What is the Church?

When we talk about the church, we do not mean the building or the meetings. We are talking about the people, the family of God or the Body of Christ.

God is a God of relationships. In Genesis 1:26 God said let us make man in our image. In John 17:11 Jesus, when praying for us, (those that would follow) prayed that we would be one, even as we are. Furthermore, Jesus said that where two or three were gathered in His Name, He would be among them, Mark 18:20.

The Bible has some very strong analogies concerning the church, probably the strongest being the body, family or bride. All not only illustrate the relational necessity of church but reveal that intimate close interdependent relationships are essential to being church. Belonging to a church means to become a vital organ of the living body (Rom 12:4-5; 1 Cor 6:15; 1 Cor 12:12-27) with Christ as the head Eph 5:23; Col 1:18).

The Christian life involves more than just believing - it also includes belonging. We grow in Christ by being in relationship with other Christians. Romans 12:10 says ‘Be devoted to one another in brotherly love’.

Many churches (including NLCF) have different sizes of meetings to serve different functions.

Housegroups are small, caring groups of a dozen or so people where we can get to know and love one another. We can also worship and pray together, study the Bible, help one another through problems and build one another up with our Spiritual gifts. In housegroups we care for one another and introduce people to Jesus.

Sunday Congregation. Consists of all the people who are part of NLCF. We meet to worship and pray together, to learn from the Bible and to tell others about Jesus. The Congregation is the public presence of the church in the local community.

Celebrations are when several Congregations, from NLCF and other churches, join together for a larger meeting. These are powerful and exciting times of worship. Together we enjoy prophetic teaching from the Bible and catch a greater vision of what God is able to do.

Each of these types of gatherings can enrich your life in Christ and enable you to go further with God.