The Importance of the Local Church, Part 1 (Onward Christian Soldiers #100)

In our last lesson series we saw God's great plan—how He is calling out people from Adam's sinful race and uniting them into one spiritual body—the Body of Christ. We learned that all believers are members of this one Body, which is called "the Church." The Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 5:32, "This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the Church." 
 
God has purposed that this universal Church, the Body of Christ, should be expressed here on earth. In each locality, believers are to assemble regularly with other believers for prayer, worship, fellowship, and teaching from God's Word. These assemblies of believers are called "local churches."
 
Thus, we see that the Bible uses the word "church" in two ways. It can refer to:
 
1. The Universal Church, which is composed of all believers from the day of Pentecost until the end of this age;
2. The local church, which is an assembly of believers here on earth.