The Church: A Primer

RTL: The Church is often guilty of not knowing itself.

Intro: Work Meetings, Work purpose

1. The Church is Christ’s (Mt. 16:18)

The word “church” in the NT is εκκλησια - ekklesia

Ek - out of, from

Kaleo - I call

The term ekklesia means, “Those who are called out”

or, the called out ones

ekklesia = called out ones

This indicates three things:

a. There is a caller

b. There is a purpose for which they are called

c. It is a group of individuals

This means that the church is made of individuals who are drawn (John 6:44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.” ) out of something and into something else.

Matthew 16:18 ESV

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

For a really good sermon on this one verse, Lee Callicut, Grace Hill church in pittsboro at Turner’s.

Jesus states: “I will build my church.”

He is the builder and possessor of this thing called the church

God is therefore the who who calls out the people of the church.

When one hires a worker, they are his workers.

Jesus uses the word church here singularly:

The whole church - Global, Universal, catholic

Global, Universal, or catholic church - all believers at all times, in all places

Elsewhere in the NT the plural “churches” is used

The local church - all the believers of a region or place

Local church - all the believers of a region or place

There are called out ones across the globe and there are groups of called out ones concentrated in cities, towns, etc.

For our purposes, we are talking about the global/universal church today

We will get more specific about the local church later on in the series.

2. Called Out, Called To

The text states that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church.

In some sense the church stands against the gates of hell.

Pastor Callicut, in his sermon, takes it to be that we are on the offensive, storming the castle gates.

Others take it that the gates of hell will not advance and destroy the church.

Perhaps Jesus has in mind the fact that believers are called out of sin, darkness and death, and called into life cf. Colossians 1:13 “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,”

What we can say with certainty is that believers in Christ are called out of the world (John 15:19 “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” ) in order to stand against (whether defensive or offensive) that which is contrary to the church - Satan, hell.

If the coach calls you out of the game, you aren’t playing anymore. Likewise, if your boss calls you out of your office, he is calling you to a specific place.

We are no longer to participate in the ways of the thing from whence we are called.

And we are called to a different thing, namely, to participate in the ways of the new Kingdom.

Immigration - Assimilation into American society

The church as a whole is called by God for new purposes.

Application:

Evaluate: Are you part of the church, do you belong to Jesus Christ?

Put away the ways of your past and live into Christ.