1 Timothy 3:14-15 (NLT) I am writing these things to you now, even though I hope to be with you soon, so that if I am delayed, you will know how people must conduct themselves in the household of God. This is the church of the living God, which is the pillar and foundation of the truth.

The importance of the Church cannot be underemphasized. Although the Church is not a building, we do meet in buildings all around the world. Each gathering in one of those buildings is a local church. Each local church gathering of believers is a household of God. The local church has a huge role to play in the world but many people, especially with the huge advances in technology, do not treat it as a very important thing. Now many people tune in online and not in person, especially since the pandemic forced many church buildings to close last year. People got used to not going to church and statistics show that about twenty-five percent of the people who used to go to church no longer do and have even stopped attending church online. That's what happens. It is a slow moving away of what the Bible tells us that we should not stop doing, which is gathering together (Hebrews 10:25).

The Church is the vehicle that Jesus left to reach the world with message of the Gospel, and it is where we go to learn, grow, be accountable, be encouraged, encourage others and where we go to do life together with other followers of Christ. God saved each one of us and placed us in a family, and that family is the Church. It is where safety is for all believers, The devil looks for believers who have isolated themselves to go on the attack to weaken, discourage, and ultimately destroy them. But those that remain in the pack (with their church family) are much harder for him to get to.

In the New Testament, people who got saved became a part of a local church. When God got a hold of the Apostle Paul, he immediately began preaching the Gospel and planting churches. The epistles in the Bible were written to churches. The warnings, admonitions, and words of encouragement from the Holy Spirit in the Book of Revelation were made to the churches. In the verse above, the Apostle Paul tells Timothy that the Church is the pillar and foundation of truth! That's how God ordained it to be! Jesus, the light of the world, now lives in His people (the Church) and that light is supposed to be emanating from us as a light on a hill for all to see. Don't forsake church in a day and age where people are not considering it as very important. It's a trick to deceive us and to weaken the very thing that God ordained to carry the message of redemption that Jesus made possible for all of mankind. Go to church, encourage others there, invite people who don't know Jesus to come, be open to receive revelation from the Word and stay safe in the family of God. The Lord did not leave another way to get the message out or another way to grow individually and as a family. Be a part of the beautiful family of God that gathers in local churches, and you will grow and mature and will be a useful vessel in God's hands.

Pastor Joey Vazquez