The people of God has always been set apart from their surrounding nations. Ever since God gathered his people around him, he has called his people to be different, because he has rescued and redeemed them. The New Testament continues this pattern with Jesus Christ. We are gathered around Jesus, set apart for him because of the redemption that he purchased for us. The church is a people that God has rescued through Jesus Christ. We are saved into a people, therefore our faith has never been a merely private experience, but one that is lived together with others who are in Christ. Membership in the local church is a way of expressing that reality we have in Christ.
We belong to the universal church – the people saved by Christ. This is expressed by belonging to the local church. We belong to our local church family, helping each other in our discipleship to Christ, under the leadership of the elders. We all help each other in our Christian discipline, so that we grow in our love and
