What is a Church?

1. God has always gathered his people

2. God picked a word (ekklesia) that means “gathering” to describe His church

     a. The Greek Translation of the OT uses the Greek word ekklesia to translate the Hebrew words for “a gathering or congregation”

     b. The New Testament uses ekklesia for “a gathering or congregation”

3. The ekklesia is a group of saved people who gather together and act together

     a. The ekklesia is people (not an institution or a building) [Matthew 18:17; Acts 18:22]

     b. The ekklesia is people who actually gather together (not just a list of names of people who identify with each other) [Romans 16:5; Acts 14:27; 1 Corinthians 11:18; 14:23;11:33]

     c. The ekklesia is people who actually gather together and who act together (not attend some meeting as passive guests) [Acts 15:22]

4. The church is a group of Christians who regularly gather to proclaim the gospel, to affirm one another’s profession of faith by the practise of the ordinances, and to live together as the family of God.

     a. What the church is:

          i. A group of Christians who regularly gather together

     b. What the church does:

          i. Proclaims the Gospel

          ii. Affirms one another’s profession of faith by the practise of the ordinances

          iii. Lives together as the family of God