Aide

Topics · The church

The church

Why this matters for following Jesus

Jesus said "I will build my church", and the New Testament never pictures a disciple alone: we are a body, a family, a flock, a temple built on Christ. The church is where we learn to love, forgive, correct and be corrected, share what we have, and be sent out together. Its divisions also matter, because Jesus prayed that his followers would be one so that the world would know the Father sent him (John 17:20-23).

Study path

  1. 1What the Bible calls the churchKnow

    Who builds the church, and what does each image (body, bride, temple, family, flock) say about my place in it?

    Matt 16:13-20Eph 2:19-221 Pet 2:4-10Col 1:18Rev 21:1-4

  2. 2The first community and how it decidedFollow

    What did the first believers do together, and how did they settle disputes?

    Acts 2:42-474:32-356:1-615:1-35

  3. 3Belonging: ministry, discipline and giftsFollow

    How do I serve, correct and be corrected in love?

    Matt 18:15-201 Cor 51 Cor 12-14Eph 4:1-16Titus 1:5-91 Tim 3

  4. 4The church sentWitness

    Is mission one activity of the church or its reason for being?

    Matt 28:18-20Acts 1:813:1-3Rom 10:14-17Eph 3:8-12

Living it out

Commit to one local church this year, practise Matthew 18 (go to the person first), and use your gift in it.

Telling others

Bring a neighbour to the table, the meal or the meeting, because the church community is itself the first thing people see of Jesus (John 17:21).

Read for yourself

Classic writing on this topic, free to read. Older English can read differently from today’s, and each author writes from his own tradition, so read widely and test everything against Scripture.

Viewpoints from different traditions and profiles of the leading teachers on this topic are added after scholars review them. Suggest a topic or a correction.