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Church

In Israel's northern city of Caesarea Philippi, among the ruins of a worship centre dedicated to the Greek god Pan, a cave exists that was long believed by those who worshipped there to be the doorway into the netherworld. It was in the vicinity of this grotto, the alleged gateway to hell, that Jesus promised: "Upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it" (Matthew 16:18).

From Pentecost in the first century to the present day, Satan has attempted to destroy Christ's Church—yet it endures. From a small group of Jewish outsiders in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago, Christ built His Church to reach even the remotest parts of the world. Despite controversies, wars, and denominational splits, the Church continues to be the means through which God announces to a dark and dying world that light and life have come in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ.

For these reasons, and many more, we learn about and appreciate the body of Christ, the Church.

Resources on this Topic

Strengthening Your Grip on Involvement

Itʼs a bit dismaying to realize that you’re going to be spending eternity with people in the family of God you don’t even speak with on earth! Quite frankly, when someone has wounded us with his or her sharp quills, it’s natural to want to keep our distance. But we do need each other, needles and all!

Strengthening Your Grip on Priorities

Priorities govern the words of spiritual nourishment that come from the pulpit. It’s easy to see a church’s priorities when the ministry is just starting out, when the ink of the congregation’s ideals is still wet on the paper. But later on, when storms roll in, the priority list can get blown away in a gust of confusion.

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