1. The Church
All NKJV unless otherwise specified
What does the word “Church” mean?
It comes from the Greek word “ekklesia” which has as its roots “ek” which means ‘out of’ and kaleo which means ‘call’. In
essence it means the ‘called out ones’.
The word Church has been misused over the centuries. Many people, when thinking of the word ‘Church’, think of a physical
or tangible building. But this is not so according to the above definition, for the word Church refers to the ones who have been
called out.
 So it is referring to a people
 These people have been called, and therefore there is Someone doing the calling
 This Someone is God
 These people are being called out. Out of what? 1 Peter 2v9 9
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a
holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into
His marvelous light; 10
who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but
now have obtained mercy.
 The Church has been called out of darkness (sin/slavery/bondage) and into the light 1 John 1 v5-6 5
This is the
message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6
If we
say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
 How do we then know that church refers to a people? 1 Peter 2 v4-5 4
Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected
indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, 5
you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a
holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
 The church is made up of living stones, and we are these living stones.
 Jesus is the chief cornerstone (the foundation upon which the rest of the spiritual building is built). 1 Peter 2v6
6
Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who
believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.”
 Paul speak of this clearly in Ephesians - Ephesians 2v18-22 18
For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to
the Father. 19
Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and
members of the household of God, 20
having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ
Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21
in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in
the Lord, 22
in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
 We can learn much from the above scriptures, that we are being built up into a spiritual house, with Jesus as our
foundation, that the called out ones (church) are members of God’s household. We are also a temple of the living
God, as can be seen in the following scriptures: 1 Corinthians 3v16 16
Do you not know that you are the temple of
God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 1 Corinthians 6v19-20 19
Or do you not know that your body is the
temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20
For you were bought
at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. 2 Corinthians 16(b)-18 For you are
the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And
they shall be My people.” 17
Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch
what is unclean, And I will receive you.” 18
“I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says
the LORD Almighty.”
 It is God who builds the church - Acts 2v47(b) And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
Matthew 16v18(b) on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
 We must always be sensitive to the fact that it is God who saves, and he does the building. The Holy Spirit convicts
sinners and they come into true repentance. He does this through yielded vessels doing His will, sharing the Gospel
and discipling believers.

2.  With the above in mind, we can see that someone does not simply wake up one morning and decide to join the church.
It is God who draws this person, as can be seen in the following scriptures: John 6v44 44
“No one can come to Me
unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. Matthew 11v27 27
“All things have
been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father
except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.
 So the above scriptures are very clear, only the Father draws people unto the Son Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ
reveals the Father to those whom He wills.
 So by simply attending a local church on a Sunday does not qualify you as being part of the Church.
The Mission of the Church
The following statement recorded in scripture was the birth of the Church. It happened on Resurrection Sunday:
John 20v21-22 21
So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 22
And when He had
said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit”
 “As the Father has sent me” – let us look deeper into this statement. What was Jesus sent to do? He states it clearly in
verses18 and 19 of Luke chapter 4. Luke 4v16-21 16
So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as
His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. 17
And He was handed the
book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: 18
“The Spirit
of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the
brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are
oppressed; 19
To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.” 20
Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the
attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21
And He began to say to
them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
 And as the Father has sent Jesus, Jesus sends us!!!!!
 Jesus final words to the disciples can be seen in Mark 16v15-18 15
And He said to them, “Go into all the world and
preach the gospel to every creature. 16
“He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe
will be condemned. 17
“And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they
will speak with new tongues; 18
“they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt
them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
 Lets us also look closely at John 20v22(b) above where it states “He breathed on them”. The other significant place in
scripture where God breathed on a man was in the creation event - Genesis 2v7 7
And the LORD God formed man of
the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
 We now see God breathing on them once again (in verse 22 above), signifying the new birth. Jesus referred to this
new birth when speaking with Nicodemus John 3v3-7 3
Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you,
unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4
Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born
when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5
Jesus answered, “Most assuredly,
I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6
“That which is born of
the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7
“Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born
again.’
 Breath = Spirit (these two share the same Greek word)
 We see the Holy Spirit coming down on the 3000 on the day of Pentecost (NB!! see last weeks study notes) – and the
growth of the church gains momentum.
 Everyone who is part of the Church, has the Revelation Knowledge and Faith Confession that Jesus is the Christ, and
accept Him as Lord and Saviour.