Some people say "we got to church." Some people say "we are the church."  So which one is it?  Do we just do church?  Are we supposed to be the church? 

I think its a bit of both myself.  I think God calls us to a place away from the world (wilderness wanderings in Exodus, the building of the tabernacle as a worship focus for the Israelites, Jesus attending worship regularly at specific places, the people of God gathering at the temple and in homes in the New Testament) that He can feed us and make us well so that we can go back into the world empowered to live the life of faith and love we are called to do.  So "going" to church is important.  Going regularly is important.

I think God calls us to be the church because He is a gatherer of people for mission both to each other and to the world.  We see this in how He builds His family through Abraham in the Old Testament, how He views His people as His Bride in both the Old and the New Testaments, how the writers of the New Testament letters talk to their readers about how life is to be lived among each other as an example to the world around them.

So I believe its a bit of both - and its sometimes hard to see which is which.  And that's good.  What do you think?