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Narrator: You want to meet Jesus? He's in church. Let's talk about it on Key Life.

Narrator: God's grace changes everything. How we love, work, live, lead, marry, parent, evangelize, purchase, and worship. This is Key Life with practical Bible teaching to get you home with radical freedom, infectious joy, and surprising faithfulness.

Steve Brown: Thank you, Matthew. We were finding some answers to what difference the church makes. And if you were listening, we said that it makes a difference because we can't do this by ourselves. We need each other.

I don't know about you, but I've become quite aware of how much the world hates Christians. And they really do. They know that if what we say is true, they're in trouble. And they want to be God. And if there is a God, they can't be, and it irritates them.

And so, I've begun to realize I need brothers and sisters who understand, who will stand with me when I stand. I remember one time being invited to a men's club for their annual banquet. And the head of the club told me, "Steve, I understand you tell funny jokes."

"And I'd like for you to come and be our speaker." And I said, "I'm also a Christian, and I talk about Jesus. And if you would rather I not talk about Jesus, don't invite me."

And he said, "Let me talk to the board." Then he came back and he said, "You can say whatever you want. The vote was six to five." So I show up at this banquet. The booze was flowing freely. People were feeling no pain, and as I sat at the head table, I thought, "You know, what I'd prepared to say about Jesus is a little bit strong. I think I'm going to tell a few jokes, mention Jesus, and then we'll all feel good and go home."

I had a friend who was a member of that club. He was sitting in the back of this large hall, and I saw him coming toward the head table. And he walked around to the back of me, put his hand on my shoulder, and whispered in my ear, "Brown, don't you shilly-shally. Don't you back off one bit." And I didn't. Because I needed my brother to remind me that I'm not in this life just to tell jokes.

And so we need each other. You know, when Martin Luther said, "We got to preach the gospel to each other or we'll become discouraged," he was right on.

This can be really discouraging, and I need you to tell me when I've sinned that God loves me anyway. I need for you to stand with me and say, "Let's do this together." I need for you to say sometimes, "Steve, you've done good." And you need that from me too. We really need each other.

Let me show you something else. Secondly, the church makes a difference because it's only within the fellowship of the church that a Christian experiences the fullness of God. In the third chapter of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul, talking about the church, as a unified fellowship where, quote, "Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge that you may be filled with all fullness of God." Ephesians 3:17-19.

Jesus said that when two or three are gathered together in his name that he would be there. A limb of a tree may be very beautiful. You may think it's so beautiful you want to cut it off the tree and take it home and put it on your doorstep. But if you do that, if you detach it from the tree, that limb will die. And so will you without the church.

You want, you want to meet Jesus? He's at the church. You want to meet Jesus? Gather with your brothers and sisters in Christ, and he will be there. You want to meet Jesus? You don't do it by being John Wayne, you do it by connecting with the people of God.

I had somebody say recently that if you want to make a witness, to make a difference in your culture and your nation, the most important thing you can do is to join the church and support it and be a part of it. That's true. Because Jesus is down at the church.

Now, I know I'm using that sentence in a non-biblical way. The church isn't a place, it's a people. But it's a good way to say it. Jesus is down at the church, and if you want to meet him, go to the church.

Did you, did you, during the pandemic, miss being at church? I didn't think I would. I thought it'd be cool worshipping in my pajamas and looking on a big screen and letting the pastor dress up and the people that were part of the broadcast and the live stream to carry the water for me, and I'd just sit at home and watch it, and we would have church together.

But you know something? It didn't happen. It was empty. It was boring. It was, it was not good. It was not church. It was not church.

And I remember the first Sunday when, when we all came together, and they said it was all right and we weren't all going to die. We weren't all going to die anyway, and that's irritating, but we finally got together as a church. And I remember that Sunday morning. I really do. The sermon was awful.

That's how I deal with sermons with mints. If you have some mints in your pocket, and if the sermon is really boring, pop one of them in your mouth and the sting will wake you up, and you won't go to sleep. And I can gauge how good a sermon is by how many mints that I take. Well, that morning I used a lot of mints. The music wasn't good. The choir's not been meeting together, and they were kind of out of sync.

The church hadn't been clean properly because nobody had been there for a long time. But when I walked in, there was the smell of Jesus. You know why? Because where two or three are gathered in my name, I am in their midst. So Jesus is down at the church.

Thirdly, we're answering the question, what difference the church makes. The church serves as a corrective to my faith. The church says to the individual members, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life, we proclaim to you." That's 1st John 1:1-3.

One of my pet peeves is the person who sticks his nose in the air and says, "I have outgrown the church." That's like a first-year music student saying he or she has outgrown Bach. The problem is not in Bach.

History teaches that when organizations move outside the institution of the church, which contains and utilizes the body of Christ, those organizations more often than not become one-sided or heretical.

The church contains much wisdom, much experience, much knowledge. Only the very foolish or the very blind will spurn it.

I'm a Bible teacher. I've been teaching the Bible for more years than I even want to name. Longer than a lot of you have been alive. I know what the Bible teaches. I've studied it for, you have no idea, for most of my life. I've taught every book of the Bible. I know what the Bible says. But let me tell you something I bet you didn't know.

Every time I'm preparing to teach you, or to speak at a conference, or a seminary class, about what scripture says, I check the commentaries in my library. Why do I do that? I don't do that to find out what the Bible says. I know what the Bible says. I don't do it to find out how to make an outline. I know how to make an outline. Why do I go to those commentaries, written by scholars over generations?

Because that's the church. Because that's the wisdom of the ages. Because that is godly men and women who have studied it before I have. And I want to be in the stream of that river. That's why the church is important. You think about that. Amen.

Matthew: Thanks, Steve, and that puts a bow on this week of our Welcome to the Family series. Remember that you can stream this entire series for free at keylife.org/family.

And of course, tomorrow is Friday Q&A with Steve and Pete. Tomorrow, they'll answer the challenging questions you've sent in, including this one: Do angels have souls? Tune in for that answer.

Hey, are you a try before you buy type person? I, I know I am. It's for people like us that Key Life created the Talk the Walk booklet, based on Steve's book of the same name. We put together key sections of that book in the booklet, and we would love to send it to you for free. Claim your copy right now by calling us at 1-800-KEY-LIFE. That's 1-800-539-5433.

You can also email Steve at keylife.org to ask for that booklet, or to mail your request, go to keylife.org/contact to find our mailing addresses for the US and Canada. Again, just ask for your free copy of the Laughter and Lament booklet.

Last thing, if you value the work of Key Life, would you join us in that work by giving? It's easy. You can charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope. And of course, now you can give by text. Just text KEY LIFE to 28950. That's KEY LIFE, one word or two, doesn't matter. Text that to 28950.

Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and Forcey in Canada, and Key Life is a listener-supported production of Key Life Network.