As God's people, we don't just go to church; we are the church. We don't just worship God in a building; we are "God's building" (1 Corinthians 3:9), "a holy temple in the Lord" (Ephesians 2:21). As God's building, we need a foundation; we also need other bricks.

We must be "built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets [of the Bible], with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone" (Ephesians 2:20). If a group calls itself a church but ignores the Bible and doesn't proclaim Jesus as God and as the only Way to be saved, it is not God's building. Don't join it. However, don't be so paranoid of false churches that you keep to yourself and don't join any church. You need the church to show you things about Jesus you can't see on your own and to steer you away from errors you'd make on your own. You need the authority and supervision of "the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth" (1 Timothy 3:15).

In the true church, you are part of a building with a firm foundation, and you are one among many bricks. One brick alone does not make a building. Jesus uses a wonderful variety of "bricks," people from many different backgrounds, to build his church. "You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house" (1 Peter 2:5), "built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit" (Ephesians 3:22).

PRAYER--"We are your house of living stones, built for your own habitation; you fill our hearts, your humble thrones, granting us life and salvation." Thank you, Lord, for your church. Amen.