"I do not know," said Robert, "maybe there was no joining in that day. It may be that as soon as they were saved they were counted members of the church. There are several texts here in Acts about the church. 'There was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem,' (Acts 8:1); they 'ordained them elders in every church' (Acts 14:23); Paul 'saluted the church' (Acts 18:22), etc. Well, there was an early church, judging from these texts, which corroborates the words of Jesus who said He would build a church." "What was the name of that church?" asked Mary. "Are there any texts that show what it was called?" "Let us see. Here is a text--Acts 20:28. See what that verse says," replied Robert. "'Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood,'" said Mary. "Here is another text--1 Cor. 1:2," said Robert. "'Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours,'" read Mary. "Here is another with 'church of God' in it--1 Cor. 10:32, and another in Gal. 1:13; also one in I Tim. 3:5. All of these have 'church of God' in them. Oh, yes, I skipped one text in I Cor. 15:9," said Robert. "That is a good name. It shows that it is God's church." "What have we learned so far?" asked Mary. "We have learned that Christ built the church, and that it was named the church of God. What else can we learn about it? I would like to know who the members were, and how they were made members." "Maybe there are Bible answers to these questions," said Robert. "See Col. 1:24." "'Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church.' This says the church is His body. Are there any texts to explain that?" said Mary. "Try Col. 1:18," said Robert. "'And he is the head of the body, the church,'" Mary read. "Read Eph. 1:22, 23," said Robert. "'And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.'" "I guess we shall have to look up the word 'body' to find out just what it is," said Robert. "Here is I Cor. 12:13." "'For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.'" "Try Romans 12:4, 5," said Robert. "'For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.'"