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RE: Where is the Church. The building or the person? - 7/28/2008 1:05:38 PM
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Ps103
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MODERATOR'S NOTE :: ATTENTION PLEASE
I have searched high and low for the purpose of this thread, and cannot find it.
I suggest that this thread find a topic real fast, or it will be closed.
(But it is nice to see that everyone was well-fed.)
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RE: Where is the Church. The building or the person? - 7/28/2008 5:14:55 PM
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crankius
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The OP title: Where is the Church. The building or the person?
At the moment, the topic seems to be:
Can a denomination attender still be considered part of the Church (capital C)?
In my opinion, if the denomination has correct doctrine on Christ and Biblical essentials, then those who are part of that denomination who are genuine believers are part of the Church.
Not sure what Theo thinks.
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Do not be overly righteous, Nor be overly wise: Why should you destroy yourself?
Ecclesiastes 7:16
SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY
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RE: Where is the Church. The building or the person? - 7/28/2008 5:52:55 PM
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jayvance
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quote:
The OP title: Where is the Church. The building or the person?
At the moment, the topic seems to be: Can a denomination attender still be considered part of the Church (capital C)?
As someone who's convinced that much of the institutional/denominational church structure we have today is un-Biblical, my answer would be yes. There are no perfect Christian communities, be they traditional churches, home churches, organic churches, etc. If one looks hard enough, one can find some area in which EVERY Christian community is failing to follow some Scriptural mandate, or has some practice that isn't Biblical, etc. So does that mean that all who belong to any of these Christian communities which fall short of God's best are therefore "un-Biblical"? I think not. In fact, it would be rather ironic, in my opinion, for someone who has left the institutional church system to point the finger of judgment at those who are still in that system, when it is often that very judgmental spirit common to many denominations which prompts people to opt out in the first place. We can't criticize the institutional church for something and then turn around and do it ourselves.
But to get back to the original question, I don't believe either a building or an individual person can be said to comprise the Church, the Body of Christ. Certainly the New Testament never refers to the church (ekklesia) as a place or a building, but neither does the NT refer to AN INDIVIDUAL as the church. Both the universal Church and local churches are CORPORATE organisms. We may disagree as to structure and form, but there is no question that the Body of Christ is a collective. As individuals we can BELONG TO the Church and to a local Christian community, but Christianity was never intended to be lived out in solitude.
Jay
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RE: Where is the Church. The building or the person? - 7/29/2008 8:57:53 AM
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earthless
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modu - I guess you missed the RED and BOLD print of:
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RE: Where is the Church. The building or the person? - 7/29/2008 11:10:43 AM
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crankius
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Hmmmm...this thread reads a bit differently today. 
Back to the OP, in summary: the Church is all those who are being built upon the cornerstone of Jesus Christ, with a foundation of the prophets and apostles.
With the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we become a new creation, and one result of that renewal is a passion for being part of the working Body of Christ, exercising your part for the whole, with a lot of love. It is by that love that others will know we are of God (John 13:35).
How you participate, whether by denominations, small home churches, or large mega churches, is simply a matter of packaging, so long as the church is Bible believing and has a proper doctrine on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Being alienated away from other believers is not the Biblical definition for being part of the Church.
Eph 2:19-22 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone, in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
_____________________________
Do not be overly righteous, Nor be overly wise: Why should you destroy yourself?
Ecclesiastes 7:16
SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY
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