Here are two of the most helpful exegetical exercises that have informed me about the church and its purposes.  I would suggest you take the time to engage in these activities.

1.  Look up every instance of the word ἐκκλησία (ekklesia, church, gathering, assembly, congregation, etc.) in the New Testament.  Read the context of each use.  The result will be a more healthy understanding of the Bible’s use of church.  To understand what a church must do you must understand what a church is.  In my mind being  precedes doing.

2.  In regard to the “community of faith,” each Christian should look up, read, and meditate on the “one another” passages of the New Testament.

Some of the more important preliminary conclusions at which I arrived when I first did this activity?

1.  The overwhelming emphasis in the New Testament is on the physical, visible, local church.  To say it another way, every Christian is a member of the “body of Christ,” but that body is manifested in a particular place and time.

2.  Christians need each other to become more like Christ.  There is no place in the Bible for “Lone-Ranger” Christianity.  The community of believers is essential for sanctification and edification.

3.  The church is the place not only to proclaim the gospel, but (more importantly), to demonstrate the effects of a gospel-changed life.  In today’s culture, especially, an authentic demonstration of the gospel is often more important than a precise articulation of the gospel.