The Church

 Greetings to you all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

     Acts 2:46-47 says, “And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,  Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”

     I am often asked “From what church did you come?”  There are those who want to know what your denomination is.  I usually reply that I am “Baptist” but declare myself to be “independent” Baptist.  I have also been asked if I am Calvinist or Arminian to which I replied, “I try to be Biblical.”  The one who had asked me that question then said, “That is a cop out.”  He assumed that I was just  dodging the question.  I was asked four questions in rapid succession during my ordination examination to which the pastor then said, “jGood, you are a four point Catholic.”  I have also been referred to as “Bapticostal” due to some of my excitement.  When you look around, you soon see that there are many different denominations, even different kinds of Baptist.  In 2005, I counted 144 different Baptist churches in the Roanoke Valley.  

     There are not 144 different denominations, but 144 different churches that have the name “Baptist” in their name.  Some are large and many are small. Some were begun because of a split in a larger church over some issue, often times it is something trivial, but divisive nonetheless to the point that a new church was started.  The word “Church” or “Churches” occurs some 116 times   in the New Testament and the basic meaning was a “called out gathering.”  Usually, in the New Testament, it  referred to the believers  in the Lord Jesus Christ in a particular location such as Philippi, Ephesus, Rome, Corinth or other cities. In modern days, we have come to the conclusion that their are local  churches that are composed of people who “profess” to be believers, but that is not always so.  We also define the “universal” church as being comprised of true believers from Pentecost to the rapture.  There is a difference between possession Christ and professing Christ.  Some of my fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord  live in places like Paris, London,  Lima, Moscow, Berlin and perhaps from every corner of the globe.  My Mother-in-law gave us  a guest book and it is good to look at it from time to time and to read the  names of people who have stayed  in our home and to notice their home address from Spain, Indonesia, Burma, Thailand, Ireland, England and so forth.  We all share a common bond and that is our love and devotion to the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ.  We all look for Him to soon return to take His church home and to the spot where He has prepared our dwelling places.   Praise God today  for His calling out of believers that make up His Church.