What is a Church

I’d like to ask a question this morning and feel free to shout out your answers. What was your favorite subject in school?

History? Math?

Did anyone particular enjoy anatomy?

The reason why studying anatomy is important is because it gives us a basic understanding of the form and function of our bodies, which in turn helps us make informed decisions in our lives for the health, well-being, care, and flourishing of our bodies.

Most of the time I select a book of the Bible and we move through it chapter by chapter and verse by verse. However, there are occasions when a more topical approach is warranted, and that is what we are about to enter into for the next several weeks.

We are beginning a multi-week series on the anatomy of a local church. What is a church? How should a church be organized and led? What are the biblical expectations for the congregation?

The theological word for this is ecclesiology. Ecclesia is the Greek word for church, ology, is the study of, ecclesiology is the study of the church.

I don’t expect us all to remember this, but way back on June 19th I preached a sermon titled “God’s Household, Upholder of the Truth” and that sermon is still available online.

In that sermon I preached from 1 Tim 3 about what a church is. It is a household: a family that embodies the truth, relationally; it is a pillar: it upholds the truth declarationally; and it is a buttress, or a bulwark: it supports and defends the truth tenaciously.

In that sermon we discussed how each of these descriptions is not about a place or a physical location. But rather these descriptors are designations for a people. A community. A group. This building isn’t a church, it is where the church meets.

But have you ever spent much time wondering…what makes a church? Is a group of people who meet for bible study a church?

Are chapel services like you’d find in a Christian school bible college, rescue mission, Bible camp, or other similar occasions…are those a church?

Some have used Jesus Words in Matt 18 “if two or three are gathered there I am in their midst” to make a case that any time two or three believers are gathered that it’s a church. Is that so?

So much of our confusion revolved around the fact that we use the word church in so many different ways.

Not only is there the confusion about our “church buildings” but we also often refer to the global, universal, or invisible church, vs the local or visible church.

Our goal this morning to have fresh in our minds what a local church is and does. From there we will build out what the Scripture says

Universal Church

All who place their faith in Jesus Christ are immediately placed by the Holy Spirit into one united spiritual Body, the church, of which Christ is the Head (1 Cor 12:12-13; Eph 1:22, 4:15; Col 1:18). The formation of the church began on the Day of Pentecost and will be completed at the coming of Christ for His own at the rapture (Acts 2:1-21, 38-47; 1 Cor 15:51-52; 1 Thess 4:13-18). The church is thus a unique spiritual organism designed by Christ, made up of all born-again believers in this present age (Eph 2:11-3:6). The church is distinct from Israel, being a mystery not revealed until this age (1 Cor 10:32; Eph 3:1-6; 5:32, Col 1:24-27).

Local Church

i. A local church is a group of believers who share a commitment to the word of God and each other and meet regularly to 1) worship the triune God, 2) edify one another through the use of their spiritual gifts, 3) be exhorted and equipped from the Word of God for ministry, and 4) celebrate, observe, and practice the ordinances and discipline under the guidance of duly appointed leaders (Matt 18:15-19, 28:19-20; Acts 2:42; Rom 12:3-8; 1 Cor 5:1-5, 11:23-26; Eph 4:11-16; Col 3:16; 2 Tim 4:2; Titus 1:5-9; Heb 10:24-25).

ii. The establishment and continuity of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures (Acts 14:23, 27; 20:17, 28; Gal 1:2; Phil 1:1; 1 Thess 1:1; 2 Thess 1:1; Titus 1:5). The members of the one spiritual Body (universal Church) are directed to associate themselves together in local assemblies, among which they are equipped for the work of the ministry (1 Cor 11:18-20; Eph 4:11-16; Heb 10:25).