The word church comes from the greek word ecclesia, which means a gathering or company of people called out for the purpose of bringing glory to God. But what does it mean to us today? What are the essentials of church? This is not about another church model or the next best way to grow a church. This is about the scriptures and what they have to say about what church is and should be.
When you break church down to its simplist form you come to Matthew 18:20 when Jesus said, "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."
If you break our physical body down, you eventually come to the DNA. The thing that makes us who we are. So, what do you get when you search for the DNA of church...what makes us who we are?
We believe that when you strip down what the New Testament Church was and what the church should really be about it comes down to three things. Everything else is either an extension or outgrowth of these three things. When people start messing around with DNA of humans things get ugly and scary. the same thing goes for the DNA of the church. God designed it and we shouldn't mess with it!
Truth comes directly from God. He reveals it to us. The purest form of Truth is in Jesus and the Scriptures. The inwelling Spirit of God is also Divine Truth. Jesus, the Scriptures, and the leading of the Holy Spirit are infallible, while our application of those sources may be filled with error. Check out the scriptures to the right to see where Jesus embodies, teaches, and commands this essential part of the DNA of the church as well as examples from the Early Church.
People were never created to be alone. In Genesis God said that it wasn't good for man to be alone. We are wired to be social and we have this need within us for relationships. This nature actually reflects the Trinitarian image of God!
Check out the scriptures to the right to see where Jesus embodies, teaches, and commands this essential part of the DNA of the church as well as examples from the Early Church.
Apostolic means sent as a representative with a message. We are here for a purpose. We have been given a prime directive to fulfill: to make disciples of all the nations. Jesus is an apostle. Before he left earth He said to His disciples, "As the Father has sent me, so send I you."
Check out the scriptures to the right to see where Jesus embodies, teaches, and commands this essential part of the DNA of the church as well as examples from the Early Church.