A thought-provoking introduction to the importance of the local church It seems that increasing numbers of professing Christians in the West do not attend church. Church, to many, has become a place to go when it is convenient, to have one's needs met. Terry L. Johnson asks whether our individualistic, dismissive attitude to the gathering of the local church can be squared with that of the New Testament. Examining what the Bible has to say about the church, Johnson shows why the local body of believers is an essential part of the life of every believer - and the role that each individual believer plays in the life of the church. This thought-provoking, challenging book will benefit every believer. Contents I. Introduction 1. Our Collapsing Ecclesiology II. What Scripture teaches 2. Jesus and the Church 3. Keys of the Kingdom 4. Where Jesus is 5. The Good Shepherd and the Sheep 6. The Apostles and the Church 7. One Anothers and Community 8. Life Together 9. Covenantal Priority III. Clarifying Perspectives 10. Definitional Confusion 11. Visible or Invisible? 12. Hypocrites at Church 13. Denominationalism 14. Parachurch or Quasi-church? IV. Historic Perspectives 15. Mother Church 16. Body and Bride 17. Slighting the Church 18. Sola Ecclesia: A Sixth Sola?