The Local Church that God Desires

[358 words] As I study about the church in the pages of the New Testament, three important concepts concerning the local congregation keep coming to mind. It is very obvious that each congregation, as God desires it, must be… Scriptural. The church was founded by the Lord Himself (Matt. 16:18), and it is His desire that each congregation of it work and worship according to His word. The church is designed to be the pillar and ground of truth (1 Tim. 3:15), thus we must use the truth of God’s word to find authorization for everything we do as a congregation. The Scriptures must be the foundation of all church instruction. Any religious body operating outside of the bounds of Scripture may be called a church by man, but it is not the Lord’s. Familial. The church is described as the family of God (Eph. 3:15). In another place, it…