Being the family of Jesus, we are his church.

We gather as brothers and sisters in Christ which means we are Jesus’ brothers and sisters making us the children of God the family of God.
Jesus teaches what makes us his brothers and sisters.

Matthew 12: 46 While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. 47 Someone told him, "Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you." 48 He replied to him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" 49 Pointing to his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."
Jesus said his family members are those who are his disciples that do the will of his Father, and the will of his Father is to listen to his Son.
Jesus tells what it takes to be his disciple.
Matthew 16: 24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.

A disciple of Jesus is someone who denies oneself, takes up their cross, which means willing to die for Jesus and follows him by obeying his teachings and commandments as their Lord.
When someone calls themselves a Christian, a believer or a brother or sister in Christ you do not know if they are what Jesus would call his disciple. Only they and Jesus would know if they were.
So, when we gather as the body of Christ, we are confessing to each other that we are a disciple of Jesus, who do the will of God, who denies oneself, willing to die for Jesus and obeys his teaching and commandments.
The only means we have in knowing if someone is our brother or sister in Christ is by the spiritual fruit Jesus said they will bear.
Matthew 7: 17 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. 21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
So, to bear good fruit we would need to know the will of God and to know God’s will we need to be a disciple of God’s word learned through the Holy Spirit. Spiritual fruit are evident by our words and actions that pleases God and for someone to recognize these spiritual fruit they themselves would need to be a mature disciple of God’s word.
Hebrews 5: 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
You need to constantly train yourself in God’s word to know his truth to do his will because you know good from evil.
God is pleased when we believe Jesus is his Son and that you love him by obeying his teachings and commandments and spiritually maturing through Holy Spirit.
Before Jesus went home to his Father, he gave clear instructions for his church and one is for faithful and wise servant he has put in charge of his church prepares his servants for his return.
Matthew 24: 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. 45 "Who then is the faithful and wise
servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household
to give them their food at the proper time? 46It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. 47 I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.

So, pastors of a church is put in charge to prepare Jesus’ servants for his return. They do this by teaching the flock to be a disciple of Christ feeding on the word of God daily so that they know what pleases their Father’s will. So, when Jesus returns, they will recognize his voice when he calls them, and Jesus will find his good and faithful servants and welcome them into his kingdom.
Being ready for Jesus is not just when he returns it is also if he should call you home before he returns.
My hope is that I have been serving you by teaching you to be a disciple of Jesus and encouraging you to constantly train yourself daily in God’s word so that you know God’s will and obey it so that you will always be ready for Jesus when he calls you home.
And let’s pray that every faithful and wise servant is clearly teaching their flock as their brother or sister in Christ to prepare them so that they can go home to Jesus.
Be safe in Jesus, Ps. Glenn