Real Hope: Back to Basics - ChurchSample

You Are The Church

When you ask the internet ‘What is the church?’ it says ‘a building used for public Christian worship.' That answer is closer to the truth if we ask, ‘What is a church?", but it doesn’t really help us understand what this thing that Jesus designed to be His representation on earth is meant to be.

‘Church’ as scripture sees it, is within us. It’s not a building.

In the English Bible, the word ‘church’ is translated from the Greek word ‘ekklesia’, which is derived from the Greek words kaleo (to call), prefixed by ek (out). Essentially meaning, ‘the called-out ones’.

Romans 12:5 tells us that ‘the called out ones’ are not an exclusive group, but ‘one body’ made up of those who are now ‘in Christ’ – i.e. those who’ve received salvation and asked Him to be the Lord of their lives.

To be that body – to be the church – isn’t reliant on a building, which, if we learned anything from 2020 through 2021, certainly proved to be true. The church God designed, isn’t bound by four walls.

In 1 Corinthians we’re told that ‘we are His temple’ and that ‘His spirit dwells in our midst’. Wherever we, ‘the called-out ones’ who’ve dedicated our lives to Him, are, there He is. There is His church.

Gathering together is important, and Hebrews 10 compels us to do it, but let’s not forget that gathering isn’t the precursor to experiencing His presence.

Written by LAURA BENNETT