Jesus declared to Peter: “I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it” (Matthew 16:18).

That’s a guarantee from the Son of God. In fact, the church is the only institution that Christ promises to build. Not nation-states, not political parties, not para-church Christian ministries—just the church.

The word “church” can be defined a few ways:

• The building you drive by down the street where people gather to worship
• The visible body of professing Christians, which contains “wheat and tares” (the professing church, Matthew 13)
• The invisible body of genuine believers from every tribe and nation (the true church)

Aligning ourselves with Christ’s mission to build His church needs to be the believer’s priority. There’s a place for pushing back on the depravity revolution in our culture, working for political change, advocating for justice. But being a sanctified member of a sound local church should be top priority for Christians. That is God’s design and decree.

Paul wrote to Timothy: “I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15).

This weekend on The Christian Worldview, as we prepare to gather for TCW Movie Night on Saturday, Sept. 9 to watch The Essential Church, we’re going to hear from God’s word and some of the great preachers of God’s word as they point us to love and protect “the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth”.