{"id":113428,"date":"2024-07-03T11:03:58","date_gmt":"2024-07-03T17:03:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/?post_type=product&#038;p=113428"},"modified":"2026-06-02T06:58:35","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T11:58:35","slug":"what-is-church-and-how-important-is-it","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/shop\/what-is-church-and-how-important-is-it\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Church? And How Important Is It?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If we could succinctly capture everything God teaches about church in Scripture, there would be three vital points of summary:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A Church is 1) a regular, intentional, and relational gathering of Christians, and, 2) the people who gather (locally and universally), and 3) its purpose is to help people be disciples of Jesus and make disciples of Jesus.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Church is a matter of following and obeying Scripture. There are many hundreds of passages in Scripture that teach us about 1) what it means to function as a church, and 2) what you must do in obedience in order to grow and help others grow within the church.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Church is essential to your faithfulness.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Two verses from the book of Hebrews bring everything together in a short summary. Hebrews 10:24-25 says it all:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAnd let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another\u2014and all the more as you see the Day approaching.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yet there is a huge challenge we are facing in many places today with people dropping out of church.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Through a deep dive into biblical teachings, you will learn\u2026<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Biblical Foundations<\/strong>: Explore key scriptures like Matthew 28:18-20 and Colossians 1:28-29 to understand the church&#8217;s true purpose.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Common Misconceptions<\/strong>: Address and debunk common assumptions about what makes a church.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Practical Insights<\/strong>: Learn how to integrate disciple making into the ministry of the local church effectively.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Guidance for Leaders<\/strong>: Equip yourself with the knowledge needed to lead your congregation towards a more biblically grounded understanding of church.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/shop\/what-is-church-and-how-important-is-it-audiobook\/\">Download the FREE Audiobook here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>[By downloading this resource, you agree to receive occasional valuable content from Discipleship.org and select partners.]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Through a deep dive into biblical teachings, you will learn\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Biblical Foundations<\/strong>: Explore key scriptures like Matthew 28:18-20 and Colossians 1:28-29 to understand the church&#8217;s true purpose.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Common Misconceptions<\/strong>: Address and debunk common assumptions about what makes a church.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Practical Insights<\/strong>: Learn how to integrate disciple making into the ministry of the local church effectively.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Guidance for Leaders<\/strong>: Equip yourself with the knowledge needed to lead your congregation towards a more biblically grounded understanding of church.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/shop\/what-is-church-and-how-important-is-it-audiobook\/\">Download the FREE Audiobook here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":113427,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"inline_featured_image":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_price":"0","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"1596","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_kad_post_transparent":"default","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"default","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"default","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"default","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","_tec_slr_enabled":"","_tec_slr_layout":""},"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[276],"product_tag":[],"product_brands":[312],"class_list":["post-113428","product","type-product","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","product_cat-ebooks","product_brands-bobby-harrington","first","instock","featured","downloadable","virtual","purchasable","product-type-simple","entry","content-bg","loop-entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What Is Church? And How Important Is It? - Discipleship.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/shop\/what-is-church-and-how-important-is-it\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Is Church? And How Important Is It? - Discipleship.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Through a deep dive into biblical teachings, you will learn\u2026   Biblical Foundations: Explore key scriptures like Matthew 28:18-20 and Colossians 1:28-29 to understand the church&#039;s true purpose.  Common Misconceptions: Address and debunk common assumptions about what makes a church.  Practical Insights: Learn how to integrate disciple making into the ministry of the local church effectively.  Guidance for Leaders: Equip yourself with the knowledge needed to lead your congregation towards a more biblically grounded understanding of church.  Download the FREE Audiobook here.  &nbsp;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/shop\/what-is-church-and-how-important-is-it\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Discipleship.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/discipleshiporg\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-02T11:58:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/What-Is-Church-ebook.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discipleship.org\\\/shop\\\/what-is-church-and-how-important-is-it\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discipleship.org\\\/shop\\\/what-is-church-and-how-important-is-it\\\/\",\"name\":\"What Is Church? And How Important Is It? - Discipleship.org\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discipleship.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discipleship.org\\\/shop\\\/what-is-church-and-how-important-is-it\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discipleship.org\\\/shop\\\/what-is-church-and-how-important-is-it\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discipleship.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/What-Is-Church-ebook.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-07-03T17:03:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-02T11:58:35+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discipleship.org\\\/shop\\\/what-is-church-and-how-important-is-it\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/discipleship.org\\\/shop\\\/what-is-church-and-how-important-is-it\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discipleship.org\\\/shop\\\/what-is-church-and-how-important-is-it\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discipleship.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/What-Is-Church-ebook.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discipleship.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/What-Is-Church-ebook.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discipleship.org\\\/shop\\\/what-is-church-and-how-important-is-it\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discipleship.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Shop\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discipleship.org\\\/shop\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"What Is Church? And How Important Is It?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discipleship.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discipleship.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"Discipleship.org\",\"description\":\"Championing Jesus-style Disciple Making\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discipleship.org\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discipleship.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discipleship.org\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Discipleship.org\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discipleship.org\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discipleship.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discipleship.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/cropped-d-org-02-01-e1617868520364-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discipleship.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/cropped-d-org-02-01-e1617868520364-1.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Discipleship.org\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discipleship.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/discipleshiporg\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/discipleshiporg\\\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What Is Church? And How Important Is It? - Discipleship.org","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/shop\/what-is-church-and-how-important-is-it\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What Is Church? And How Important Is It? - Discipleship.org","og_description":"Through a deep dive into biblical teachings, you will learn\u2026   Biblical Foundations: Explore key scriptures like Matthew 28:18-20 and Colossians 1:28-29 to understand the church's true purpose.  Common Misconceptions: Address and debunk common assumptions about what makes a church.  Practical Insights: Learn how to integrate disciple making into the ministry of the local church effectively.  Guidance for Leaders: Equip yourself with the knowledge needed to lead your congregation towards a more biblically grounded understanding of church.  Download the FREE Audiobook here.  &nbsp;","og_url":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/shop\/what-is-church-and-how-important-is-it\/","og_site_name":"Discipleship.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/discipleshiporg\/","article_modified_time":"2026-06-02T11:58:35+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/What-Is-Church-ebook.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/shop\/what-is-church-and-how-important-is-it\/","url":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/shop\/what-is-church-and-how-important-is-it\/","name":"What Is Church? And How Important Is It? - Discipleship.org","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/shop\/what-is-church-and-how-important-is-it\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/shop\/what-is-church-and-how-important-is-it\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/What-Is-Church-ebook.jpg","datePublished":"2024-07-03T17:03:58+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-02T11:58:35+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/shop\/what-is-church-and-how-important-is-it\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/discipleship.org\/shop\/what-is-church-and-how-important-is-it\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/shop\/what-is-church-and-how-important-is-it\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/What-Is-Church-ebook.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/What-Is-Church-ebook.jpg","width":600,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/shop\/what-is-church-and-how-important-is-it\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Shop","item":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/shop\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"What Is Church? And How Important Is It?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/","name":"Discipleship.org","description":"Championing Jesus-style Disciple Making","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/#organization","name":"Discipleship.org","url":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/cropped-d-org-02-01-e1617868520364-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/cropped-d-org-02-01-e1617868520364-1.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Discipleship.org"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/discipleshiporg\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/discipleshiporg\/"]}]}},"taxonomy_info":{"product_cat":[{"value":276,"label":"eBooks"}],"product_brands":[{"value":312,"label":"Bobby Harrington"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/discipleship.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/What-Is-Church-ebook.jpg",600,600,false],"author_info":[],"comment_info":0,"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/113428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113428"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=113428"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=113428"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=113428"},{"taxonomy":"product_brands","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/discipleship.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brands?post=113428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}