Almost every part of the life of the Church is addressed by Scripture.  In Daniel 2:44 it is said to be the Kingdom of God that shall stand forever and in Matthew 16:18 our Lord Jesus declares the church to be His own.  In John 10 the Church is His flock; in I Corinthians 12:27 it is His body; in Ephesians 5:22-27 it is His bride; and in I Peter 2:4-5 it is a building built upon Him as a foundation.

Regarding its government the Church is ruled by and accountable to Christ Himself (Colossians 1:18): but at the human level its chief officer is a man called an “Elder” (I Timothy 3:1-7) who exercises authority only in concern with other Elders (Hebrews 13:17).  Some of the Elders are called to teach and are called “Pastors” (I Timothy 5:17; Ephesians 4:11-12).

Internally the most important functions of the Church are the worship of God, the teaching of His Word and the practice of a fellowship that is to be both supportive and corrective (Collosians 3:16).

            In the world the Church is created to be both light and salt (Matthew 5:13-16), Christians gathered as the Church as living individually among nonbelievers bearing tacit witness to the saving grace of God.