This is a new series/ the church. Keep in mind that this is a layman's view. A question that may be on the minds of many people in the day we live is this one...is the church still relevant today? As I mused upon this question; I pondered it in my heart, I decided to first of all look up the word relevant or relavency in a dictionary. (Makes sense?) An online dictionary that I frequently use in cases like this said, " bearing upon or being connected with the matter at hand., pertinent. Another explanation says, "connected with something important, with what is being spoken about or discussed. Then these three #1. Relieving, lending aid or support...(that fits)#2. Bearing upon or properly applying to the case, pertinent, applicable.#3. Sufficient to support the case.After all just what is the case? What is the role (for want of a better term) of the church? Is it to provide a social network of believers? Or is it to provide social welfare for those in need? Or is it both or neither or somewhere in between? Maybe first of all we need to find out what the church is and then what it's purpose is. So where do I find the answers? In the Word of God the Bible of course. 1 Timothy 3:15 where Paul writes to Timothy is where the answer lies. Paul is instructing Timothy how people ought to act in "the house of God, the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." This quote from the King James Version. The NRSV uses the term pillar and bulwark of the truth. The NIV says "the pillar and foundation of the truth. The rest of the versions that I read agree with this statement. One version refers to it as the pillar and bulwark of the truth; another the prop and support. The church of the living God...It is the living God that makes it what it is. Truth is more than a principal here....truth is a person, and that Person is Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. In fact He Himself said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. By taking account of church attendance in some areas it would seem that church is no longer relevant...but it is only irrelevant to those who stay away from services on a regular week by week, service by service basis. The relevancy of the church is not measured by those who regularly or irregularly attend, or by those who don't show up at all or by those who say it is not relevant. The fact of it being relevant and pertinent is not dependant upon the above circumstances but rather upon its Founder and upon the fact that He ordained it to be and that He is the head of the real church...not the Pope(all due respect) not the Archbishop of Cantebury,(again with all due respect) not even the Queen, the head of the church is the Lord Jesus Christ...no matter what Oprah says about Him ...He is our God.The question comes to mind, "what is the primary function of this body the church here on this earth?" And the answer is found in the words of the Lord Jesus in Matt 28:19, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations" Before you can make disciples you must get people saved and the two go hand in hand and the church is still making disciples of those whom the Lord saves.I quoted from 1 Timothy that the church is the household of God,the pillar and support of the truth...by the preaching of the unchanging gospel of Jesus Christ, even though good men fall and say that Jesus is not God, even though false teachers say absurd things like the Book of Mormon is superior to the Word of God, even though deceivers like Oprah say people are God...the Gospel has not changed and Jesus is still God and the church will triumph and the gates of hell can't stop it! Try to prove the Bible is true? Just proclaim it...let it loose and it will prove itself!How do you prove a lion is a lion? Let it loose and it will prove itself....The apostle said what the church needs to proclaim in his letter to Titus in ch. 2 vs. 11, "while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ."Oswald Chambers, one of the greatest missionaries of the early part of the last century said "Jesus is the only God the Christian knows". He came to show us what God is like. The church is relevant because He is its Founder, its Head, its Author and its Finisher...to be cont'd