Discussion with College Students: What is the Church?

          When you hear the word church, what do you think of?  When I was growing up, I only heard it used in relation to a physical building with a cross on top of it.  It's interesting that the word church in Greek (I learned in college that the New Testament was originally written in Greek) is ekklesia which means the gathering of the called out ones.  

    On Friday night last week we  read a chapter called Meeting from the book Lessons for New Believers published by Living Stream Ministry.  We read several chapters out of this book last year with a group of students, and we all enjoyed the simple way that many profound truths were conveyed.    

     We all liked this illustration:  "We need to meet just as fish need water, birds need air, and man needs to breathe... The life within us wants us to flock together with other believers, to assemble with I have other sheep ....I must lead them also.... there shall be one flock' (John 10:16).  The flock is the church...The sheep's life in us demands that we flock together and assemble" (Lee, Witness. Lessons for New Believers. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, Print).


    We saw that every kind of life in God's creation has characteristics, and one of the characteristics of the life of God is it likes to gather. Sometimes because of our self-reliant culture we may think individualistically about our salvation, but God's goal is to redeem us so that we can all be a part of the church.  

  We all saw this clearly when we read  Acts 20:28 which says:   'Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among whom the Holy Spirit has placed you as overseers to shepherd  the church of God, which He obtained through His own blood.'  We need to pay attention to this flocking life inside of usthat likes to get together!  

Blog Update 7/25/13:  This beautiful song put out by the New York City Young People entitled It was for Her is a beautiful song about what the church means to the Lord. 

Other  College Student Dinner Fellowships on This Blog:

Do You Have the Assurance of Your Salvation? 
Getting Spiritual Food From God's Word
What are the Securities of Your Salvation?
Hearing God - Dinner Fellowship with College Students
Why Should a Believer Get Baptized?
Why Should We Read the Bible?
Coming to the Lord in His Word
Did You Know God Made You With Three Parts?
What is the Key to Experiencing Christ? - A Fellowship with College Students
Calling on the Lord Makes a Difference! 
What's the Secret the Third Generation of Mankind Found?
Why Are Just 2 Trees Mentioned in Genesis 2?
Discussion with College Students--What is the Church?
Why are There Two Trees in Genesis 2 Anyway?  Part 1
Why are There Two Trees in Genesis 2 Anyway?  Part 2