What is the Church? Antonio

To start I must admit most of my thoughts are heavily borrowed from Dr. Rick Bartosik. We are asking, what is the Church? I think that there 2 major things that need to be express when dealing with this subject. First being a definition of what the church is in a technical sense. Second, what are the purposes and functions, if there are any, of said church. The most common use of the word church is, ekklesia. Ekklesia is a compound word of Ek and Kaleo. Ek, meaning out and Kaleo means to call or summon. Therefore the ekklesia would mean, “To call out”. This word is used 114 times through out the New Testament. The word church, is never used in reference to a building, but always referring to a group of people.
The Church is both invisible and visible. The invisible church is the church as God sees, made up of all who genuinely belong to Christ Jesus. While the visible church is as seen by people on earth. Because of this there are many with in the visible church who are not apart of the invisible church. The visible church is made up of local churches, they can be manifested in any place. The invisible church can also be called the universal church. The universal church is made up of true believers and only true believers, not just here on earth, but also those who are with Jesus in Heaven. Lutherans and John Calvin have similar marks of the church, basically stated as such. That a church is, where ever the Word of God is purely preached and the Lord’s sacraments are rightly administered.
The way I see it there are 3 basic purposes of the church and 5 functions. The first major purpose of the church is for the ministry of God. This is done through worship. As Bartosik states, “In relationship to God the church’s purpose is to worship him. God has destined us and appointed us in christ to ‘live for the praise of his glory’. Worship in the church is not merely a preparation for something else; it is in itself fulfilling the major purpose of the church with reference to its Lord.” Second, is the ministry to believers. Paul states that his job is not only to preach the Gospel to bring people into saving faith, but to present every man as mature in Christ. The last is the Ministry to the World. This is done in evangelism and mercy.
The church has set functions. The first being evangelism. No church can grow with out believers sharing the Gospel of Christ with non believers. Then the non believers repent and place their trust in Jesus. The next function is that of discipleship. Two Christians engaging another with the direct result being both being made more and more in the image of Christ. This is not an option, it is a mandate from Christ. Third function is Ministry. This is a natural out pouring of evangelism and discipleship. Fourth is the function of Fellowship. Fellowship is again a natural out pouring of the other functions. To be able to do any of the other functions fellowship is required in some form or another. Lastly, the most vital function of the church is Worship. New Testament has at least eight elements of worship: Preaching, Prayer, Praise, Confession of sin, Confession of faith in God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Scripture reading and study, Lord’s supper and Baptism, Offerings. This is the Church as I see it.