What is the Church?

[intro]What is “The Church”? It’s a really simple question with a pretty important answer.[/intro]

My own understanding of The Church has changed over time. When I was a kid I always went to church. To me it was a specific place that people went to connect with God. At some point, however, I began to understand that a building is not a requirement of the church. Jesus talks about setting up the church while he was here on earth. The start of the church is all wrapped up in Christ’s mission here on earth and the Gospel message moving forward from Christ’s death on the cross until now.

There is a verse in Matthew that gives the following account of what happened at the moment Jesus died on the cross:

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. – Matthew 27:51-52

The veil was the fabric that separated the outside world from the holy of holies at the temple. It was the literal dwelling place of God on earth. The veil itself was believed to have been 60 feet high and four inches thick. It represented a physical separation between humanity and the sin that separated the world from God. The high priest of the temple was the only person who had access to this room.

The tearing of the temple veil was the result of Christ taking on our sin and signaled that we could now be made right through the work of Jesus and have access to God. It was a clear sign that the gospel was for all people of any kind throughout the world.

Christ died on the cross and three days later rose again. Christ conquered death and defeated sin. The church was born from Christ’s death and resurrection. In Acts, chapter 2, soon after the resurrection of Jesus, we see the beginning of the church take place as Peter spoke in Jerusalem.

“Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, nwhat shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

From these early events until now, the church has existed to proclaim the gospel of Jesus. Riv is a local church body that is part of a global church, all working together to proclaim the good name of Jesus.

Below are a few key points that Riverview has put into writing to express how Riverview exists as a local church body and exists within the global church. We can piece all of these thoughts together to define our understanding of how Jesus built the church, how his death allowed us to access God and how we can join the local and global body of believers to proclaim the gospel.

• We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in Jesus Christ our Lord.
• We believe that the Church must be faithful to unchanging Biblical doctrine.
• Must be faithful to minister in the context of a continually changing culture.
• Has a mission to train people who respond to the gospel to go into the culture as missionaries with the gospel, using the gifts and talents God gave them.
• Exists for the redemption of lost people.
• Is made up of all believers worldwide and should meet together in local churches for worship, prayer, teaching, and mission.
• Should be actively involved in planting new churches.