The church is the house of God (1 Tim 3:15) and as members of the church, we are all a family of God’s children. Every child needs a family and God does not want his children growing up in isolation. The Bible says in Ephesians 2:19 that “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God”.
The universal Church, of which Christ is the Head, consists of all those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, are redeemed through His blood, regenerated by the Holy Spirit, and commissioned by Christ to go into all the world as a witness, preaching the Gospel to all nations. (20) The local church, the visible expression of the universal Church, is a body of believers in Christ who are joined together to worship God, to observe the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, to pray, to be edified through the Word of God, to fellowship, and to testify in word and deed to the good news of salvation both locally and globally. The local church enters relationships with other like-minded churches for accountability, encouragement, and mission. (21)
20. Ephesians 3:6-12; 1:22-23 | 21. Acts 2:41-47; Hebrew 10:25; Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8,11:19-30; 15 |