Church
The word Church is found many times in the New Testament.
What do you think of when you hear the word Church?
Do you think of a building made of stone, bricks or wood?
Do you think of something that is very big or something small?
Do you ever thing get puzzled when people say they are going to Church?
The bible is clear that God does not see or call these buildings Churches.
The bible is very clear that a Church is not bricks or stones but is people.
There are two ways the word is used in the bible.
1) It describes all people who have trusted in the Lord Jesus and know him as their Saviour. This includes all believers from the start in New Testament Bible times right up to now.
2) The second way the word is used is to describe saved people who meet together in a place and follow the bible’s clear teaching for gathering as a New Testament assembly. The word assembly is better as it does show it is a gathering of people and not a Church building.
So if you hear somebody saying they are going to Church, smile to yourself because you know what they mean, but you know that really it is not the correct bible meaning of the word!
Now you understand why the building we meet in is called “Rathmines Gospel Hall”. Rathmines is where it is, Gospel is what we believe, and Hall just means a big room.