Biblish : Church

What is church?

The old definition of a “parish” – Church for Protestants, is “a Glimpse of the Kingdom of God.” The word "church" as we see it in the New Testament comes from the Greek term ekklesia which is formed from two Greek words meaning "an assembly" and "to call out" or "called out ones." Quite fitting if you’ve been reading my new definition of Holy and Sin… right!? In the New Testament, the church is a body of believers who have been called out from the world by God to live as his people under the authority of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23). This group of believers or "the body of Christ" began in Acts 2 on the Day of Pentecost through the work of the Holy Spirit and will continue to be formed until the day of the rapture of the church.

If the church, Parish is the “glimpse of the kingdom” then what should the church do or look like? 

I’d love to share a glimpse of the kingdom from a few thousand years ago. The apology of Aristides.

“They refuse to worship strange Gods and they go their way in all modesty and cheerfulness. Falsehood is not found among them; and they love one another, and the widows needs are not ignored; and they deliver the orphan from anyone that does him violence...And when they see a stranger, they take him in to their homes and rejoice over him as a true brother…And whenever one of their poor passes from the world, each gives towards his burial accordingly. And if they hear that one of their number is imprisoned or oppressed for the name of their Messiah…and if it is possible to redeem him they set him free. And if they find poverty in their midst, and if they have no spare food, they fast two or three days in order to supply to the needy their lack of food. They observe the precepts of their Messiah with much care, living justly and soberly as the Lord their God commanded them...Such, O King, is the commandment of the law of the Christians, and such is their manner of life.” - 2nd century A.D.            

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