The Church: God's Family

If you were stuck somewhere for a week and could only bring one person with you, who would it be and why?

Thought: We don’t just need people, we need the right kind of people. God builds that kind of community on purpose.

What do you think of when you hear “Church”?

Do you think of the church as an institution? (as in a company or organization)

Or is the church the people?

Some people would say only the Orthodox, or Catholic, or other Church is the true church. Why is this a problem?

The Greek word used in the NT “ekklesia” is translated in modern translation as “church”

However, the direct translation into english, used by most scholars, is “assembly”

Pop quiz, who wrote the book of Acts?

Acts 2:42 LEB

42 And they were devoting themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayers.

This phrase implies the new believers were continually learning together

In what ways do we learn and grow in faith today?

Acts 2:43 LEB

43 And fear came on every soul, and many wonders and signs were being performed by the apostles.

Why do you think “fear came on every soul”?

Fear is a normal reaction from people in Scripture to the holiness and/or judgement of God. In this verse, it signifies the peoples reception of the message.

Acts 2:44–47 LEB

44 And all who believed were in the same place, and had everything in common. 45 And they began selling their possessions and property, and distributing these things to all, to the degree that anyone had need. 46 And every day, devoting themselves to meeting with one purpose in the temple courts and breaking bread from house to house, they were eating their food with joy and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding every day to the total of those who were being saved.

What does this tell us about how the early church treated each other?

Does this look like what we think church is today?

1 Corinthians 12:12–14 LEB

12 For just as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of the body, although they are many, are one body, thus also Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free persons, and all were made to drink one Spirit. 14 For the body is not one member, but many.

By what spirit are we baptized into one body?

Paul is writing here that we are one body, in Christ, indwelt with the Holy Spirit as He works to santify us.

Paul repeats this theme in Galatians and Colossians.

1 Corinthians 12:18–20 LEB

18 But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body just as he wanted. 19 And if they all were one member, where would the body be? 20 But now there are many members, but one body.

What happens when one part of your body stops working, like an eye or your legs?

Do you see how this idea ties into what we read in Acts about how the early church was treating each other?

Ephesians 2:19–22 LEB

19 Consequently, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens of the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are built up together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

What made us “strangers and foreigners”?

Paul writes earlier in Ephesians that it was the gentiles who had no hope, who were in the world without God

Being estranged from God (not only kicked out of Eden, but our disinheritance after the Tower of Babel)

So one point Paul is making here, is that by Christ’s death & resurrection, the gentiles are brought back into the family

Fun fact:

The greek word translated as “saints” is better translated as “holy ones”. This has a connection in the OT. It’s used to describe members of God’s divine counsel. It’s NEVER used of humans until the NT

Psalm 89:5 LEB

5 And so the heavens will praise your wonderful deed, O Yahweh, even your faithfulness, in the assembly of the holy ones.

Daniel 7:18 LEB

18 But the holy ones of the Most High will receive the kingdom, and they will take possession of the kingdom forever, forever and ever.’

Break into Small Groups

1. When do you feel most disconnected from people at church?

2. Why do you think some people avoid church or community?

3. Which is harder for you: letting people know the real you or making space for others?

4. What would it actually look like for you to be part of the Church, not just attend?