We live in a changing world that is full of questions, and the answers must come from the unchanging truth of God's word.

Today we look into Scripture with Scott Pauli to discover what the Bible says. Ask the Lord to speak to

you and to give you truth to share with others. Words matter. So why did the Lord Jesus Christ

choose the word church to represent his people in this world?

Well, the word church itself literally means a called out assembly. Now there's two wonderful parts

that. First, we've been called out. Are you glad you've been called out? Peter writes in

1 Peter chapter 2 in verse 9 and says that we've been called out of darkness

into his marvelous light. I love that. The Lord Jesus when he first came called his disciples that

they should be with him. So we're part of that. We've been called out. But then it's a called out

assembly. It presupposes the idea that we're not just supposed to belong,

we're to be together, that we would meet, that we would gather, that we would stay connected to

one another, a called-out assembly. Now, while every person on earth that has put their faith

and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior belongs to the Lord. That entire group has never met together at one time, no matter how big

the meeting may be, and it never will meet together at one time until we all get to glory

someday. Won't that be a wonderful assembly? What a day that's going to be. You've never been in a

meeting like the meeting around the throne of God at the nail-pierced feet of Jesus. that's going to be. You've never been in a meeting like the meeting

around the throne of God at the nail-pierced feet of Jesus. That's going to be a great day.

But my point is this. The overwhelming emphasis in the New Testament, regarding the New Testament

Church, is that the New Testament Church is a local assembly. It's a local group of baptized believers who voluntarily join themselves together

to carry out the Great Commission. It is, if we might say it this way, visible manifestation

of the body of Christ in every place. For example, Acts chapter 8, verse number one, this goes to really the heart of the church and the early stages of the church. Acts chapter 8, verse 1, says, and Saul was consenting unto his death. That was the death of Stephen, the first martyr of the church. And the Bible says, and at that time, there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem. There was a

visible group of believers assembling together at Jerusalem. If you go over a few pages to Acts

...