May the Lord bless you in many ways for your web site and knowledge of the Scripture. I have learned so much from your site! We use it for our studies to help us interpret some of the scriptures.
My question is about the churches. What exactly does the church or churches in the Bible really mean? Is it a building, country, or as I hope I am reading right, our prayers and fellowship with Christ? My neighbor who is also a Christian of many years asked me the same question yesterday. We all study the scriptures at home.
The Greek word from which Church is derived means a gathering or assembly. It comes from two roots that when combined mean to be called out of or away from something. In the Biblical sense it means that we’ve been called out of the world into an assembly of believers. The head of the Church is the Lord.
One day this great assembly will literally be called out of the world and gathered together in one place in the presence of the Lord. Until then we meet in many places around the world with leaders who represent Him. Sometimes these leaders abuse their positions, trying to make us believe that their particular group is the only church, or doing things their way is the only right way. But Jesus said that where ever two or three are gathered together in His name, He would be in the midst of us. (Matt. 18:20) Anyone not comfortable with the particular group they’re in can either keep looking until they find one they like, or simply get together with a few others in someone’s home, as you’re doing.