Bible Truth Foundations
Part 2 of 3: Growing in Christ
Please begin by answering this question honestly in your own words.
When you hear the word "church", what picture forms first: a building, a Sunday service, or people? Where do you think that picture came from?
Hebrews 10:24–25
And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
Notice the purpose attached to assembling: not attendance for its own sake, but considering one another, stirring up love, exhorting.
The central idea of this lesson
The church is not a building you attend but a people you belong to; wherever believers gather in Jesus' name to build one another up, the church is meeting.
A pastor once asked why twenty flourishing home Bible studies, where people were being saved and discipled weekly, did not count as church because the people were not in a Sunday service. The question exposes a confusion as old as it is common: what exactly is the church?
The New Testament word for church, ecclesia, means an assembly of people gathered to worship, pray, praise and look to God. It never once refers to a building. In Scripture the word stretches from a handful of believers in a house (Romans 16:5) to all the believers of a city (Acts 11:22) to whole regions, but the constant is always people, never premises.
Matthew 18:20
For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.
Note
The early church met overwhelmingly in homes: the church in the house of Priscilla and Aquila (Romans 16:3–5; 1 Corinthians 16:19), in the house of Nymphas (Colossians 4:15), in the house of Philemon (Philemon 2), and daily "in the temple, and in every house" (Acts 5:42; 20:20). Buildings came centuries later; the church did not wait for them.
Acts 2:42
And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
The assembly exists for edification: building one another up. When the Corinthian believers met, everyone brought something.
1 Corinthians 14:26
How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.
This was participation, not performance: gifts exercised, words weighed carefully (1 Corinthians 14:29), every member functioning. God has set gifts in the church, apostles, prophets, teachers, miracles, healings, helps, administrations, tongues (1 Corinthians 12:28), and gifts unexercised are gifts wasted.
Caution
Passive attendance can coexist with total isolation. It is possible to sit in rows for years, watch the front, and never once be considered, stirred up or exhorted by anyone. Hebrews 10:24–25 is not fulfilled by being in the room; it is fulfilled by one-another ministry.
Acts 2:47
Praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
The early pattern was a breathing rhythm: believers scattered to share their faith, the Lord added the saved not to buildings but to His people, the people gathered to exercise gifts and encourage one another, then scattered again with the Word. Evangelism fed the gathering; the gathering fuelled evangelism.
You were not saved into isolation; you were placed into a body. The believer who withdraws from gathering cuts themselves off from the gifts God placed in others for their sake, and withholds the gift God placed in them for others. Even two or three meeting regularly in Jesus' name is church, and every believer needs it. The church also proved its faith by practical care: feeding widows daily (Acts 6:1), visiting orphans and widows in affliction (James 1:27), and supporting those who preach the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:14).
Practical Tip
Stop asking "did I go to church this week?" and start asking "did I build anyone up this week, and did I let anyone build me?" The second question is the biblical one, whatever the size or shape of the gathering.
Work through these on your own before your group meets. Type your answers directly into the table below. Your answers are saved automatically in your browser.
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| Question | My Answer | Group Discussion Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hebrews 10:24–25 commands us not to forsake assembling, and attaches a purpose: exhorting one another. When did you last leave a gathering having genuinely built someone up? What happened? | ||
| Acts 2:42 lists four things the early church continued in steadfastly. Which of the four is strongest in your experience of church, and which is thinnest? | ||
| 1 Corinthians 14:26 describes a gathering where everyone contributes. What do you have, a psalm, a teaching, an encouragement, that currently goes unshared? | ||
| Matthew 18:20 promises Jesus' presence to two or three gathered in His name. Does your practice reflect that belief, or do you reserve "real church" for larger settings? | ||
| James 1:27 defines pure religion by care for orphans and widows. Who in your circle fits that description, and what would visiting them look like this month? |
These questions are designed for open conversation at any level of experience. There are no trick questions and no single correct answer.
Belonging to the body is practised, not felt. Consider what functioning membership looks like in each area.
| Context | How I Apply This |
|---|---|
| Personal life | Identify the gift God has placed in you, encouragement, teaching, helps, hospitality, and exercise it deliberately at the next gathering. Go intending to give, not only to receive; 1 Corinthians 14:26 assumes you arrive carrying something. |
| Church community | Move one relationship from row-level to one-another level this month: share a meal, pray together in a home, study a passage as two or three. The smallest gathering in Jesus' name carries His full presence (Matthew 18:20). |
| Difficult seasons | When life is hardest is when withdrawal whispers loudest and when the body matters most. Tell two believers the truth about your season and let them carry you; refusing help denies others their ministry and you their gifts. |
Tap each card to reveal the answer.
What must we not forsake, and why?
Hebrews 10:25
"Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching."
Hebrews 10:25
What did the early church continue steadfastly in?
Acts 2:42
"And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers."
Acts 2:42
What happens when even two or three gather in Jesus' name?
Matthew 18:20
"For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them."
Matthew 18:20
What does the word ecclesia mean?
An assembly of people gathered for worship, prayer, praise and looking to God. In the New Testament it always means people, from a house group to a city's believers, and never a building.
What was every believer expected to bring to the gathering?
1 Corinthians 14:26
"Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification."
1 Corinthians 14:26
Who added people to the church, and to what?
Acts 2:47
"And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved."
Acts 2:47