A church is a group of believers who regularly gather in Christ’s name to officially affirm and oversee one another’s membership in Jesus Christ and His Kingdom through the gospel preaching and gospel ordinances. The gathering of believers is important because this is where we, as believers, “go public” and declare our highest allegiance to the Lord. The local assembly is an outpost or embassy, which gives a public face to our future nation, and it is where we bow before our king in worship. It is also wee our King enacts His Rule through preaching, the ordinances, and discipline. Through Baptism and the Lord’s supper, the church waves the flag and dons the army uniform of our nation (it makes us visible. To be baptized is to identify ourselves with the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as well as to identify our union with Christ’s death and resurrection (Matthew 28:19). To receive the Lord’s Supper is to proclaim his death and our membership in His body (1 Corinthians 11:26-29). We must understand that God wants His people to be known and marked off, He wants a line between the church and the world. Therefore, the local church is the institution or organism that Jesus created and authorized to pronounce the gospel of the kingdom, to affirm gospel professors, to oversee their discipleship, and to expose impostors! We do not join churches as we join clubs, we submit to them as we submit to the government. The local church becomes the organism designed by God to protect and provide for those who are apart of that fellowship. It is essential for us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together (Hebrews 10:25), because that assemblage is commanded by the Lord.