“So the churches were made strong in the faith and were increased

in number every day.”

(Acts 16:5)

 

     The word Church, translated from the Greek "Eklesia", means "gathering of people called out". Thus, the Church of Acts of the Apostles met to worship God, to pray and to hear the Word of God, with the meaning of the gathering of people, turned towards the fulfillment of a purpose, “called out”.

 

   "The book of Acts recounts the decisive role of the apostles of Jesus, for the advancement of the Church: The apostles kept the word of the testimony of Christ, obeying by faith." (Extracted from the book, Cristology at your Reach.)

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       It alerts us to the fact that the Church is called out of the world system, living in the Kingdom of God. To live as children of God, guarded and led in the way of truth, according to the standards of the King of kings, and Lord of lords. Thus, the Church of Christ must stand in faith, knowing: "Everything that Jesus conquered on the cross is our right". No less than that. In the priestly prayer for the disciples, Jesus asked the Father. (John 17: 15-17)

 

“My prayer is not that you will take them out of the world, but that you will keep them from the Evil One. They are not of the world any more than I am of the world. Make them holy by the true word: your word is the true word.”

(John 17: 15-17)

 

      The Church was called to live against the world: It is the purest truth. The first time I heard a gospel preacher say, "We are in this world, but we are not of the world", I thought to myself, "This is crazy". I didn't know that, even then, I was thinking in accordance with the word of God, in alignment with the message of the Cross. Since then I have been listening and hearing the Word of God. It's been 35 (thirty-five) years.

 

“Because what seems foolish in God is wiser than men; and what seems

feeble in God is stronger than men.”

(1 Corinthians 1: 25)

 

       The Church of Jesus cannot lose sight of its purpose, "called out". It cannot be allowed to be pushed into entropy, according to an opponent's cunning strategy to prevent its advance, making the Church of Jesus become a “closed” system, which does not exchange energy with the environment. So, walk for wear. Therefore, the Church, “gathering people called out,” should be encouraged to put into practice the teachings of the Word of God, knowing that in this mission it has the guarantee of Jesus' omnipotence, omnipresence and omniscience. (Mattheus  28:20)

 

"…  teaching them to keep all the rules which I have given you: and see, I am ever with you,

even to the end of the world. ”

(Mattheus 28:20)

 

    In conclusion, in 35 (thirty-five) years of the gospel I learned a lot about the importance and responsibility of a disciple of Jesus. I learned, mainly, that the Church of Christ is a body: We are the Church.

 

“For as the body is one, and has a number of parts, and all the parts make one body, so is Christ.”

(1 Corinthians 12:12)

 

We are the righteousness of God, in Christ.

 

Manoel Lúcio da Silva Neto  is master in Production Engineering (Media and Knowledge), and author of the book, Cristology at your Reach.