I would define a local church like this: a local church is a group of baptized believers who meet regularly to worship God through Jesus Christ, to be exhorted from the Word of God, and to celebrate the Lord's Supper under the guidance of duly appointed leaders. According to this definition there are at least seven qualifications if a group wants to be a church in the NT sense.

1. The people must give evidence that they are believers—that they trust Jesus as Savior and Lord. 

   • The NT makes it clear that we are adopted into the family of God through faith (John 1:12, 13).

2. The people must be baptized. 

   • Jesus commanded in Matthew 28:19 that the way to make disciples was by "baptizing them . . . and teaching them." This was the uniform practice in the early church.

3. There must be a regular assembling. 

   • A group of people who only came together say once a year could not rightly be called a local church because there are essential activities of the church which lose their meaning when not done corporately. Therefore Hebrews 10:25 commands us not to neglect to meet together.

4. Among these meetings there must be gatherings for worship. 

   • This follows inevitably from the ultimate value placed on Jesus Christ who calls us together and from our relation to God through him. The church is destined to live to the praise of God's glory (Ephesians 1:6, 12, 14); therefore, it would contradict our nature not to assemble for worship (Acts 2:47; Romans 15:6, 7).

5. Our meetings must include exhortation from the Word of God. 

   • We were born anew through the living and abiding Word of God (1 Peter 1:23); and our life in Christ is preserved not by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). The shepherds of the church are the provision God has made for feeding his sheep. Therefore we strive not to be the church where the Word of God is neglected.

6. Along with worship and exhortation we must celebrate the Lord's Supper in order to be the church. 

   • We are commanded to "do this in remembrance" of Christ (Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24). Neglecting this ordinance might seem inconsequential at first, but I think a church will bleed to death through that amputation.

7. Finally, all of this must take place with the guidance of duly appointed leaders. 

   • Paul appointed elders in all the churches (Acts 14:23), he gave instruction about the qualifications of deacons and elders in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, and he said that Christ had given pastor-teachers to the church to equip the saints for ministry (Ephesians 4:1, 12). There have always been disagreements about what to call these leaders and how to organize them. But that they must be present in a group in order for that group to be a church, historic Christianity has always affirmed.

It seems to me that these seven things are the minimum of what it takes to make a local church: a local church is a group of baptized believers who meet regularly to worship God through Jesus Christ, to be exhorted from the Word of God, and to celebrate the Lord's Supper, under the guidance of duly appointed leaders. With this definition we should be able to determine what groups are and are not churches. For example, Campus Crusade meetings, Inter-Varsity chapters, Navigator groups, Bible Study Fellowships, Young Life and Youth for Christ clubs—these are not local churches. And the reason this is important to see is so that no Christian will content himself with participation in any of these groups (or others like them) while neglecting the regular life of the local church. They have tremendous value while working alongside and in harmony with the churches, but they can never replace the local church.