Summary: In this lesson, we begin to unpack the importance of understanding the distinct purpose of the universal church (individual Christians in fellowship with Jesus) compared to the purpose of a local church (Christians working together in fellowship). We find that God’s purpose for the universal church is to be at work in the world, while we will see in the next lesson in this series that a local church’s purpose is the work of Christians building each other up in the Lord. Part of a series on biblical fundamentals. Speaker: Bryant Bailles Passage: Isaiah 61:1-9 Legal notice: Speakers here typically quote from the NASB, ESV or NKJV almost exclusively, and the respective copyright notices follow. Some occasionally quote from the King James Version, which is public domain (in the US). Scripture quotations taken from the NASB (New American Standard Bible) Copyright by The Lockman Foundation Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.