It has been said that everyone needs three homes.  First, we need an eternal home.  Our deed to this home is secured with the payment of Christ’s own blood.  Then we need an earthly home.  No matter if it is a mansion on the hilltop or a cabin in the valley, home is that special place where we spend time with family.  Finally, we need an extended home.  Our extended home is none other than the local church.

     Every born-again believer needs to assemble himself with a local congregation.  We are to unite our lives with the dynamic power of the church in order to carry out the orders of the Great Commission.  Church is the launching pad for ministry.  It is where we get instruction for life.  It is where we connect for worship.  It is where we administer the gifts given to us by the Holy Spirit of God.

     There are many today who try to undermine the relevancy of the church; but the writer of Hebrews tells us, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another, so much the more, as ye see that day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25).  The closer we get to our eternal home, the more faithful we should be to our extended home.