๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข Have you ever had an exclusive membership? How did you join or apply? What are the benefits?ย
โข Is there a particular group or community (e.g., band, sports team, book club) you belong to? Tell us about what binds you together.ย
โข How do you usually relate with someone you donโt necessarily like or agree with?
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐๐๐ก๐ก๐ค๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ฏ๐๐ฃ๐จ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ช๐ญ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ช๐ฃ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ค๐จ๐ฉ๐ก๐๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฅ๐ง๐ค๐ฅ๐๐๐ฉ๐จ, ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ, ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ค๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ, ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐จ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ ๐๐ค๐ก๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ก๐ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ช๐ญ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต. ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฎ:๐ญ๐ตโ๐ฎ๐ฎ
(Read also ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฎ:๐ญ๐ญ-๐ญ๐ด.)
When we hear the word โchurch,โ we usually think of temples, buildings, or places where people go to pray and worship. But in the Bible, it wasnโt used this way. โChurchโ comes from a Greek word which means โthe called out ones.โ In Jesusโ time, it was not primarily used as a religious word, but was more political in nature. It meant a group of people who were called out of their homes or places of business to discuss things that were important to the public. It was from this understanding that Jesus chose to use the word to describe His people. As we are part of our local church, all believers belong to the body of Christ, which is the Church. In this lesson, we will study three characteristics of the Church and how God shapes His spiritual family.
๐ญ. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ถ๐ ๐ต๐ผ๐น๐.
. . . ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ค๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ, ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐จ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ช๐ญ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต.ย ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฎ:๐ฎ๐ญ-๐ฎ๐ฎ
(Read also ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐ฎ:๐ต.)
โHolyโ means โto be set apart.โ This means that the Church is the group of people God has called out of the world to be His own and set apart for His purpose. As a holy people, the Church is called to a holy life, showing the world what God is like through the way they live. The Bible also shows us that God no longer lives in physical buildings, but now dwells among and within His holy people who are His temple. How does this affect how you see yourself and how you live?
๐ฎ. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐น.
๐๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ก๐ก๐ค๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ฏ๐๐ฃ๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ข๐๐ข๐๐๐ง๐จ ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ช๐จ๐๐๐ค๐ก๐ ๐ค๐ ๐๐ค๐ . . .ย ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฎ:๐ญ๐ต
(Read also ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฎ:๐ญ๐ณโ๐ญ๐ด and ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฏ:๐ฎ๐ด)
In the Bible, the word โchurchโ may refer to a specific group of people at a particular time and place. However, it can also refer to the entire community of believers in all places and at all times. The Church is one or universal, because it transcends race, gender, age, social status, denomination, place, and time. All true believers, both alive on earth and those in heaven, are spiritually united together and are part of one body, the Church. What does this truth mean for how you should treat other Christians in your local church and from other churches who believe in the gospel?
๐ฏ. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ.
๐๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ค๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ป๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ช๐ญ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ช๐ฃ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ค๐จ๐ฉ๐ก๐๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฅ๐ง๐ค๐ฅ๐๐๐ฉ๐จ, ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ . . .ย ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฎ:๐ญ๐ต-๐ฎ๐ฌ
(Read also ๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐ฎ:๐ฐ๐ฎโ๐ฐ๐ฏ.)
The ones Jesus originally sent out to represent and testify about Him were His apostles. Aside from them, there were others like Matthias, who replaced Judas Iscariot, and Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles. The Church being apostolic means that its teachings and practices are built upon the testimony and teaching of the apostles, which are recorded and preserved in the New Testament. The Bible also contains the writings of the Old Testament prophets, which are foundational to the faith we received. Why is it important that every believer receive sound biblical teaching? What happens when they donโt?
Ultimately, Jesus is the Head of the Church and the cornerstone of its foundation. He holds the Church together and it will continue to grow. He gave His life for the Church and will continue to sanctify and prepare His Church for Himself. Jesus is the builder of His Church and it will ultimately prevail against the forces of death and darkness (Matthew 16:18).
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข Are you part of a community of believers? In what ways can you be actively connected and participate in Godโs universal Church?
โข What does it look like for the Church to be holy and set apart? How can you take part in being the holy people and temple of God?
โข How can you grow more in your knowledge and understanding of the teachings in the Bible? Who can you also help in his or her walk with God and other believers?
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for making you a part of His Church, set apart for Himself and for His purpose.
โข Ask God to give you grace as you relate with fellow believers, keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
โข Pray for God to strengthen the Church and your own spiritual family as you walk together and pursue His mission.