The purpose of the organization of the church

Paul taught about the purpose of the organization of the church in today's scripture mastery.  It is found in Ephesians 4:11-14

 11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

 14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

We have the same organization that Christ used to organize his church when he set up his church anciently.  The apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers are in the church to help us learn, and they have the priesthood of God.  One of the biggest reasons for the church organization, is to lift and help the members of the church.  It is a good place to go to receive the word of God.  It is a place to learn of Christ.  It is a place where the members of the church can help and lift one another.  I like this verse in Doctrine and Covenants 50:22:

 22 Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are ^aedified and ^brejoice together.

When we meet each week in church, we are "edified."  Our spirits are lifted, and we gain strength to make it through the next week's challenges.  Each Sunday, we have the opportunity to learn and be edified in many ways.  Each Sunday, we have what we call the "3 hour block" of meetings.  The most important of those meetings each week is the sacrament meeting.  It is here where everybody gathers and partakes of the sacrament and sings hymns and listens to sermons.  The other two hours are for more individualized lessons.  The young children go to primary classes, where they learn about Jesus and sing songs.  The older children go to sunday school.  The adults go to their choice of classes--either "Gospel Essentials" (where the basics of the gospel are taught) or "Gospel Doctrine" (where the scriptures are studied and discussed more in depth).  The third hour is another set of classes.  The young children remain in primary.  They youth go to sunday school.  The women go to "Relief Society", and the men go to "priesthood quorum."  Here each of us learn how we can strengthen ourselves and help one another.  To read about how each group of people is taught and served individually in these classes, look here

Church is more than just a Sunday thing though.  If done properly, it is a lifestyle change.  We have ways in the church to help and support each other throughout the week.  Some of the better known ways are the program of Home Teaching, and Visiting Teaching.  At least once a month, every member is visited in their home by other members of the church.  A short gospel lesson is taught, and if there are other needs the family has, they can be assessed.  Needs such as illness or injury, or if the family needs help with other items (such as being out of work, or a death in the family, moving in or out of the area, etc) can be provided for.  The members visiting the family have an opportunity to serve each family they visit.  If the need of the family is larger than they are able to help with individually, they bring the need to the bishop of the local congregation, who has many other resources at his disposal to help that family.

The youth have the opportunity to learn from the scriptures each school day in a program called seminary.  College age people learn additional scripture from the institute program.

The church does much more than just help it's own members though.  The church helps millions around the world each day, regardless of their religion, or nationality.  It has a very well developed, and respected humanitarian program.  Every natural disaster the church has sent its resources to help those in need.  This includes famine, flood, earthquake, and all other natural disasters around the world.  It also includes programs to bring clean water to areas of the world that don't have it.  They also provide medical resources, such as wheelchairs and immunization programs, and teach local farmers how to better increase food production to feed their communities.  There are many more things that the church is doing to help God's children all around the world. Read more about the humanitarian outreach of the church here.  We are known as a service oriented people.  We have many opportunities to serve and help those around us.  Some of these service opportunities are also open to people who are not members of our church as well.  Take a look here to see what some of those service opportunities are for both members and non members alike.

In summary--the church is here to bless mankind.  It is here to bless the lives of all of God's children, both spiritually, emotionally, and physically.  God loves his children, and wants us to help and serve one another.  Pick a way that you can serve others, and feel the joy of service.  Use Christ as your example as you serve!