What is church for?

Are you disillusioned by what it's become? For the devout Christian, it's understood that you not only attend a church, but you become part of it and make it your family. Many were raised going to church, and it's just sort of what you have always done. It is synonymous with American culture and the faith of it's people, and yet many have fallen away from their church experience and found church to be unfulfilling.
I have heard the complaint that it's become too institutionalized and too much of a business, always harping on you for your money. That members are cold and unwelcoming, and not really an example of how they picture the people of God being. A bunch of religious hypocrites basically. That it simply doesn't do anything for them.
Many of those objections are valid. The "church"...isn't a place or building, but it's the body of it's members. The people of God. So, if it's become unappealing and fraught with hypocrisy, isn't it the people themselves that are to blame?...Nice people make for a nice church, and problematic people a problematic church. The fault lies with us, not the concept of church itself, which is what people have turned it into.
We've gotten away from the purpose of church as it was meant to be. A gathering of believers in Jesus, for what? Because the central goal of the people of God is to be a family and united. Yes it's to lift up and glorify Jesus and bring people to salvation, but without the Earthly model of our future heavenly existence, there would be no visible demonstration of our hope and life together. Israel was just such a model. Whereas God initially worked through individuals to reveal Himself again to lost mankind, His plan evolved into that of a nation of God that represented Him. But just as today's corporation of institutional hypocrisy falls to be what church ought to be, so Israel ultimately failed to represent God rightly as a nation.
So should we chuck the idea of church then?. The truth is there are still some churches that come pretty close to the shining example of the people of Jesus, that they should be. The Bible says, where Two or more gather in His name, He is in their midst. A successful church is one where it's individual members possess the Spirit of God within themselves. After that, all the healthy things follow of, soul harvest, Bible knowledge, and an organism that provides help and love to all that come in contact with it. When Jesus talked of "building His church", it was implied that it would be the sum of it's parts, not an entity that appears out of the sky. As you have heard it said, "WE are the church".
So what sort of things should a church really do and be? . For starters, it's a community that has resources, providing help and needs for both it's members and people outside of the church or it's faith. There is strength in numbers and as a team, more can be accomplished than through individual pursuit. As far as any given Sunday morning, what should you expect to get from your church experience? One of the first things you think of in church is worship and singing. The body coming together and worshipping corporately, is very special. There is power and opportunity for the Holy Spirit to move on our hearts that takes place. It also has a way to get our hearts and minds prepared to hear good teaching which is why we do it ahead of the sermon.
The sermon itself is what determines for most people whether it's worth sitting and hour to hear and returning every week to do so. Many popular churches are a result of a popular and charismatic preacher that is skilled in offering lessons that are accompanied by entertaining stories and humor. My personal preference has always been more of a direct dissection of the Bible itself, what some call "expositional", "expository" or "inductive" teaching of the Bible, or "word for word" analysis of a given chapter or section of scripture, as opposed to the more topical and general, story driven style of preaching popular in our generation. I have a hard time picturing the apostles at a pulpit espousing humorous anecdotes and jokes about a priest, a rabbi and an atheist going golfing. I see the first century church as Spirited, joyous men and women gathered in a home singing hymns and around a leader that's teaching about Jesus and His relationship with us through the stories of the Old Testament and exciting news from new churches that report the work of the Holy Spirit in their areas.
To sum it up. church is a place where any stranger or visitor should be welcome to hear about God and experience His presence in the regulars that attend, ...but even more so it is where the body of Christ goes to join with their family of faith, encourage and build one another up, receive sound teaching and counsel, and find rich opportunities to serve others and provide needs.