- 00:05
- The doctrine of the week for this Sunday is the church. The Greek word ekklesia, translated church in the
- 00:14
- English Bible, means congregation. So church means congregation or a called out assembly.
- 00:22
- In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 16, Jesus says to Peter, and on this rock
- 00:29
- I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
- 00:36
- That is to say those who are part of the church of Jesus Christ, death shall not prevail since God has given his people eternal life.
- 00:47
- Now according to the scriptures, the church is the body of Christ on earth.
- 00:53
- And while the church singular is made up of all believers worldwide,
- 00:59
- God has clearly ordained the establishment of local churches, that is churches plural.
- 01:08
- Every believer so much as they are able should be a part or a member of a local church.
- 01:16
- Water baptism being the symbol of the spiritual baptism by which one enters in.
- 01:23
- That would be according to 1 Corinthians 12, 12 through 14. Also according to 1
- 01:30
- Timothy chapter 3, along with Philippians chapter 1 verse 1, there are only two offices in a local church.
- 01:40
- The office of bishop, or as we call them pastors, the office of bishop, and the office of deacon.
- 01:49
- And finally as a side note, during the Protestant Reformation, the reformers identified three marks of a true church.
- 01:59
- That is number one, the gospel is preached. Number two, the ordinances are administered, that is the
- 02:06
- Lord's Supper and baptism. And finally number three, church discipline is practice.
