I believe in the holy catholic Church

“Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Eph.5:25). Yes, he died for each one of us, but that was to bring us into the people of God (1 Pet.2:9). The church is the community of those who belong to God and therefore to one another. There were no church buildings in Bible times – instead church refers to the body of Christ of which he is the head. That was the goal and outcome of his death and resurrection (Eph.1:22-23).

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The church is catholic which means it is made up of all Christians everywhere (Rev.7:9). It is holy, irrespective of the behaviour of its members, because it belongs to a holy God who has dedicated it to be Christ’s holy bride (Eph.5:26-27; Rev.21:2).

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So the church is important to Jesus and it should therefore matter to us. Because we belong to the church universal (1 Cor.12:13), we should gladly be committed to whatever local church God has put us in (e.g. Rom.16:1,5). There we can best give ourselves to worship, prayer and service, and learn to grow together in love by practical and caring fellowship (Eph.4:16; Gal.6:2; Phil.2:3-4). Such love should be the hallmark of any church, and be extended to every member of the one church of Jesus (Gal.3:28; John 17:23).