What Is the Church, Really? Exploring Acts 2 and the Foundation of God’s Kingdom

The following is an excerpt from our sermon "The Church and the Wonderful Works of God", delivered for the Festival of Pentecost, 2025. Delivered at Living Waters Church of God in Ellenbrook: Expository preaching that teaches from the Scriptures verse by verse, precept by precept. The booklet will be added to our store in mid-August.

From the beginning of Matthew all the way through to the end of the New Testament, the great concern there is: What happens to the Church? And how does she become the holy, pure bride of Christ?

And all the epistles are directed towards her, the Church. Every epistle starts out—unless it has a little bit missing from the beginning, it might be at the end—“To the Church in Ephesus,” “To the Church in Colossae,” “To the Church dispersed abroad,” etc.

And she’s variously described by other descriptors throughout the New Testament. Terms like:

• The people of God

• Abraham’s seed

• The flock or sheep of Christ

• The new or spiritual Israel

• The elect

• The true circumcision

• The remnant

• A royal priesthood

• A chosen people

• A holy nation

What Really Is the Church?

These are all descriptors, and you can say, “Well, all right, that gives us some names and characteristics.” But we still have to ask: Okay, those are descriptors—but what really is the Church? What does it do?

And our real clue—our key to understanding this—is what Jesus said back in Matthew chapter 16, when He was describing it the first time in the Gospel of Matthew. We referred to it before. He’s talking to Peter, and He says what the Church actually is there.

Matthew Chapter 16, Verses 18–19

“I say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell or Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bon earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

As a holy nation, the Church holds the keys. It is the entryway to the Kingdom of Heaven—the Kingdom of God. It is not all of the Kingdom of God—it is the entryway. It’s the starting point that becomes the foundation for that Kingdom.

That’s why I said the New Jerusalem—the foundation there is the names of the apostles. The Church is built upon those first brave apostles who followed Christ and their teaching. And it becomes the foundation for the Kingdom of God.

But it was laid on the cornerstone, who was Christ—right? Not laid on their efforts. The cornerstone, the foundation stone, the absolute bedrock is Christ. Everything is built on Him.

So it doesn’t become something where the Church praises itself and says, “Look how wonderful we are—we are wonderful because we’ve started the Kingdom.” No, no, no, no. We are given the keys to the Kingdom, yes—but we’ve been given them. We didn’t make them.

📘 This excerpt is from the Pentecost sermon “The Church and the Wonderful Works of God,” preached at Living Waters Church of God in Ellenbrook.

🕊️ You can watch the full message here. A downloadable booklet will be available in the Store mid-August.

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