Growing up as a Christian I often heard people refer to the ‘church.’ In my early days I never stopped to think about what people meant when they used this word. I would hear things like; “I left my bag in the church”, “I love going to church”, “I’ve been really hurt by the church”. Phrases that all use the same word but with very different meanings. In this whole church teaching series we take a look at what the Bible means by the church. What is local church and why does it matter?
The word we translate as church in the New Testament is the word ‘Ekklesia’. This gives us an insight into what the New Testament authors were imagining when they wrote the Gospels and letters. The New Testament also gives us over eighty metaphors for what the church is called to be. Whilst we won’t be looking through all eighty metaphors, we will look at four key images – 1) A People 2) A Temple 3) A Body 4) A Family. How we understand church will affect the way we engage in it. As we explore these Biblical metaphors my hope and prayer is that it will stir our love and passion for the local church and also Biblically shape our engagement in it.
Tim Barton
