Understanding the definition of ekklesia (and its alternate spelling ecclesia) is an important component of understanding the Church. Ekklesia is a Greek word defined as “a called-out assembly or congregation.” Ekklesia is commonly translated as “Church” in the New Testament. For example, Acts 11:26 says that “Barnabas and Saul met with the Church (ekklesia)” in Antioch. And in 1 Corinthians 15:9 Paul says that he had persecuted the Church (ekklesia)of God.” The “called-out assembly,” then, is a congregation of believers whom God has called out of the world and “into His wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9). The Greek ekklesia is the basis for our English words ecclesiastical (“pertaining to the church”) and ecclesiology (“the study of doctrine concerning the church”).

The word in the New Testament was also used to refer to any assembly of people. In his address to the Sanhedrin, Stephen calls the people of Israel “the assembly (ekklesia) in the wilderness” (Acts 7:38). And in Acts 19:39, ekklesia refers to a convening of citizens to discuss legal matters. However, in most contexts, the word ekklesia is used to refer to the people who comprise the New Testament church.

It is important that the Church today understand the definition of ekklesia. The Church needs to see itself as being “called out” by God. If the Church wants to make a difference in the world, it must be different from the world. Salt is different from the food it flavors. God has called the Church to be separate from sin (1 Peter 1:16), to embrace fellowship with other believers (Acts 2:42), and to be a light to the world (Matthew 5:14). God has graciously called us unto Himself: “‘Come out from them and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you’” (2 Corinthians 6:17).

Do not choose to be like the Church of Sardis (Revelation 3:1-6) or the Church of Laodicea, (Revelation 3:14-22) choose this day to whom ye shall serve (Joshua 24:15). As Jesus says in Revelation 3:17 to the Laodicean Church “You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.” Prepare oneself to be His Bride in (Revelation 19:7-8) “For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself.She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear.” For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God’s holy “people.”

“This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; ¹³ I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. ¹⁴ It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud, ¹⁵ and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. ¹⁶ When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” ¹⁷ And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

(Genesis 9:12-17 NASB)

I’m a bit of a Nature freak and I love to know how everything works and runs. I love the cycles of and Seasons of Nature. So, when I saw an article about rainbows on the internet this morning, I read it. I know that rainbows are created when light shines through water droplets. That’s why I run outside every time it is raining with the Sun out, to see if I can spy one. As I was reading the article, it suddenly struck me that when God put the first rainbow in the sky, it wasn’t raining at all. When we read the story of the Flood and the Promise God made not to flood the earth again, the rain had already stopped.

Now God only puts a Bow in the Sky during our storms, not when the rains have stopped, but while it is still raining.  The droplets must be present for the light to shine through and reveal the colors of the rainbow.   So, the first appearance of the Rainbow was a bit of a miracle too, it was a dry rainbow because the rain had already ceased.

But now we see rainbows only in the midst of our storms.  God doesn’t wait for us to be through our trials and tribulations to remind us of His faithfulness and promises. He reminds us right in the middle of the storms, when the rain is still present.The clouds part and the light of Christ shines through the droplets of tears during the struggles, the losses and brokenness.  God is right there during this time with us.  He is with us, reminding us of who He is, and just How true He is to His Word and promises to us.  Next time you see a rainbow, thank God for showing up to remind us of Himself amid your storms, not just in the aftermath.

Has there ever been a time in your life, when it comes to your studies, that you continued to fail? Never got past the halfway mark to qualify. Missed out on crucial points to get you to the next stage. The feeling of failure and realizing that you just ain’t that good at academia. Often basing our worth on what we feel we should  be achieving because of our comparisons to our peers, friends, and associates. 

I remember being told at one point in my life, that because I did not go to University and did not obtain a proper Degree, that I was less than another person. I was being compared to somebody else and it felt awful. I was being told indirectly that I had no value and there was nothing I could do about it, quite frankly. Feeling like a nobody, I went through life, trying to achieve success and always giving up halfway and allowing their voice in my head, to keep repeating the negatives into my life. 

‘ What your doing is not as important as what I am doing’  ‘ You don’t even have a degree ‘.

I gradually worked out understood why it was happening… I noticed when I doubted myself when attempting to do something. I felt that same feeling of worthlessness when I was struggling to learn a new thing. When it came to studies, I shied away from booking the courses that interested me, because I thought I would fail, yet again.

However, when I became a believer, a major breakthrough happened in my life, something that completely turned my life around, in terms of what I thought about myself. God not only revealed to me what I was gifted at. He brought me back to a time in my life as visions, when I would see myself writing, from as young as 13yrs. 

Of course! My first thought was, I write because I enjoy it, I did not see it as something special. Though God had a different idea, he revealed he was going to use me with my writing to encourage others, to give them hope. Scripture tells us God does not call the ‘ Qualified ‘ he calls those who are not and for the first time I felt like a somebody and not a nobody, who had not achieved much. When indeed  I had been given a gift that I did not have to study for, bust my guts over revision timetables for. No sleepless nights and early morning rises.

When God spoke to Moses through the burning bush, Moses was living a life of obscurity at that time.. He knew Moses had a heart for people and had credible standing at one point in his life and so God decided to use. Moses of course lamented.

‘ I am a nobody God ‘ …’ I am not qualified God’ 

But God was using Moses for his credibility, not Moses’s. God was using him as an example to those, who did not believe what God could do.