Perhaps you or someone you know has said, or at least thought, “I don’t need the church!” People who say that have usually had a negative experience in a particular building with a particular group of people. Some have had multiple “bad experiences” that have left them scarred and disillusioned. After all, who needs more frustration and aggravation and disappointment than you already find in the rest of the world. The CHURCH is supposed to be different!! Here’s the truth: People have a right to expect the church to be different because those who are true disciples of Jesus Christ have been born again by the Spirit of God and are empowered to overcome the sinful nature with which we are all born. The Church must be different than the world, yet we are a work still in progress. We need the grace of God and we need one another, as followers of Christ Jesus! Christ established His Body, the Church, creating a spiritual “oneness” by the power of His Spirit within every true believer, sustaining that oneness by the truth of His Word, and building up the community thus created and sustained through love for God and love for one another. The Church MUST be a unique community where there is a deep sense of God’s presence and where all are striving together toward the goal of Christ- likeness, for the glory of the God who loved us in this way: while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Now, having risen from the dead and poured out His Spirit, we are ONE IN CHRIST and commanded to love one another as we live in a true biblical community as a “spiritual house,” Jesus Himself being the Cornerstone! You NEED THIS Church!! You NEED to be part of THIS Church!! May God move you to use the gifts He has given to you to help “make the Bride beautiful!”