“If I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth<\/em>” (I Timothy 3:15).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Broken families and absent parents are some of the biggest factors in children growing up to have issues with alcohol abuse, drug abuse, violent crime, mental and emotional health issues, behavioral and developmental challenges, and economic struggles. How ironic it is that the world sees so clearly the need and desire for family, yet is on a relentless crusade to break apart the family and redefine it. What an absolute travesty to watch the world tear apart the very thing they look for so desperately.<\/p>\n Yet, regardless of what home and family life we grew up in, we are all invited into the household of God, to be sons and daughters of the Most High and brothers and sisters of each other. The church is not to be a social or recreational group, but one that truly behaves as the household of God and loves each other as themselves. What an unparalleled blessing! May we never take it for granted.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Chadwick Brewer “If I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth” (I Timothy 3:15). I believe that there is an innate desire and need for family, to have a place where you…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[448,173],"class_list":["post-89370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-church","tag-family"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":67897,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-blessing-and-a-heritage\/","url_meta":{"origin":89370,"position":0},"title":"A Blessing and a Heritage","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Chadwick Brewer \"Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward\" (Psalms 127:3). For most of history, having a large family was viewed as a blessing. For example, when Job's wealth was listed in Job 1, his most prized and valuable blessing from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/family-300x200.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":92475,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/remember-who-you-are-and-whose-you-are\/","url_meta":{"origin":89370,"position":1},"title":"Remember Who You Are and Whose You Are","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 5, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Donna Faughn I'm thinking back to a time several years ago when our children were still living at home with us but were old enough to go out with friends or attend a church activity without us. I can still remember, to this day, what was said to them\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12727,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-does-god-view-switching-congregations\/","url_meta":{"origin":89370,"position":2},"title":"How does God view switching congregations?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 10, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good morning, Mr. Jeffrey! My husband and I have decided to switch our church membership to another local body of believers. God says that He places each member how He sees fit (I Corinthians 12:18), but I cannot find a biblical reference to how God moves people to different\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":92429,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/unregulated-desires\/","url_meta":{"origin":89370,"position":3},"title":"Unregulated Desires","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 2, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Chadwick Brewer \"For everything in the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life-comes not from the Father but from the world\" (I John 2:16). Our desires come from God. He created desire between a husband and wife. He created beauty in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37334,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/metaphors-of-the-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":89370,"position":4},"title":"Metaphors of the Church","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 23, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dennis C. Abernathy via\u00a0Truth Magazine\u00a0- January 3, 1980 In our age when the church is thought of as some unimportant, outdated, or take-it-or-leave-it institution, it becomes very important for us to investigate what the Scriptures have to say pertaining to it. 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I believe that there is an innate desire and need for family, to have a place where you belong, are cared for, and loved. We see this from the moment of birth, in the fact that we need physical touch and affection to survive and thrive. We see this when we choose to name our closest friends as ‘family.’ We even see desire when companies advertise for positions available when they say, “Join our family.”<\/p>\n