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    Discovering God's Church
    Discovering God's Church
    Discovering God's Church
    Ebook77 pages1 hour

    Discovering God's Church

    By Keith Dorricott

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    About this ebook

    Written by a biblical scholar and church elder, this ambitious and thought-provoking guide, now available in three concise books, is designed to examine and explore beliefs that are prevalent in the evangelical Christian world today.

    New churches and denominations are emerging at a rapid pace, but are these congregations worshipping God in the way that He intended? Using Old and New Testament scripture, Dorricott traces the concept of God living among a people on the earth and shows how the Bible provides answers to fundamental questions such as: Why are there so many Christian churches? Can we be true Christians without belonging to a church?Is the apostles' teaching relevant in the twenty-first century? Is the New Testament just first-century history, or is it also a blueprint for us?Is all worship acceptable to God?

    By challenging all true followers of Jesus Christ to set aside conventional thinking and focus on the true meaning of God's house, Dorricott provides a path of genuine study and reflection that will guide all those who wish to examine and reaffirm their service in unity to God.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHayes Press
    Release dateJun 15, 2018
    ISBN9781386582243
    Discovering God's Church

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      Book preview

      Discovering God's Church - Keith Dorricott

      CHAPTER ONE: WHAT IS A CHURCH?

      When you come together as a church ... (1 Corinthians 11:18)

      When people talk about a church these days they are commonly referring to a religious building, a place of worship. We may be encouraged to worship at a church near you, or talk about going to church or constructing a new church. In fact the buildings themselves often have signs labelling them as churches. But this is not the Bible meaning of the word.

      Ekklesia

      The Bible word for church, "ekklesia," meaning people called out to be together, is used in several contexts. We have already looked at its use in connection with the church the Body of Christ. Israel in the wilderness is referred to in Acts 7:38 as "the church in the wilderness (translated as church in the King James Version, assembly in the NIV, and congregation in the NKJV and NASB). It is also used for secular gatherings (e.g. Acts 19:39). But the most common usage is of local gatherings of God’s people, where the term church of God is used, to denote that it is God who has called them together. This is the only use in the New Testament in which the word occurs both in the singular (e.g. 1 Corinthians 1:2) and the plural (e.g. 1 Corinthians 11:16). Each church of God was identified with a particular place, such as Jerusalem (Galatians 1:13), Corinth (1 Corinthians 1:2), and Thessalonica (1 Thessalonians 1:1). In Jerusalem, on the Day of Pentecost, the disciples who were baptized and added to the approximately one hundred and twenty who were already gathered together had been called together by God, as the church of God" in that place.

      Why Does Church Matter?

      There is certainly no shortage of Christian church groups and denominations to choose from these days. A believer in many countries who wishes to gather with other believers can find an almost unlimited variety. Is this a good thing? It certainly caters to various preferences, cultures, and traditions. People are free to choose as they like on the basis of convenience of location, ethnic background, the pastor, the programs that are offered, where friends and family members attend, and so on. There is a widespread view that the actual basis on which Christians gather together is not that important since, after all, they are all members of that one true church, which is Christ’s Body.

      Some believers may say that it is not that important whether a Christian belongs to a church or not. If, as some say, the essence of the Christian faith is the personal relationship between a believer and Jesus Christ, then any church affiliation is secondary; it is there primarily as an option to support their personal Christian walk. Thus, they would argue, Christians should feel free to come and go as they please. But is this in fact what the Scriptures teach, or are we again missing something?

      We do not have to study our Bibles for very long before we realize that living out our Christian lives necessarily includes our relationships with other believers. For example, while the well-known verse John 3:16 tells us about how we obtain salvation, a corresponding verse in 1 John chapter 3 links that with the importance of our relationship with each other: This is His commandment: that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He commanded us (1 John 3:23).

      Loving one another is one of the foremost commands to the Christian. Jesus said that this was how other people would know that they were His disciples (John 13:35). We cannot fulfill that command by staying apart from other Christians or by picking and choosing those whom we will gather with just to suit ourselves.

      What Should the Church Be Called?

      Today churches are called by various names, perhaps reflecting their denominational association, community location, or some other characteristic. Sometimes contests are held to find a name for a new church. However, what matters is not what we may choose to call it but what God calls it. If "ekklesia" refers to the fact that God has called disciples together into His churches, then it is God who must put His name on them, just as He put His name on His people Israel in Old Testament times. (He also put His name on the city of Jerusalem: Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen for Myself to put My name (1 Kings 11:36). That is what made it the holy city, the city of God.)

      For this reason the name that was given to local churches in the New Testament was church of God. Each was God’s church; otherwise, it would have had no right to take that name for itself. God puts His name on something only when it belongs to Him and meets His requirements. Various other expressions using the word church occur in various places:

      The church in a house (e.g. Romans 16:5; 1 Corinthians 16:19; Colossians 4:15), referring to one or more homes where the saints in the church of God in the town met.

      "The church of the living God" (1 Timothy 3:15), referring to the house of God, as discussed in the last section.

      The church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria (Acts 9:31), referring to the aggregate of all those in the churches of God in those regions.

      The churches of the saints (1 Corinthians 14:33), emphasizing that it is saints who make up the churches.

      "The churches of Christ" (Romans 16:16), also referring to local gatherings of those in churches of God, emphasizing the character and authority of Christ over them (as seen in Revelation 1:12,13).

      God Calls Us To Church

      When the

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