Hebrews 13:15 Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.
2 Corinthians 5:17-21 Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Matthew 12:41-42 "The men of Nineveh shall stand up with this generation at the judgment, and shall condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. 42 "The Queen of the South shall rise up with this generation at the judgment and shall condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
That is why the role of the Church on the Earth is crucial: On one side to make itself grow into perfectness, on the other side to face the people who don't know our Lord yet, and are separated from Him.
The "inner" purpose of the Church is to help its members build themselves towards perfectness, reach the victory and enter the God's kingdom; to reach and grow to be able to serve God as He wishes - with God's Word, God's acts and through the testimony of their lives. So that even those, who don't know our Lord yet, could find Him through the Church.
That's why God tells the Church to offer up a sacrifice of praise to Him - the fruit of lips, as the Scriptures call it (Hebrews 13:15). The fruit of lips is a tribute and praise, which is deep inside our hearts and souls. It is obvious that this doesn't concern only the praises on the Sunday meetings. When God talks about the fruit of our lips, he wants us to speak (both directly and indirectly) about His glory and to show our respect, gratefulness and love to Him.
So that other people could see the good fruit the live with God brings. So that the Church could show the God's kingdom, God Himself, His reign and His kindness. So that as many people as possible, who are outside the God's kingdom, could get known God and join the God's people. Because God wants every person to be saved and to come to Heaven.
Christ in 2 Corinthians 5 presents His peace treaty with the world. He says: "Be reconciled to God." The Christ's mission was to declare peace, not to declare a war. The role of the Church is similar - it should bring people to reconciliation to God. This is the goal and the intention. This must be in our hearts, we deliver life to people. We deliver the testimony about life, about Christ, about other people's benefit, and about their salvation.
However, when people aren't accepting our testimony about life, this fact is going to be against them at the eternal trial, to their condemnation. God's trial is fair and perfect. God will show the evidence to the people who refuse Him, so that there could be no doubt that their condemnation is fair. The book of Matthew shows us an example - the men of Nineveh will be of those who will judge. They will say: "Only one man - Jonah - had warned us against the God's trial, and we obeyed him." Nineveh was not condemned, because its inhabitants repented. He, who ignores the testimonies of Christians, will have no plea (Matthew 12:41-42).
God needs His people on the Earth. Everything that each of us is doing, every situation that each of us has to go through, everything is a testimony to other people. So that they could get known our Lord, start to believe in Him and turn to Him. So that there were as little as possible of those, to whom will not be delivered life but judgement.
