Sorry, not buying it. The Church isn’t a building. Its the body of people that worship and accept Jesus as their savior.
If you accept Jesus then you are in the Church. The denomination is a label applied by people.
You wrote:
“Sorry, not buying it. The Church isn’t a building.”
Who said it was? Seriously, who ever said THE CHURCH was a building?
“Its the body of people that worship and accept Jesus as their savior.”
Sorry, but you’ve fallen for that invisible church nonsense invented by 16th century Protestants.
“If you accept Jesus then you are in the Church. The denomination is a label applied by people.”
Jesus founded the Church - not men. I’m not in a denomination.
Is the Church to be a loose conglomerate of believers or is it to be organized and structured? Scripture clearly established "offices" and a "hierarchy" among Christians. The offices of "bishop, priest (presbyter) and deacon" are mentioned in Scripture (1 Timothy 3:1,8; Titus 1:7 ). What else is this but "organization?" Or should we believe that any believer can "claim" to be a bishop, priest, deacon or even "apostle?" The word "office" is specifically used in Scripture (1 Timothy 3:1) to describe these positions. Webster defines "office" as "A special duty, trust, charge, or position, conferred by authority or God and for a public purpose; a position of trust or authority." And the office of "apostle" is to be continued (Acts 1:20-26) to the present day. Not all believers are "equal" nor have the same gifts (1 Corinthians 12:8-10; Ephesians 4:11). Is the Church a "visible, earthly" entity? Yes, for Christ would not direct us to the Church for disputes if it were not here on Earth (Matthew 18:17). Nor would "fear" encompass the whole Church if it were a mystical, invisible and heavenly entity (Acts 5:11). The Church is definitely here on earth for the actions described in Acts definitely take place on earth and the term used is "the whole Church" (Acts 15:22). cf