Church Today

Study Outline, Questions for discussion

Introduction

1. What does the word 'church' mean?

2. What is the church?

3. When did the church begin (why not before, why not later?)?

4. Is the church revealed in the Old Testament?

5. Who does the church consist of today?

6. How do you become a member?

Questions for discussion

7. What do we mean by saying.

Ø .the church is the body of Christ?

Ø .the church is the house of God?

Ø .the church is the bride of Christ?

8. What do we mean by 'church of God in X,Y,Z'?

9. What does it mean to be 'gathered to the Lord's name'?

10. What is a church (or 'assembly') meeting?

11. Who conducts the meetings? (is this the role of pastor(s) / Elders? What are gifts and offices?)

12. Why do we not appoint elders?

13. Who should give ministry?

14. What do we mean by 'the ruin of the church'?

15. How can you show the unity in a time of ruin and fragmentation?

16. Who breaks bread?

17. What is the relationship between local meetings?

18. What is assembly discipline?

19. What is a sect?

20. Are we a denomination?

21. How do we relate to other Christians who do not meet with us?

22. What is more important: to be doctrinally correct or be devoted to the Lord?

Additional questions:

Ø How does the Church relate to professing Christianity, ie the Kingdom of God, and Kingdom of Heaven?

Ø Where is the church at this time?

Ø How does the Holy Spirit operate in the meetings?

Ø What is our testimony today?

Ø Why do we break bread every week? Why do we meet on the Lord's Day?

Ø What is the task of the church in this world? What is the use of the church?

Help on the subject:

You can find many helpful articles on this topic in the church section under 'Bible topics'). Here is a selection of titles:

The Assembly of God - Or, The All-Sufficiency of the Name of Jesus - by C H Mackintosh
Short papers on the Church - by Hamilton Smith
The Body of Christ - by E Dennett
There is One Body and One Spirit - by William Kelly
Christians gathered to the name of the Lord - by H L Heijkoop
The church, and churches by WK - by William Kelly
On the Formation of Churches - by JND - (John Nelson Darby)
The Lord Jesus Christ in the Midst - by E Dennett
What is a meeting of the assembly? - by H Rossier
Is the church an organisation or an organism? - by L M Grant
The old paths - by Jean Muller
Crucial occasions in the book of Acts - by L M Grant
One body - Ephesians 4 by WK - (William Kelly)
e-book: Lectures on the Church - by W Kelly
Independence, Unity, Centralism: A Comparison - by M Hardt
Isolation - by C H Mackintosh
What is a Sect? by JND - (John Nelson Darby)
The Church of the Living God - What is it? by R K Campbell
The Church - its Gifts and Ministry by R K Campbell
The Ground of Gathering by R K Campbell
Assembly Meetings by R K Campbell
Assembly Discipline by R K Campbell
ASSEMBLY RELATIONSHIPS by R K Campbell
THE DAY OF RUIN by R K Campbell
What is the Church? - by Henri Rossier
The Way according to the Scriptures - A Letter - by JND - (John Nelson Darby
Where God does dwell - by L M Grant
On the Authority of the Assembly - by Henri Rossier
The Holy Spirit's work in the Church - by Frank Wallace
The Lord's Supper - by E Dennett
The Lord's Table - by E Dennett
Are You a Member - and of what? - by George Cutting
Reception for Fellowship in the Breaking of Bread by Frank Wallace
The Matter of Reception by W R Dronsfield
Who Should Break Bread? by L M Grant
A Letter Concerning the Lord's Supper - by F W Grant
The Church - Blessed without a Covenant - by L M Grant