Church: It's not what you think.

Church. When you say this word, many people picture families putting on their Sunday best to gather at their local place of worship. We were taught to think of church as a building where we meet on Sundays and if we are really faithful and religious, perhaps a mid-week Wednesday night service or if you need a real touch from God, a Friday or Saturday night service to hear a guest speaker or for prayer and praise. Occasionally we may have groups such as youth, women's, men's, and community outreach.

But in truth, your body is God's temple. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? 1 Corinthians 6:19. True worship begins from within. If we can't worship from within, in Spirit and in Truth, then anything we do in a

physical building is nothing more than religious activity. Jesus told the woman at the well: Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth. - John 4:23,24. This is could easily be a whole other topic in itself but today I want to focus on what we call "Church".

As believers, most of us understand that the church is not a mere building structure but a body of believers. I want to take that understanding one step further. We are called to be more than a church or a religious organization, more than just a body or gathering of believers. I believe God is calling us, the "church" out of the "church-ed" mindset, out of today's cultural structure and form.

What many of us call church today is not even scriptural. Do you know that the word "church" doesn't even appear in the Greek language that the New Testament was originally written in? The original word "church" in the New Testament comes from the old English and Germanic word that is pronounced "kirche". Kirche comes from the Greek word Kuriakos which is mentioned only twice in the New Testament. It refers to something that pertains to the Lord and is found in 1 Corinthians 11:20, pertaining to the Lord's Supper; and in Revelation 1:20, pertaining to the Lord's Day.

The Greek word that our English word "church" replaces in the other New Testament scriptures is the word "ecclesia and it comes from two other words: ek, out from and kaleo, to call. Ecclesia means "the called out ones".

Remember when Jesus asked His disciples "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" (Matthew 16). Simon Peter's answer was "You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God." Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. - vs 17:18 The English word "church" in this passage is the Greek word Ecclesia.

Now we know Jesus spoke in parables common to the peoples everyday life so that they would understand. There is something about the word ecclesia that we need to understand today. It is more that just a body of believers called out. But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. - 1 Peter 2:9

When Jesus used the word Ecclesia in Matthew 16, he was not talking about a group of Christians or believers. Remember the "church", for lack of a better word, had not come into being yet. Rather, He was prophesying to the future. He understood that in their day, the ekklesia was the name given to the governmental assembly of the city of Athens.

Remember the Greek language is used here because the people were under Roman rule and Greek influence during that part of history and knew that concept of government. The ecclesia or ekklesia (Greek: ἐκκλησία) was the principal assembly of the democracy of ancient Athens. It was the popular assembly, open to all male citizens as soon as they qualified for citizenship. The assembly was responsible for declaring war, military strategy and electing the strategoi and other officials. It was responsible for nominating and electing magistrates, thus indirectly electing the members of the Areopagus. It had the final say on legislation and the right to call magistrates to account after their year of office. - Wikipedia.

In Jesus day, the ecclesia was an assembly of government. Isaiah prophecies about the coming Lord in chapter 9: For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. In Matthew 28:18 Jesus says: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. In Matthew chapter 6 He was saying that upon that knowledge of who He is, the Messiah, Son of the one and true Living God, he will build his ecclesia, his called out ones.

We are not called out only to escape eternal death but to get strategies from heaven, to rule and reign with Him, to establish His government, His Kingdom here on the earth. We are called out to bring Heaven's culture down to the earth. Verse 18 follows with this: and I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

We are called out to not to just be "separated" as a religious gathering of believers but we are body of believers with Heaven's governmental authority in the earth realm. We are His ambassadors Heaven-sent to the earth to reveal and legislate His kingdom here, right where we are, right where you live. This is done through your daily wisdom and understanding and witness in the home, marketplace, and community. We need Joseph's, Daniels, Esters, Deborahs, and Annas. Not many understand this concept of many are called but few are chosen. Matthew 22:14. We are all called but few actually choose to be called out. Dirgio "I lead", is our state motto here in Maine.

Jesus even taught us how: in Matthew 6: This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven,hallowed be your name, your kingdom come,your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. We do this not from the earthly realm but from Heaven: And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, - Ephesians 2:6.

It's time for us to move out of the man-made confinements of religion, familiarity, the fear of men. and out what we've been taught in our culture, families, and yes, even in the "church". Let's get's Heaven's perspective. Let us take our seat of authority in the Kingdom of Heaven. (Ephesians 2:6) It's time to legislate and rule from Heaven. Let's bring Heaven's culture to earth!

He's calling us. He's calling me, He's calling you. He has set a door before us. Will you go through the door? Will you answer the call today to be His Ecclesia? - "Heaven sent", called and elected by God.