Oh...and I wanted to reply to this:
Josef1004 wrote:What is a church, from a perspective based on God's revealed truth?
First of all, I will likely go off topic here so if a mod wants to move/remove this...that's okay...
First - I'm assuming you mean the visible church and not the invisible church, correct? If that's what you mean, my church defines it as, "the local church, consisting of a company of believers in Jesus Christ, baptized on a credible profession of faith, and associated for worship, ministry and fellowship. We believe that God has laid upon the members of the local church the primary task of giving the gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost world."
There is some awesome stuff about this in chapters 18 and 19 of John Frame's book Salvation Belongs to the Lord. Frame argues, and I agree, that "the church is all of God's elect, the one, holy, universal, and apostolic people of God, gathered together in a visible organization."
There are a boat load of reasons why one should be plugged into a church rather than skipping from one church to another or trying to exist outside the church. I believe that you and I were never made to exist without the church and yet rugged individualism has marred the true nature of community living. There are things that simply do not properly exist outside the church...things christians are called to be a part of, such as, the preaching of the Word, giving and receiving of the sacraments, church discipline, community and accountability, worship in song with brothers and sisters in Christ, etc.
So, that kinda summarizes my view of the visible church and why it is essential to any christian...I'd go as far as to say that not being a member of a church (or seeking membership) is a sin...although that might get me in a little trouble, I believe it is...
Sorry for the length of this. I'm kinda passionate about this stuff.