The word “church” is used to translate the Greek word ekklesia<\/i>, which simply means an assembly of people. It doesn’t always have to mean an assembly of Christians (Acts 19:32, 39).<\/p>\n
There are two types of assemblies mentioned in the Scriptures.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0One is talking about all Christians as a whole<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The other talks about Christians who live in a local community and work and worship together.<\/p>\n
For clarity, we will refer to the first as the universal church and the second as the local church even though those terms are not used in the Scriptures. We are merely using the terms for clarity.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There is only one (Matthew 16:18; Hebrews 12:22-23; Ephesians 1:22-23; 4:4; I Corinthians 12:12-13)<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It has no particular location<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is composed of all Christians, living and dead<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is not composed of denominations (I Corinthians 1:10-13)<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is not composed of local churches<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Membership comes when you become a Christian (Acts 2:47)<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In other words, God controls the membership (Hebrews 12:22-23; II Timothy 2:19).<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It consists only of the saved<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There are many (Romans 16:16; II Corinthians 11:28; Galatians 1:2; Revelation 2-3)<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Each has its own location (I Corinthians 1:2; 11:18; 14:23; Acts 14:27)<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They work independently (Philippians 4:15)<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is composed of Christians living in an area<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The individual Christian is not the church (Matthew 18:15-18; I Timothy 5:16)<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The church is not the building, but the collective members<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Christians join a local church (Acts 9:26)<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In other words, the local church controls its membership (I Corinthians 5:11-12; II Corinthians 2:5-11; III John 9-10)<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Not all members will be saved (Revelation 2:14-16)<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPrior Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFundamentals of Christianity\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNext Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Church The word “church” is used to translate the Greek word ekklesia, which simply means an assembly of people. It doesn’t always have to mean an assembly of Christians (Acts 19:32, 39). There are two types of assemblies mentioned in the Scriptures. \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0One is talking about all Christians as a whole \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The other talks…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":26590,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-26769","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":65176,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/fundamentals-of-christianity\/church-universal-governance\/","url_meta":{"origin":26769,"position":0},"title":"Church (Universal) Governance","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 29, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Church (Universal) Governance The building of God's house - Ephesians 2:19-22 The purpose of the church is to make the wisdom of God known - Ephesians 3:10; I Timothy 3:15 Authority The Father He is the head - I Corinthians 11:3 He is supreme - I Corinthians 15:24-27 The Son,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":65212,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/fundamentals-of-christianity\/deacons\/","url_meta":{"origin":26769,"position":1},"title":"Deacons","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 30, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Deacons I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Terms \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Deacon (diakonos) - a servant. 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