What exactly is "Church?"

"The church is not a museum of saints but a hospital for sinners."
          -Brennan Manning, Ragamuffin Gospel.

"Church" in the New Testament: from the Greek word "ekklhsia" = the "people gathering"

The church exists on 2 fronts:

1. The universal ("catholic" or "Christian") Church
   the whole Church throughout the world

2. The local church
   individual congregations ("ekklhsias") of disciples

"The church is the assembly of saints in which the gospel is taught purely and the sacraments are administered rightly"
          - Martin Luther

Paul's local church analogy in 1 Corinthians 13:

  Imagine a body where Christ is the head...

"The Spirit of Jesus is put into me by way of the atonement by the Cross of Christ. I then have to build my thinking patiently to bring into perfect harmony with my Lord. God will not make me think like Jesus – I have to do it myself. I have to bring 'every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ' (2 Corinthians 10:5)"
          - Oswald Chambers

For the good of our family...our local church:

  What do you need to bring captive to Jesus in your life so that our family might continually be used by him?