CHURCH

The church is an important part of a Christian’s life. There are several churches that are available in the world today each with its own rules and traditions. However, in the differences that arise between the different denominations of churches today, there lies a common factor that unites all of these churches, the belief in God as our creator, and the belief in His Son Jesus Christ who died and rose again for the sake of the salvation of humanity. This salvation was necessary in order for the human race to be capable of being in commune with God once again and to be able to share in the blessings that our first father Adam was promised in the Garden of Eden.

 The meaning of the word church stems from the word "kuriakon,” which is a Greek word meaning dedicated to the Lord. Another word that was commonly used to refer to brethren in Greek was "ekklesia" which means the "called out ones" thus, it referred to the sacred places of worship such as temples. These

areas were special since they were avenues where people could meet for a particular purpose and more so, for spiritual gathering in reverence to God who created the world. This word was also a synonym for the synagogue, which means, “come together” which is a place where believer gathered to offer their prayers to the creator and to worship Him.

Another definition of the church can also be retrieved from the new testament where the church is referred to as the Body of Christ since the believer were untied with Christ through the process of baptism(Rom. l2:4-5; 1, Cor. l2:11,13,l8,27; Col. l:l8; Eph. 5:30). This therefore affirms the idea that a group of Christians is a physical representation of Christ here on the earth. In spite of the differences in the denominations of churches, these attributes are common among all of the churches in the world.

Based on this background, the church consists of a community of believers who gather for a common purpose of worship and prayer to their creator who is God. This therefore means that although he church community is unique in their own special way, they are linked by the fact that the creator is the same thus the diversity provides even more ways through which God’s wonderful works can be made manifest in mankind. (Rom. 12:4; 1 Cor. 12:14-17)

The journey to being a Christian requires that one believes in the existence of the Jesus Christ and that He came to save us from the bondage of sin. Thus through this faith and belief in Christ our salvation is complete. However, there are several temptations in path to salvation. These may prove to be challenging should a person decide to do it alone. The church comes to lighten the burden. The burden is lightened through the interaction with other members of the church and the fellowship that is shared between believers since Christ said that if two or three are gathered in His name, then He will be in the midst of them.