“The church is a multiethnic and multicultural assembly of believers spanning history that God has called into fellowship with Christ and with one another. We gather regularly to consider the teachings of the Bible and to orient our lives around God’s coming kingdom. Together we wait for God to make all things new, and we bear witness to the world of what God has already done.” - Becoming God’s Family

What is the purpose of the church? If you talked with different people you’d likely get different answers. You might hear that it’s a place to worship God. You might hear that it’s just a place people go to feel better about their lives. There’s a broader conversation happening about whether or not the church still matters. Even amongst Christians, there’s a question over why they need to go to church when they can just believe in Jesus and read the Bible on their own. Today’s episode is all about the church and the importance of with-ness. My guest today is Dr. Carmen Joy Imes, associate professor of Old Testament at Biola University and author of the new book Becoming God’s Family: Why the Church Still Matters. In this conversation we talk about her trilogy of books about our relationship with and to God (of which this is the third), we talk about why there’s even a question around whether the church matters or not, we talk about the role and function of the church, and the truth of how church gatherings are really oriented around what we cannot do on our own. 

Doable Discipleship is a Saddleback Church podcast produced and hosted by Jason Wieland. It premiered in 2017 and now offers more than 400 episodes. Episodes release every Tuesday on your favorite podcast app and on the Saddleback Church YouTube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/saddleback).

Resources Related to This Episode:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FV8X2Y58/ref=nosim?tag=ivp02-20

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Related Doable Discipleship Episodes: 
The Invitation to Confession with Jamin Goggin - https://youtu.be/9be9_2k57VI
The Man You're Meant to Be - https://youtu.be/Zrn5ws4rFec
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Living with Hope in the Midst of Struggle with Alan Noble - https://youtu.be/99Nki49V0fI
Delighting in Jesus with Asheritah Ciuciu - https://youtu.be/nHFPW4QLc9s
Embracing Brokenness with Michael John Cusick - https://youtu.be/Wzky80I2lPw
Mysteries of Faith: Prayer - https://youtu.be/9rFBmBKiNxI
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Navigating the Bible: Genesis - https://youtu.be/ddhjMfOoasA