What is a Church According to the Bible?
Let us begin the true Church Bible study, shall we? A guest wrote and shared that his Religious leader at his Church told him that his Dad was going to hell because he did not attend Church and added, let this be a lesson to you ... This is the reason for this Church Bible study.
Let us determine if the Pharisee’s judgment of the Dad was correct. When you think of a Church, what comes to your mind? Is it a building made of rock, wood or metal with stained glass windows, organ music, choir, a pulpit and a man quoting laws from the Bible?
Do you believe that is the interpretation of the word “Church” which our Lord Jesus had in mind when He told Peter that he (Peter) was the rock upon which He would build His Church?
Matthew 16:18
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and
upon this rock I will build my Church; and the gates
of hell shall not prevail against it.
Was Jesus speaking of physical rock? Is a Church merely rock, wood and glass?
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Take a field trip with me as to find the origins of the Church.
Cain and Abel offered sacrifices to God. Noah, Abraham, Isaac,
Jacob and others built altars made of stones as a place to
sacrifice and worship God. Were those deemed as Church to them?
Or are we to say because there was no physical
structure and no fellow believers present, so it must not
have been what most deem as being a physical Church?
In the days of Moses, the Tabernacle was built. The tabernacle was a tent
sanctuary where God was worshipped. An important thing to
note is that the tabernacle was portable.
The True Church Bible verses meaning truth time ...
That’s right, you can take it from one place to another. Is this a
Church? Or because it is no more than a portable tent, does
it fall short of one’s ideology of what a Church is “supposed” to be?
Many believe that the Church did not begin until after Jesus died for our sins.
But is this truth?
Let’s allow Stephen to answer that question for us, shall we?
Acts 7:37-38
37 This is that Moses, which said unto the children of
Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up
unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye
hear.
38 This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with
the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and
with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to
give unto us ...
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So, we can clearly see that Stephen understood that a Church was where a person or a group of people could worship God. Maybe they just didn’t have the materials we do today.
Just to expound on Church a bit ... Let’s look at what many consider Church is today. The True Church / Biblical Church Bible study on Church Bible verses meaning Field trip ...
On Sunday morning, you get up early, put on your Sunday best, and you
drive to that beautiful building that you’re proud to call
your Church. You sit with other believers and listen to a
man of God share the Word of God with you for about an hour
a week. As you’re sitting there trying to pay attention to
the Church leader preaching, you look around at others in
the Church to see who is there and what they are wearing.
Your mind begins to drift to other things like mowing the
lawn that afternoon, so you don’t want to forget gasoline
for the lawnmower on your way home from Church. Maybe you’ll
clean the garage after that. You’ve been quite stressed at
work lately, so that thought joins with the other
distractions. Your child sitting next to you is fidgety, so
you give them that stern look to settle down, and you look
over at the woman looking in her purse mirror to be sure her
lipstick is on straight, and the person next to you keeps
coughing, without covering their mouth. Suddenly, everyone
rises to leave.
But, hey ... You are in a building called Church, so you must be in Church. Pssssssst ... The True Church Bible study on Church Bible verses meaning has made it clear. Again, is this what Jesus had in mind when He spoke of His Church. Here are some questions to determine if you are in Church.
Are you there because you feel obligated to be there or are you
seeking a deeper understanding of the Word of God there? Are
you there cuz your neighbor is? Do you hear and understand
the preaching that takes place as to apply the message to
your life? Do you feel the presence of the Holy Spirit
there? When you leave there ... Can you claim that you’ve
really been to Church ... Not just
in the flesh, but in the Spirit?
These are important questions to ask yourself about Church.
Suppose you take the family to a friends house and you all play Bible
Trivia. You have some real thought provoking conversations
among yourselves during the game and everyone is filled with
the Holy Spirit. Everyone learns a lot and the evening ends
with some good seeds planted for each and every person who
was there.
Would you consider that Church?
Matthew 18:20
For where two or three are gathered together in my
name, there am I in the midst of them.
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Do you have to be in a building in order to have it “count” as having been to Church? Let us look at what Paul said:
1 Corinthians 6:19
What? know ye not that your body is the Temple of the
Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and
ye are not your own?
Spiritually speaking ... You are the Church. And like the Tabernacle, you are portable!
Hear more of what is said about the Church ...
Acts 2:47
Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved.
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Can a building be saved? No, he was referring to the people within being saved.
Acts 11:22
Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch.
Does a building have ears?
Acts 12:5
Peter therefore was kept in prison: but
prayer was made without ceasing of the church
unto God for him.
Can a building pray?
Acts 20:28
Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the
flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you
overseers, to feed the church
of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
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Biblical Church Bible Verses Gift
Does the building itself partake of the Word of God? The Church in these scriptures again ... Refers to a group of people, not a building. The Church is Spiritual. The Spirit within the people gathered together is the Church. Jesus reveals this truth yet again ...
Matthew 18:17
And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church:
but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto
thee as an heathen man and a publican.
Was Jesus saying to tell it to a building? Or to the people that made up the Church? Again ... Paul said that your body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit ... Because the Holy Spirit resides within you and you can take your mobile Tabernacle anywhere you wish and share the Word of God. That means you can be a potential Church.
You know, I have heard it said that some claim that any “On Line Ministry” is not a Church. Now, make no mistake, I am not against a physical Church. My shared words do not mean that if you are a member here or if you spend time sojourning through this Christian community that you should quit going to your physical Church. Physical fellowship can be very important to many souls. But, it does mean that we should not limit Church to being just a building made of rock, wood, metal and glass that one attends once a week for an hour or so and con-demn others who worship God in different ways and not at a physical Church.
The truth is, whenever Christians unite in the name of Jesus to give glory to God and to sacrifice by way of time, Faith and Love. That is what Church truly is. This should be done every day. You can do so at our Christianity Oasis Ministry. Oh, one last thing ... The pharisee was wrong telling that young man that his dad was doomed because he did not attend his church. Pass it on !!! Share this ... The true church Bible study on Biblical church Bible verses with them.
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