Church: a word study

So what is "church" I had this question presented to me at work, and had a debate about the word last night.. So today I did a word study on it.. Here is my summary..The word church comes from the word "ekklesia" which only appears in the Gospels 3 times, but in later writings 112 times, it used to describe everything from when Peter discovers the true identity of Jesus (Matthew 16:18) to a small group of believers gathered together in a certain town or locality(acts 18:22); to it's most literal meaning, a group legally summoned for a purpose (civil, legal or military), as it is used to describe the riot at Ephesus (acts 19:32,39,41). The word church was never used to describe a building until the Codex Justinianus dated in the 4th to 6th century A.D. Which was long after Constantine had redefined the word as a civil institution. So in the bible their is 2 clear descriptions of the church, first is the universal church being the entire body of Christians ( 1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 1:22-23) including every believer in the world. And the second definition is the local church, which is a local assembly of believers that meet physically to worship, fellowship, teach, pray, and encourage in the faith. (Hebrews 10:25) at this local level we are to break bread together, worship, pray for each other, disciple, and strengthen one another. Although their are many local churches, we all are a member of the universal church. So how should the church act, what should our mission be? I found this following description and thought it was awesome:So what is this New Creation called “the church”?I like the suggestion of a student years ago, “a combination of a colony of the Kingdom and a support group!”These are people gathered, as in Ac.2:42-47, to celebrate and share the resurrection life of their King.As in Ac.11:26, they gather to learn his ways, in order to represent him faithfully to those outside, andas in Ac.12:15, for mutual support and prayer in the face of persecution.They deliberately avoid (Heb.10:25) neglecting to get together, since they need to keep coaching and encouraging one another,(I Cor.14:12) each seeking to excel in what will edify the church, as they(Heb.10:24) concentrate on prodding each other with love and good deeds.They serve as a “demonstration project” of the wisdom and glory of God (Eph.3:10)being “built together into a permanent dwelling place for God, in the Spirit.”(Eph.2:22).Quite enough to keep us all busy!Sources:http://christianity.about.com/od/churchandcommunity/a/thechurch.htmhttp://pioneernt.wordpress.com/2010/05/13/word-study-49-the-church/Like ·  · Unfollow Post · Share · Delete