Isn't the idea of church outdated?

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The church exists in and through Jesus Christ, and so is a distinctive New Testament reality. At the same time, it is continuous with Israel, the seed of Abraham and God's covenant people. The new covenant under which the church lives (1 Cor. 11: 25; Heb. 8:7-13) is a new form of the relationship in which God says to His chosen community, "I will be your God, and you shall be my people" (Jer. 7:23; 31 :33; cf. Ex. 6:7).

Under the new covenant, the Old Testament priests, sacrifices, and sanctuary have been superseded by the mediation of Jesus (Heb. 1-10). Believers in Christ are the seed of Abraham and the people of God (Gal. 3:29; 1 Pet. 2:4-10). Second, the limitation of the old covenant to one nation (Deut. 7:6; Ps. 147:19, 20) is replaced by the inclusion in Christ on equal terms of believers from every nation (Eph. 2; 3; Rev. 5:9, 10). Third, the Spirit is poured out on the church, so that fellowship with Christ (1 John 1 :3), ministry from Christ (John 14:18; Eph. 2:17), and foretastes of heaven (2 Cor. 1: 22; Eph. 1: 14) become realities
in the experience of the church.

The unbelief of most Jews (Rom. 9-11 ) and the majority of Gentiles in the church are depicted by Paul as God's breaking off the natural branches of His olive tree (the historical covenant community) and replacing them with wild olive shoots (Rom. 11: 17 -24). The new covenant does not exclude Jews, and Paul taught that their general rejection of it will one day be reversed (Rom. 11: 15, 23-31 ).

The New Testament teaches that the church is the fulfillment of the Old Testament hopes and patterns, brought about by Jesus Christ. The church is the family and flock of God (John 10:16; Eph. 2:18; 3:15; 4:6; 1 Pet. 5:2-4), His Israel (Gal. 6:16), the body and bride of Christ (Eph. 1 :22, 23; 5:23-32; Rev. 19:7; 21 :2, 9-27), and the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16; cf. Eph. 2:19-22).

The church is a single worshiping community, permanently gathered in the true
sanctuary, the heavenly Jerusalem (Gal. 4:26; Heb. 12:22-24) and the place of God's presence. The church is one, although the worshiping community consists of the church militant-those who are still on earth- and the church triumphant-those who have died and entered glory. On earth, the church appears in its local congregations, each one a microcosm of the church as a whole. According to Paul the one church universal is the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:12-26; Eph. 1: 22, 23; 3:6; 4:4), but so is each local congregation (1 Cor. 12:27; "The Local Church" at Rev. 2:1).

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