CHURCH-LOCAL
The word
“church” is used one hundred ten times in the New Testament, and it is
instructive to note that ninety-three of those are clear references to the local
church… We may conclude from this large number of references that the Bible has
quite a lot to say about the importance of the local church.
Wayne Mack
To Be or Not To Be a Church Member,
Calvary Press, 2004, p. 20.
Local
Churches have in their membership people who are professing believers, some of
whom are genuinely saved, while others are unsaved and are still lost in their
sins. Sometimes it is impossible to clearly distinguish between the two,
because often unbelieving members exhibit many of the outward characteristics
of believers. But the Lord knows who are His.
Curtis C. Thomas
Life in the Body of Christ, Founders Press, 2006, p.
68-69, www.founders.org. Used by Permission.
The local
church was the womb that warmed our soul until it was ready for birth. The
church fed us on the milk of the Word, providing us with many loving fathers
and mothers. It stood with us when we presented our children to God, and it now
mothers them. The local church has contributed much to our children’s spiritual
nurturing.
Disciplines of a Godly Family, Crossway Books,
2004, p. 68.
A Christian’s
new DNA, which he’s received from the Word and Spirit, knows that it now belongs
to something larger. And he’s not content to wait for that heavenly and
end-time assembly. His new being longs to be gathered to other believers now – on earth. Like his new appetite to
“put on” Christ’s righteousness, so there’s a new appetite to put on Christ’s
unity with God’s people in a real assembly on earth.
Jonathan Leeman
Reverberation,
Moody Publishers, 2011, p. 96.