What is the church?
What is the Church (Ecclesiology)?
You, alone in the mountains on Sunday having a spiritual experience is not church.
Our english word church is translated from the New Testament from the greek word: ecclesia, which is synonymous with the Old Testament word: kahal/qahal, meaning: an assembly.
Let’s get on the same page: yes, if you have received Jesus Christ as your Lord and saviour, have been baptized and have been filled with the Holy Spirit, you are the dwelling place of God; you are the temple where He resides. At the same time, you alone are not what the Biblical authors would say is a church; you alone are not an assembly of believers.
In our modern, western context, socially and for ease of language when we say the word church we are often referring to a building where Christians gather on a weekly basis.
In terms of what those Christians are doing, their values and theological views, and if that should be referred to as Church, that’s a different conversation for another day.
Why do we gather every week?
We gather because we are called to gather:
Spurring one another on towards love and good deeds (Heb 14:26).
Building the church with word and song (1 Cor 14:26).
Devoting ourselves to teaching, prayer, breaking of bread and prayer (Acts 2:42).
The heart of Sunday Service
Not to seem off topic, but it’s good to get on the same page first.
Why this is one of our pillars:
It’s great to have a community of young adults. With all of our great features, you know how else young adults can be? Very transient, hot and cold, immature - really, still in the process of how to become firm disciples of Jesus with a strong foundation. Not to say that people of all ages can’t have these hurdles, only to say that be becoming a faithful, firm disciple of Jesus with a strong foundation takes time.
We as young adults need to be part of the multigenerational gathering. Often, it’s easy to silo ourselves due to comfort, but when we choose to obey the commands of scripture and consistently be part of the larger gathering, we see the beauty of being part of the multigenerational gathering.
Quick Testimony
Josh Lam
Young Adults Coordinator
I went to a Christian school from grades 7-12. In those years, my faith was spurred on by my peers as we memorized the Bible, attended weekly chapels, and went on a missions trip with my class. In those years and in that bubble, I imagined myself, my classmates, and my friends walking together with Jesus for a long time - I didn’t believe the statistics surrounding how many teenagers walk away from their faith going into postsecondary and the workforce.
The years following graduating high school proved the statistics to be true. I found myself and a small handfuls of others to be the only ones that seemed to stick it out till now.
In those years, I thought to myself: does everyone eventually fall away? Will I? How come everyone I see in my life has walked away. I thought that - until I commited myself to consistenly being a part of the larger body of Christ.
I saw them together - young and old - worshipping Jesus with the same fervency. Then I saw our elders gathering, 60-70 elders, most over 70 years old, excited to gather, worship, and get in their Bibles. It is possible - if they can make it, so can I.
Now I want to be very clear: life is hard and being a disciple of Jesus is hard. This is not some knock on the people I went to school with; some are my friends that I still love very dearly. This is the point I want to make: the way of this world will draw you away from Jesus - especially if you’re only surrounded by other young people.
In Closing:
So alllll of that to say: we think church is awesome, and we want you to see the beauty of it as well.
Use your gifts to serve the church (Eph 4:11-13).
Be part of the multigenerational gathering (Joel 2:16)
Meet with other believers regularly (Heb 10:24)
Love the church, like Jesus loves His church (John 21:15-17).
If you want to know more, email me with any questions or if you want to chat over coffee: