We've been kind of looking underneath the hood a little bit to the inner workings of the church, but today we're looking at the outer functioning of the church—what you actually see when you look at it. So, we've talked about the fact that God has established and God is the one who maintains the church.

The church is not an optional add-on, but it's really the very center of the plan and purpose of God on earth.

The church is the community of Christ's followers, and when the church functions, it means that the people function. That's what we're talking about today. We're going to see that the health and the effectiveness of the church depends on all its people using their gifts in the service of its mission.

Every one of us has a glorious and good calling, if we're believers to serve Christ, and we do that through his body, which is the church. So this is not a mere calling, it is, but the church and being the church gives a powerful testimony to Christ and to the gospel of Jesus Christ, a testimony that the world desperately needs to see.

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