Characteristics of a True Church, Part 3

We're talking about the church, and understanding the church is a very foundational and very basic necessity for those of us who make up the body of Christ. I am convinced that most Christians, most professing Christians, don't really understand the church. There are people in denominations, traditional denominations, that essentially are run or operated the way they've been operated for years and years, and people are familiar with the way they operate. But it may not necessarily reflect a clear biblical ecclesiology. And then there all of those little pop-up churches that are all over everywhere all the time that by profession call themselves churches but when you look a little more closely at them, you wonder if those people really understand what a church is. And I'm not so much talking about the size of a church, although I am convinced that . . . that the larger the church, at least with some sense of reasonableness, the more likely it is to be able to provide the ministry of the spiritual gifts that God has designed for His people. In fact, I'm not convinced that having a whole lot of little groups and a whole lot of little churches all sort of carving out their own corner really brings together the body of Christ in its strength. And I'm also not convinced that it is the clearest and most powerful testimony of our unity in the Lord Jesus Christ. . . .

http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/90-458