The Purpose of Church

I want to talk to you today about the local church. Church wasn't my idea or man's idea, it was God's idea. We don't carry it on because it's a tradition, but instead because the Bible instructs us to be part of a church body. Some of the strongest relationships can be forged in a church together, as well as interacting with some of the most interesting and encouraging believers you can meet. In the passage of 1 Timothy 3, Paul had spent several years investing in the church of Ephesus before Timothy became the leading pastor of it. He takes some time here to instruct Timothy how a local church should be structured, which serves as our blueprint for how to achieve a successful local church and what its purpose should be.