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Showing somewhat less discretion than Mike, I went ahead and posted when it is very late and I'm very tired. People today mean various things with the word "church." Here is the New Testament word (Greek) that is rendered "church" in the Bible: NT:1577 ekkleesia, ekklesias, hee
a gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public place; an assembly 1. an assembly of the people convened at the public place of council for the purpose of deliberating: Acts 19:39
2. the assembly of the Israelites, Acts 7:38; Heb 2:12
3. any gathering or throng of men assembled by chance or tumultuously: Acts 19:32,41
4. in the Christian sense,
a. an assembly of Christians gathered for worship: 1 Cor 14:19,35
b. a company of Christians, aa. those who anywhere, in city or village, constitute such a company and are united into one body: Acts 5:11 bb. the whole body of Christians scattered throughout the earth; Matt 16:18 cc. the name is transferred to the assembly of faithful Christians already dead and received into heaven: Heb 12:23
(from Thayer's Greek Lexicon, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 2000 by Biblesoft)
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