Many people today choose not to attend church services for a multiplicity of reasons. Such reasons include everybody in church are hypocrites, I can worship God at home and going to church is pointless and unnecessary. Well, it is not certain that these excuses are even worth mentioning. Still it seems that those that espouse these fallacious words simply have no desire to obey God’s Word. Let me explain.
The Scripture clearly teaches that all liars will have their place in the lake that burns with fire yet many so called Christians plan lies with the intent of asking God to forgive them before and/or after the lies are told. Even so Paul poses the question, “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” Others choose to promote homosexuality as though God has created perverted beings forgetting that God destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for the very reason. And we cannot forget the matter of talebearers. Talebearers cause strife yet many choose to light the fire of rumors causing much distress in the lives of others.
These few fundamental truths are often ignored yet they are paramount in Christian living. One other fundamental truth is that Christians are required to regularly meet with each other. Hebrews 10:22-25, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
Much can be expounded upon in these few versus but the foci rest on not forsaking and assembling. It is evident that some in the new Church failed to come together on a regular basis and this failure had a deleterious impact on the Church at large. As such the exhortation was, and continues to be, continual regular meetings resulting in the growth of the individuals thereby growing the Church at large. And while there is no issue with watching television evangelists there is no reason for able bodied Christians to miss church except for work requirements. And that can sometimes be made an excuse.
The message here is simple. There is a fundamental requirement of God for His people to meet regularly. It is not a suggestion rather a mandate. God has put in place a certain order for His people to follow and if this fundamental requirement is ignored then the choice is to ignore the very premise of God’s Word.
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Unfortunately, too many people think of church as a place where they can get their needs and/or desires met. They want all kinds of programs and “ministries” to serve them. However, the local church is where we go to be equipped to do the work of the kingdom and to do the “one another” stuff we see throughout the epistles. Church isn’t about what we receive, but about what we do to further the kingdom of God. Also, Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:10 (ESV) that one reason the Church exists is so that “through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities oin the heavenly places.”
Sir, once again you get to the matter of fundamental truths.