A local church can give us many things: a sense of belonging, of being involved with other believers. It can give us some spiritual safety, so that we are not blown around by strange ideas. A local church can give us friendship, fellowship and encouragement. It can teach us things we would never learn on our own. A church can help train our children, help us work together for more effective ministry and give us opportunities to serve that help us grow in ways we did not expect. In general, the value that we get out of a local church is in proportion to the amount of involvement we give to it. See What is the church? by Michael Morrison

We tend to expect the church to be close to perfect, even though, if we think about it, we realize that the church is made up of people just like ourselves—quite imperfect. The truth is, no church is "just what it ought to be." Every church has its problems. Despite problems, however, there are good reasons to belong to a church, and we will look at some of them in this article. First, however, let’s look at a few good reasons a person might want to stop going to one church and begin looking for a new one. See "Give me one good reason to go to church" by J. Michael Feazell

Why do we meet together each week for worship and instruction? Couldn't we, with a lot less bother, worship at home, read the Bible and listen to a sermon on the radio? Through modern technology, everyone in the world could listen to the best preachers in the world, every week! We could listen only to the sermons that apply to us, or only to subjects we like. Wouldn't it be lovely? Well, not really. I believe that stay-at-home Christians are missing out on many important aspects of Christianity. See Six functions of the church, by Joseph Tkach

Are you on a quest to find The Ideal Church? Perhaps you know the one I mean. It is the church where no errors of doctrine or practice ever occur. In the Ideal Church, grace, obedience and legalism are always clearly understood and distinguished. The pastor never gives a boring, irrelevant or inaccurate sermon; and the congregation only sings the songs that you like and think are worshipful. In the Ideal Church, all members love one another all the time. No one ever sins or gives offense. There are no disagreements about how the church should be run, or how money should be spent. See Quest for the ideal church

Each Christian must believe, make decisions about how to live and decide what to believe. But the New Testament is clear that we are not merely individuals -- we are part of a body. The church is optional in the same sense that responsibility is optional -- God lets us choose what to do, but that does not mean that all choices are equally helpful for us, or that all are equally within God's will. Do Christians need teachers? The entire New Testament is evidence that we do. See Leadership in the church