God's Called Out: The Lord's Church (Mt. 16:18)

As seen in our first article below, the Greek phrase "called out" has been translated "church" in most common bibles today.  It will also be seen that this same word is used in both a local and a universal sense.  We have given a number of pictures of local "called outs" -- Christians in a local area who have organized themselves into a local church.  It will be noticed in these pictures that there are a variety of meeting places -- to be called out requires a place to be called out to.  There are three alternative for establishing a place to meet; it can be: (1) borrowed, (2) rented, or (3) purchased and thus owned by the local church.  The assembly above would seem to be in either a borrowed or a rented facility, while other picture given appear to be more permanent structures that were probably owned by the local church.

Articles under this subject:

• The Local and the Universal Church (Bible Definitions) - this article is critically important for understanding the use of the word "church" in the New Testament;
• The Worship of the Lord's Church - the acts of worship that are authorized and commanded by the New Testament;
• The Work of the Lord's Church - is the local church still recognized by Jesus if it ceases to do the work that He gave them to do and engages in other endeavors (no matter how "right" these activities might seem)?
• Finding a Faithful Church - this should be the first priority of the new convert, given that they have not already encountered a sound group in the course of hearing the truth preached;
• Your Part in Restoring the New Testament Church - if a church cannot be found in the local area, there is no reason that the Christians in that area cannot organize themselves to serve the Lord.  There is nothing in the bible about such having to be sanctioned by some central denominational group.  All local churches in the first century were independent and self-governing -- something that can only occur if the ultimate ruler of each church is Jesus Christ, and the only authority for the worship and work of the local church is obtained from the New Testament.
• Establishing a New Local Work - any plurality of Christians can establish a new work in an area if no sound work currently exists.  This article is to assist in this regard, and to demonstrate how simple and easy this is.
• Archive article: Elders and Deacons
  

Additional articles on the Lords church are available under Bible Subject Articles 2: Church.


What are the conditions of salvation given by Jesus?