ἐκκλησία (ekklésia; noun) – a gathering or assembly.
In Matthew 16:18, Jesus lays out the foundation for his plan. “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”
This passage really gets interesting when you consider that the original Greek did not use the word ‘church’, but used ἐκκλησία (ekklesia) which translates to a gathering or assembly. When we go back to the original translation we see that Jesus was not calling for more buildings or places to worship, but for a movement, a gathering of people who call out that He is the Son of God and are saved through His love and grace.
Jesus came to build a gathering who know Him and love God. Churches have walls and can be closed, locked, torn down, fortified. But a gathering of people is open, free from such constraints and occurs wherever and whenever people chose to assemble to glorify Him.