The ABCs of Church

Here we are in day four of studying the ABCs of Church, and you may have started to ask yourself, if we are a united assembly of Jesus, then why are there so many churches? Is this dispersion of believers all over the world because they simply cannot get along? Why wouldn’t we want one singular location where we all come together and exist in a perfect bubble? 

In the book of Acts, we see the word “church,” used in two ways and these two different uses provide for us a glimpse into the purpose and even the identity of the local and global expressions of the Assembly of Jesus. As we begin our journey today, copy these key verses into your notes as you listen to the way Pastor Ben Stuart illustrates this point:

So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied. 

Acts 9:31

And he (Paul) went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

Acts 15:41

The Church is universal, and the church is local. It’s global and local. There’s one Church, but it’s expressed all over the globe. Why is this encouraging to us? Because we want to be part of a cause, and here the cause of Christ is racing around the globe.

Let that fact settle on you for a moment. Odds are that with the race and pace of life you have been hoodwinked into a small idea of God’s Church. Whether you are new to the faith, or sometimes, especially if you have been in church your whole life, the enemy has a way of narrowing our focus so tightly on what is directly in front of us that we can forget the expansive nature of the Church of Jesus. 

Reflect on this truth: at every moment, of every day, somewhere on our planet is a group of people gathered to worship in the name of Jesus. Somewhere unbeknownst to you, someone is praising God for a newly born child, while elsewhere family members are praising God as they commit a loved one who has passed away to His presence. Somewhere on this Earth, fervent songs of worship have broken out as a revival is springing up, while somewhere else the quiet but faithful prayers of a grandparent are being poured out from their bedside. 

You are not alone. No, in fact, you have been grafted into a global and local family, and you have brothers and sisters everywhere. 

This remarkable thought encourages us towards compassion and not comparison. It should lead us to pray for each other, even for those members of our global family that we will never meet. 

Our hope for you is that in being planted into a local church, an expression of the assembly of Jesus, your church can become a community where you worship and open the Word of God alongside, and who you gather with to celebrate and mourn. Each local expression can be beautiful and unique, and part of the global Church of Jesus called to encourage and exhort one another, not to pick each other apart in the spirit of competition.

We, the Church, are simultaneously gathered and scattered, the children of God carrying His very Spirit. Praise be to God that He would use us, as He did in the time of Acts, to carry His message to the ends of the Earth.