The document discusses the nature and ministry of the Christian church. It defines the church as being spiritual in nature, with entrance and worship involving a spiritual experience. The church is also described as being both universal, with all believers united as one body, and local, with specific congregations. The main ministries of the church are outlined as teaching, fellowship, worship, and prayer.

1. THE CHRISTIAN
CHURCH

2. Church – ekklesia (Greek)
ek klesis
“from” “call”

3. ACTS 19:41
After he had said this, he dismissed
the assembly.

4. ACTS 7:38
He was in the assembly in the
wilderness, with the angel who spoke
to him on Mount Sinai, and with our
ancestors; and he received living
words to pass on to us.

5. MATTHEW 16:18
And I tell you that you are Peter, and
on this rock, I will build my church,
and the gates of Hades will not
overcome it.

6. NATURE OF THE
CHURCH

7. I. THE CHURCH IS
SPIRITUAL

8. I. THE CHURCH IS SPIRITUAL
a. Entrance into the Church is by a Spiritual
Experience

9. ACTS 2:38
Peter replied, “Each of you must repent
of your sins and turn to God, and be
baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for
the forgiveness of your sins. Then you
will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

10. ACTS 17:30
“God overlooked people’s ignorance
about these things in earlier times,
but now he commands everyone
everywhere to repent of their sins and
turn to him.

11. 2 PETER 3:9
The Lord isn’t really being slow about
his promise, as some people think.
No, he is being patient for your sake.
He does not want anyone to be
destroyed, but wants everyone to
repent.

12. ACTS 16:31
They replied, “Believe in the Lord
Jesus and you will be saved, along
with everyone in your household.”

13. ROMANS 10:9
If you openly declare that Jesus is
Lord and believe in your heart that
God raised him from the dead, you
will be saved.

14. a. Entrance into the Church is by a Spiritual
Experience
b. Worship in the Church is a spiritual experience
I. THE CHURCH IS SPIRITUAL

15. JOHN 4:24
God is spirit, and his worshipers must
worship in the Spirit and in truth.

16. PHILIPPIANS 3:3
For it is we who are the circumcision,
we who serve God by his Spirit, who
boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no
confidence in the flesh—

17. ROMANS 2:28-29
For you are not a true Jew just because
you were born of Jewish parents or
because you have gone through the
ceremony of circumcision. 29 No, a true
Jew is one whose heart is right with God.

18. ROMANS 2:28-29
And true circumcision is not merely
obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a
change of heart produced by the Spirit.
And a person with a changed heart seeks
praise[a] from God, not from people.

19. COLOSSIANS 2:11
When you came to Christ, you were
“circumcised,” but not by a physical
procedure. Christ performed a spiritual
circumcision—the cutting away of your
sinful nature.

20. ROMANS 12:1
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by
the mercies of God, that ye present your
bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable
unto God, which is your reasonable
service.

21. a. Entrance into the Church is by a Spiritual
Experience
b. Worship in the Church is a spiritual experience
c. Growth of a church is spiritual in nature
I. THE CHURCH IS SPIRITUAL

22. COLOSSIANS 2:6-7
And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as
your Lord, you must continue to follow him. 7
Let your roots grow down into him, and let
your lives be built on him. Then your faith will
grow strong in the truth you were taught, and
you will overflow with thankfulness.

23. II. THE CHURCH IS
UNIVERSAL

24. JOHN 17:11
Now I am departing from the world; they are
staying in this world, but I am coming to you.
Holy Father, you have given me your name;
now protect them by the power of your name
so that they will be united just as we are.

25. ROMANS 12:4-5
Just as our bodies have many parts and
each part has a special function, 5 so it
is with Christ’s body. We are many parts
of one body, and we all belong to each
other.

26. GALATIANS 3:28
There is no longer Jew or Gentile,[a]
slave or free, male and female. For you
are all one in Christ Jesus.

27. III. THE CHURCH IS
LOCAL

28. ACTS 5:11
Great fear gripped the entire church and
everyone else who heard what had
happened.

29. ACTS 8:1
Saul was one of the witnesses, and he
agreed completely with the killing of
Stephen. A great wave of persecution
began that day, sweeping over the church
in Jerusalem;

30. ACTS 8:1
and all the believers except the apostles
were scattered through the regions of
Judea and Samaria.

31. ACTS 8:4
But the believers who were scattered
preached the Good News about Jesus
wherever they went.

32. ACTS 9:31
The church then had peace throughout
Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, and it became
stronger as the believers lived in the fear of
the Lord. And with the encouragement of the
Holy Spirit, it also grew in numbers.

33. ACTS 13:1
Among the prophets and teachers of the
church at Antioch of Syria were Barnabas,
Simeon (called “the black man”[a]), Lucius
(from Cyrene), Manaen (the childhood
companion of King Herod Antipas[b]), and
Saul.

34. 2 CORINTHIANS 1:1
This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will
of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus,
and from our brother Timothy. I am
writing to God’s church in Corinth and to
all of his holy people throughout Greece.

35. ACTS 14:23
Paul and Barnabas also appointed elders
in every church. With prayer and
fasting, they turned the elders over to
the care of the Lord, in whom they had
put their trust.

36. 1 CORINTHIANS 1:2
To the church of God in Corinth, to those
sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be
his holy people, together with all those
everywhere who call on the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:

37. PHILIPPIANS 1:1
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ
Jesus,
To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus
at Philippi, together with the overseers
and deacons.

38. 1 THESSALONIANS 1:1
Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church
of the Thessalonians in God the Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and
peace to you.

39. THE MINISTRY OF THE
CHURCH

40. ACTS 2:42
They devoted themselves to the
apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to
the breaking of bread and to prayer.

41. I. THE MINISTRY OF
TEACHING

42. MATTHEW 28:20
and teaching them to obey everything I
have commanded you. And surely, I am
with you always, to the very end of the
age.”

43. ACTS 2:36-39
“Therefore, let all Israel be assured of
this: God has made this Jesus, whom you
crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” 37
When the people heard this, they were
cut to the heart and said to Peter and

44. ACTS 2:36-39
the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall
we do?” 38 Peter replied, “Repent and be
baptized, every one of you, in the name
of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your
sins. And you will receive the gift of

45. ACTS 2:36-39
the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you
and your children and for all who are far
off—for all whom the Lord our God will
call.”

46. 2 TIMOTHY 3:16
All Scripture is God-breathed and is
useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting
and training in righteousness,

47. II. THE MINISTRY OF
FELLOWSHIP

48. ACTS 2:42
They devoted themselves to the
apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to
the breaking of bread and to prayer.

49. 1 JOHN 1:5-7
This is the message we have heard from
him and declare to you: God is light; in
him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we
claim to have fellowship with him and
yet walk in the

50. 1 JOHN 1:5-7
darkness, we lie and do not live out the
truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he
is in the light, we have fellowship with
one another, and the blood of Jesus, his
Son, purifies us from all[a] sin.

51. III. THE MINISTRY OF
WORHIP

52. MARK 12:29-30
“The most important one,” answered Jesus,
“is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the
Lord is one.[a] 30 Love the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your mind and with all your strength.’

53. IV. THE MINISTRY OF
PRAYER

54. MATTHEW 18:19-20
“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on
earth agree about anything they ask for, it will
be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20
For where two or three gather in my name,
there am I with them.”

55. EPHESIANS 6:18
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions
with all kinds of prayers and requests.
With this in mind, be alert and always
keep on praying for all the Lord’s
people.

56. 2 CORINTHIANS 1:8-11
8 We do not want you to be uninformed,
brothers and sisters,[a] about the
troubles we experienced in the province
of Asia. We were under great pressure,
far beyond our ability to endure, so that

57. 2 CORINTHIANS 1:8-11
we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we
felt we had received the sentence of
death. But this happened that we might
not rely on ourselves but on God, who
raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us

58. 2 CORINTHIANS 1:8-11
from such a deadly peril, and he will
deliver us again. On him we have set our
hope that he will continue to deliver us,
11 as you help us by your prayers. Then
many will give thanks on our behalf for

59. 2 CORINTHIANS 1:8-11
the gracious favor granted us in answer to
the prayers of many.

60. NATURE OF THE CHURCH
I. THE CHURCH IS SPIRITUAL
a. Entrance to the Church is by a spiritual
experience
b. Worship in the Church is a spiritual
experience
c. Growth in the Church is spiritual in nature
II.THE CHURCH IS UNIVERSAL
III. THE CHURCH IS LOCAL

61. THE MINISTRY OF THE CHURCH
I. The ministry of TEACHING
II. The ministry of FELLOWSHIP
III. The ministry of WORSHIP
IV. The ministry of PRAYER