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The local church is mentioned in the Bible over seventy times. Jesus loves the church and died for the church (Eph 5:25). Yet some people do not understand that the local church should have an important place in their lives. They see no need of attending the services or getting involved in the work of the local assembly. It is not wise to emulate these folks. This is not the biblical pattern nor one that will produce strong and consistent disciples that love Jesus and follow Him. In the New Testament when people were delivered from the power and consequences of their sin (saved) they immediately became part of a local church (Acts 2:41, 47). When Saul was transformed into the Apostle Paul on the Damascus road, he wanted to join the church (Acts 9:26). Paul taught that the local church is God’s field, Christ’s Bride, Christ’s body, God’s building, and God’s spiritual temple that is corporately indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Eph 2:10–5:25). Jesus taught that He was in the business of building His church (Matt 16:18). How can someone who genuinely loves Jesus ignore the church that He is building? How can someone who worships the Bride Groom, ignore His cherished Bride without greatly insulting Him? Is it even possible for a body part to ignore the rest of the body and only have a connection with the Head (Eph 1:22, 4:16)?
We are commanded by God through His Apostles to attend church services. The Bible says, “And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works, 25 not staying away from our meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day drawing near” (Heb 10:24–25 HCSB). Since the final day of the LORD is much closer for us than it was for the early church, we should be even more diligent today about attending church regularly than they were in the first century.
Many Books of the New Testament were written directly to local churches. This shows that God expected His people to actually attend church services so they could hear what the Apostles were inspired to write. We all need to hear the Word of God preached and taught. To not attend church is to neglect the preaching of the Word of God. When we turn away from the regular preaching of the Bible, it hinders our fellowship with God (Proverbs. 28:9), stunts our spiritual growth, and deprives other Christians of what they need from us (Eph 4:16). In the body life flows from body part to body part, every part is not directly connected to the head (the illustration in the New Testament is of a human body, not of an octopus).
Our family’s needs to attend local church services and events. God commands parents to diligently teach the Bible to their children (Deut 6:6–7). Attending a Bible teaching church as a family is one way of doing this. God is doing His work in this world through the local assemblies. The church is His one and only ordained and commissioned redemptive channel on the earth. Only the local church has the authority to participate in the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Therefore, it is impossible to be a faithful and obedient Christian without being an active participant in a Bible teaching church unless one is physically unable to do so. Real believers that are providentially hindered from active participation during a season of their lives still have a great desire to be part of a local assembly and they miss it dearly when they cannot be. However, If the assembly we choose to attend is committed to entertainment or
liberalism rather than biblical exposition, it will not be able to assist us in training our families with the Word of God and to think Christianly.
Every believer (past, present, and future) needs to be part of a church in order to regularly fellowship with other Christians (Acts 2:42). God has designed humans to have a need for community. Being a hermit or recluse is not normal. We need a place to serve, to give, and to corporately worship our Triune God (Acts 4:31). We need a pastor and people who care for us, serve with us, and pray for us. We need a place where we can invite our friends to come and hear the Word of God and to hear again the gospel message we have been sharing with them. As we team up with other believers at our local church, we can more effectively reach our neighborhood for Christ. Also, through the church we can help send missionaries around the world, pray for them, provide funds for them, as well as going on short term mission trips ourselves with others in the body of Christ. Some active church members will be directed by the Lord to relocate and serve Him where the gospel is scarce. But those who are not faithful in the smaller things—like regularly participating in corporate worship on the first day of the week (Sunday), He will not lead to enter vocational service locally or overseas (Luke 16:10). Furthermore, it is a weekly witness that we believe in the resurrection of the Messiah, Jesus, when we gather for worship on Sunday, just as we see the early church doing in the New Testament (1 Cor 16:1–2).
When we put other things before our church attendance, the message we are sending to others around us (including our children) is that Jesus is not very important in our life, neither is His Word. We are not walking in obedience to the Good Shepherd of the sheep (John 10:27). When we do not assemble together with Christ’s Bride, we are showing that an idol has replaced Yahweh in our hearts as the supreme One we adore. Unless we are providentially hindered, the normal pattern of a follower of Jesus is to gather with the local assembly of Christ’s body, building, and bride. When the Holy Spirit does a mighty work in a local assembly, we will not be a participant in that event even if we watch or listen to that service by some form of electronic media (e.g. TV, radio, CD, DVD, etc.). Nothing replaces being there during a special visitation of God (John 20:24).
Why is the confusing to some people? It is because many who claim to be a Christian do not attend church regularly. John the Baptist preached that if our life did not produce the fruit that vindicates our profession, then the mere words we said were useless and false (Luke 3:7–9). The Apostle John tells us that one of the tests that confirms that we have a sufficient basis for assurance of our salvation is to be actively part of a local church (1 John 2:18–19).
Make sure you have surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ and are truly delivered from the power, love of, and everlasting consequences of sin. Alabama pastor Matt Chandler regularly reminds the Village church that the reason many of them have no love for the Lord, the Word of God, or the people of God is that they are not yet saved. They made an easy-believism profession, with no intention at all of surrendering to Jesus or obeying His written Word. James clearly reminds us that a professed faith that cannot demonstrate that it is genuine by loyal obedience is a demonic and dead faith that cannot deliver one from the wrath to come (Jam 2:14–26).
The New Testament repeatedly emphasizes the importance of local assemblies. In fact, it was the pattern of Paul’s ministry to establish local congregations in the cities where he preached the gospel. He knew for the gospel to expand in a city and multiply that he must plant churches. He then would return to these churches to help establish them in the faith. He gave most of the fifty-six “one another” commands to local churches, which it is only in such gatherings of believers where these commands can be obeyed. For instance, we cannot greet another believer with a handshake if we are never in their presence. Paul could not imagine a churchless Christian any more than he could a Christ-less Christian.
The New Testament also teaches that every believer is to be under the protection and nurture of the leadership of a local church. These godly men can shepherd the believer who attend by encouraging, admonishing, caring for, leading, and teaching. Hebrews 13:7 and 17 help us to understand that God has graciously granted accountability to us through godly leadership (Also see Titus 1and 1 Timothy 3). Furthermore, when Paul gave Timothy special instructions about the public meetings, he said “Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching” (1 Tim 4:13). Part of the activities in a Bible based public worship service includes these three elements: hearing the Word read out loud, being called to obedience through preaching and exhortation, and Bible teaching. It is by God’s design and plan that in the context of the local assembly that these things can most effectively take place.
The book of Acts shows us what the early church did when they met together: “And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”
(Acts 2:42 ESV). They learned God’s Word and appropriated its truths into their lives. They came together to participate in acts of love and service to one another, they regularly ate together as well as celebrating the Lord’s Supper together, and they prayed together. Worship in the entire Bible is seen as scheduled events that are regularly individual acts and regularly corporate acts. Biblical Christianity include both private and public worship. What is positionally and spiritually true of a believer needs to be displayed in their lives ( 1 Cor 12:13; Eph 4:1–6).
Active local church membership is necessary to live a life with integrity. It is only through the ministry of the local church that a believer can receive the kind of teaching, accountability, and encouragement that is necessary for him to stand against his spiritual enemies (Eph 6:10–18; Jam 5:16). Likewise, the local church is the God ordained place for the believer to regularly exercise their spiritual gifts (1 Cor 12:11). Charles Spurgeon was truly correct when he said the local church “Is the sweetest place on all the earth.”
We are commanded by God through His Apostles to attend church services. The Bible says, “And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works, 25 not staying away from our meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day drawing near” (Heb 10:24–25 HCSB). Since the final day of the LORD is much closer for us than it was for the early church, we should be even more diligent today about attending church regularly than they were in the first century.
Many Books of the New Testament were written directly to local churches. This shows that God expected His people to actually attend church services so they could hear what the Apostles were inspired to write. We all need to hear the Word of God preached and taught. To not attend church is to neglect the preaching of the Word of God. When we turn away from the regular preaching of the Bible, it hinders our fellowship with God (Proverbs. 28:9), stunts our spiritual growth, and deprives other Christians of what they need from us (Eph 4:16). In the body life flows from body part to body part, every part is not directly connected to the head (the illustration in the New Testament is of a human body, not of an octopus).
Our family’s needs to attend local church services and events. God commands parents to diligently teach the Bible to their children (Deut 6:6–7). Attending a Bible teaching church as a family is one way of doing this. God is doing His work in this world through the local assemblies. The church is His one and only ordained and commissioned redemptive channel on the earth. Only the local church has the authority to participate in the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Therefore, it is impossible to be a faithful and obedient Christian without being an active participant in a Bible teaching church unless one is physically unable to do so. Real believers that are providentially hindered from active participation during a season of their lives still have a great desire to be part of a local assembly and they miss it dearly when they cannot be. However, If the assembly we choose to attend is committed to entertainment or
liberalism rather than biblical exposition, it will not be able to assist us in training our families with the Word of God and to think Christianly.
Every believer (past, present, and future) needs to be part of a church in order to regularly fellowship with other Christians (Acts 2:42). God has designed humans to have a need for community. Being a hermit or recluse is not normal. We need a place to serve, to give, and to corporately worship our Triune God (Acts 4:31). We need a pastor and people who care for us, serve with us, and pray for us. We need a place where we can invite our friends to come and hear the Word of God and to hear again the gospel message we have been sharing with them. As we team up with other believers at our local church, we can more effectively reach our neighborhood for Christ. Also, through the church we can help send missionaries around the world, pray for them, provide funds for them, as well as going on short term mission trips ourselves with others in the body of Christ. Some active church members will be directed by the Lord to relocate and serve Him where the gospel is scarce. But those who are not faithful in the smaller things—like regularly participating in corporate worship on the first day of the week (Sunday), He will not lead to enter vocational service locally or overseas (Luke 16:10). Furthermore, it is a weekly witness that we believe in the resurrection of the Messiah, Jesus, when we gather for worship on Sunday, just as we see the early church doing in the New Testament (1 Cor 16:1–2).
When we put other things before our church attendance, the message we are sending to others around us (including our children) is that Jesus is not very important in our life, neither is His Word. We are not walking in obedience to the Good Shepherd of the sheep (John 10:27). When we do not assemble together with Christ’s Bride, we are showing that an idol has replaced Yahweh in our hearts as the supreme One we adore. Unless we are providentially hindered, the normal pattern of a follower of Jesus is to gather with the local assembly of Christ’s body, building, and bride. When the Holy Spirit does a mighty work in a local assembly, we will not be a participant in that event even if we watch or listen to that service by some form of electronic media (e.g. TV, radio, CD, DVD, etc.). Nothing replaces being there during a special visitation of God (John 20:24).
Why is the confusing to some people? It is because many who claim to be a Christian do not attend church regularly. John the Baptist preached that if our life did not produce the fruit that vindicates our profession, then the mere words we said were useless and false (Luke 3:7–9). The Apostle John tells us that one of the tests that confirms that we have a sufficient basis for assurance of our salvation is to be actively part of a local church (1 John 2:18–19).
Make sure you have surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ and are truly delivered from the power, love of, and everlasting consequences of sin. Alabama pastor Matt Chandler regularly reminds the Village church that the reason many of them have no love for the Lord, the Word of God, or the people of God is that they are not yet saved. They made an easy-believism profession, with no intention at all of surrendering to Jesus or obeying His written Word. James clearly reminds us that a professed faith that cannot demonstrate that it is genuine by loyal obedience is a demonic and dead faith that cannot deliver one from the wrath to come (Jam 2:14–26).
The New Testament repeatedly emphasizes the importance of local assemblies. In fact, it was the pattern of Paul’s ministry to establish local congregations in the cities where he preached the gospel. He knew for the gospel to expand in a city and multiply that he must plant churches. He then would return to these churches to help establish them in the faith. He gave most of the fifty-six “one another” commands to local churches, which it is only in such gatherings of believers where these commands can be obeyed. For instance, we cannot greet another believer with a handshake if we are never in their presence. Paul could not imagine a churchless Christian any more than he could a Christ-less Christian.
The New Testament also teaches that every believer is to be under the protection and nurture of the leadership of a local church. These godly men can shepherd the believer who attend by encouraging, admonishing, caring for, leading, and teaching. Hebrews 13:7 and 17 help us to understand that God has graciously granted accountability to us through godly leadership (Also see Titus 1and 1 Timothy 3). Furthermore, when Paul gave Timothy special instructions about the public meetings, he said “Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching” (1 Tim 4:13). Part of the activities in a Bible based public worship service includes these three elements: hearing the Word read out loud, being called to obedience through preaching and exhortation, and Bible teaching. It is by God’s design and plan that in the context of the local assembly that these things can most effectively take place.
The book of Acts shows us what the early church did when they met together: “And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”
(Acts 2:42 ESV). They learned God’s Word and appropriated its truths into their lives. They came together to participate in acts of love and service to one another, they regularly ate together as well as celebrating the Lord’s Supper together, and they prayed together. Worship in the entire Bible is seen as scheduled events that are regularly individual acts and regularly corporate acts. Biblical Christianity include both private and public worship. What is positionally and spiritually true of a believer needs to be displayed in their lives ( 1 Cor 12:13; Eph 4:1–6).
Active local church membership is necessary to live a life with integrity. It is only through the ministry of the local church that a believer can receive the kind of teaching, accountability, and encouragement that is necessary for him to stand against his spiritual enemies (Eph 6:10–18; Jam 5:16). Likewise, the local church is the God ordained place for the believer to regularly exercise their spiritual gifts (1 Cor 12:11). Charles Spurgeon was truly correct when he said the local church “Is the sweetest place on all the earth.”
