came and anointed a group of Jesus’ followers. (Acts 2) It will continue until an event referred to as the Rapture of the Church, when every believer in Christ will be caught up to meet Him in the sky. (1 Thessalonians 4:17)
The church is not merely a place for social action or fellowship, though these are important aspects of its ministry. Rather, the church is the entire body of Christ, corporately and individually filled and enabled by the Holy Spirit to carry out the task designated by Jesus Himself. In other words, the purpose and work of the church are to bring people to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and to make disciples, instructing them and growing them up in the things of God. (Matthew 28:19-20)
Our responsibility is to obey. Have you asked yourself what role you should be playing in the ministry of the church?
Question: How have your experiences with your own church shaped how you view Christ’s body, that is, His church of all believers?
About this Author: http://talk.thelife.com/experience/devotionalformen/authors/charles-stanley/
You’re right on the mark, Kaweesa. Thanks for responding. If you noticed, my last sentence above was, “That they might see Jesus in “the local body of Christ” today!” If Christ isn’t evident to the local community then we are just another “community social club.” We have each been called to be “salt” and “light” in the world.
True that the term church as used in the bible can refer to structural buildings. Locally, it refers to a group of believers who may regularly meet in a building- the church for worship. Then globally it refers to all the believers worldwide who believe in Christ- the Christians
The “church” is the body of Christ to the world and to my community. That they might see Jesus in the local body of Christ today!