Is the church where God lives? You’ll find the answer in Acts 17:24, NIV. "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands."

Then what is the church?  The church is people who believe in Jesus found in any church building. Find it in Ephesians 2:21, TLB. "We who believe are carefully joined together with Christ as parts of a beautiful, constantly growing temple for God. I Corinthians 3:16, TLB. "Don’t you realize that all of you together are the house of God, and that the Spirit of God lives among you in His house?"

What does the church do? The church spreads the Gospel. Discover the answer in 2 Timothy 4:2, NIV. "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, encourage -- with great patience and careful instruction."

God has a work for the church to do to help each other, as well as spread the Gospel.  Ephesians 4:12, TLB, tells us, "Why is it that He gives us these special abilities to do certain things best? It is that God’s people will be equipped to do better work for Him, building up the Church, the body of Christ, to a position of strength and maturity."  II Timothy 4:2, NIV. "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, encourage -- with great patience and careful instruction."

Everyone who believes is needed in the church. It’s in the Bible, 1 Corinthians 12:13, TLB. "Each of us is a part of the one body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves and some are free. But the Holy Spirit has fitted us all together into one body. We have been baptized into Christ’s body by the one Spirit, and have all been given that same Holy Spirit."

Do I need to go to church?  Believers encourage each other. Your faith in God grows there, as well as being with others who believe in God and are working for Him. This is really important the closer we get to Jesus’ coming.  Look in Hebrews 10:25, TLB. "Let us not neglect our church meetings, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of His coming back again is drawing near."