SOME BASIC CHURCH QUESTIONS ANSWERED

The church that belongs to Jesus Christ is His group of people (Matthew 16:18) .
It is made up of all the people (both dead and alive) who have responded to the teaching of the good news about Jesus by believing it and obeying it. (Mark 16:15-16). God forgives their trespasses, adopts them as children, and adds them to His ever expanding family of people being prepared for eternity in heaven. In short, the church of Jesus Christ is the people of Jesus Christ..His purchased ones (Acts 20:28), those called out of the world to be His own.

2. Is There Only One Church That Is Right?

Ephesians 1:22,23 says that the church is Christ's body and chapter 4:4 says that there is one body. So there is only one church. But, Revelation 1:11 mentions seven churches in Asia. How can this be? Simple. The word church is sometimes used to describe those discussed in the question above. Numerically, there is only one such church. It has no geographical boundaries, visible headquarters, or register on earth. Its head (Jesus) is in heaven and He alone knows perfectly those that are His (II Timothy 2:19).
On the other hand, the word church is used to describe a congregation of these people of God in a given location ( I Corinthians 1:2 ).In this way there may be many churches, as there are many places where Christians meet.
A person is added by the Lord to the one church of Jesus Christ when He is baptized. (Acts 2:38,47). You cannot join it. A person who has been added to the Lord's church will then join himself to a local church following the commandments of the Lord (Acts 9:26).

3. What Is The Proper Name Of The Church?

There is no one exclusive name given in the Bible. In fact, there is no proper noun name at all. Rather, we find descriptions of the church , eg. household of God (I Timothy 3:15), the temple of God (Ephesians 2:19-22), the kingdom of God's dear Son (Colossians 1:13). If church, then simply the church that belongs to Christ.
Locally, the town or area may be used to identify one church from another (Revelation 1:11), but all other names are similar to the above (Romans 16:16 - churches of Christ; I Corinthians 1:2 - a church of God; I Corinthians 3:16,17 - calls a congregation the temple of God, etc.) Out in front of our building we have two: One says "church of Christ", the other, "Christians meet here". Whether speaking of all the Lord's people (church) or identifying a congregation of His people locally, any description should be as the Bible terms it.

4. Why Is The Church Important?

The universal church is comprised of all the saved of the ages, so it goes without saying that it is important, but what about a local assembly of Christians, or church? Hebrews 10:23-25 teaches that assembling with other Christians is to provide occasion for stimulating one another to love and good works. One of the main reasons we must join ourselves to a congregation following after Christ, is in order to encourage, strengthen, and teach each other. God knows us better than we know ourselves and He has said that we regularly need to get together with other Christians for worship, building up, and comfort.

5. What Should A Person Look For In A Church?

A group of people following Jesus the best they can. No, they will not be perfect people, but a group of sinners who have been forgiven by a merciful Lord and Savior, and after having been added by the Lord to His ONE church have banded themselves together to help one another go to heaven. If you have been baptized into Christ you can join, too.

6. What Is The Church To Do?

A local church engages in the works, worship and activities approved by Jesus Christ, seeing they profess to be owned by Him. The list is almost altogether spiritual in nature. A) Weekly observance of the Lord's Supper in memory of the death of Jesus. B) Singing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs C) Praying D) Freewill contributions for the work of the church and E) Studying the Bible. Of course, just seeing each other's face provides occasion for greeting one another, rejoicing and weeping with one another, etc., all of which are Scriptural.

Conclusion: If you have further questions about the church, please let me know.