Do we have to go to a church building
We are not to just worship at home.
Most people who try to say Scripture doesnt tell us to go to a church building, totally miss the point and dont know Scripture.
It is highly likely they also arent Saved. They want to hide away from the authority of the church leaders so none of their secret sins are exposed. They try to make people believe theyre Christian but they arent. They think we dont need to go to a modern church location but they say this so they can hide at home with few around them to challenge them on anything legitimate that a church (in a building) would do in normal course, incl. avoid being corrected, guided and avoid growing, and serving. Thus they avoid doing what would be expected of them in an actual local congregation. Scripture says of these: they left from us for they were not of us. They dont want to be around real Christians.
CHURCH
Hebrews 10:25
not forsaking our own assembling together, as some make a habit of doing, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near
Scripture tells us the congregation of Israel began gathering and living around the makeshift tabernacle. They and their lives revolved around it. This is the example God gave us and the Temple.
The Temple was huge. They also had smaller buildings in regional areas called synagogues for those who lived too far from the Temple.
Acts 13:42-46 and Scripture tells us those who were followers of God went to Temple. Jews met in the Temple. They did this since the Temple was built. It is a house of worship and prayer and to do good works but also to proclaim truth and point to Christ.
Acts 2:46 describes a large gathering of Christians meeting in the outer courts of the Temple. They were meeting in that large place.
How many believers gathered? It wasnt a small group.
120 met in a upper room of a rich man after the resurrection. Likely the same ones at the institution of the Lord's Supper with Jesus the night of his arrest. Those could not fit in a house that held 5 people, right?
620 people were disciples of Jesus. They could not fit in a house that held 5 people, right?
On the day of penticost 3,000 believed. So that large number of people didnt meet in a house where 5 people lived, right?
In the NT letters were written to the early Christian church in Rome (not RCC) and spoke of large numbers of believers in that city. Way more than 5,000. They all met at building of some kind. We know there was a place they gathered and the other churches as... there are literally "letters to the churches" in the NT.
Since the Resurrection, Christians traveled with the gospel and when some got saved (as they witnessed town to town) they started as small groups in homes until the congregation got larger and then moved from there to other locations, and then into a building where congregation gathered similarly to the Temple and synagogues. Even the underground churches met in large caves or in large areas under buildings in some eastern countries. Church buildings have been around since early & in modern times. The West is a free country where we have loads of believers. Some churches have 75 members others have 8,000+ attending. They are in Church buildings. It is where we redeemed gather. Stop making excuses and go to church.
The local Church is an entire world unto itself. It is as close to Heaven on earth as it gets. And God has called us to go there. It is rebellion to avoid being a church member and actively a part of the local congregation.
Adrian Rogers note (clip)
People need to understand the anatomy and foundational framework of life in the corporate Church.
We are not there just for a sermon.
There are multiple things that go on in the church. Together we study the Bible under teachers and preachers responsible to shepherd us, they expound on what the Bible teaches. We learn, ask questions, grow in that knowledge, meditate on, put it into applying action.
We as a congregation partake of the Lords Supper ordinance, view as witnesses to those who get baptized too. We help those who have a need, or financial hardship, or even in need of work. We care for elderly, widows and orphans in the congregation too. We pray for each other, counsel and get counsel both from the brethren and if needed by the pastor and counselors on site. We also enact church discipline to help believers get rid of sins and walk in righteousness. We tithe and serve in the church ministering to the brethren and serve the Lord with the gifts the Holy Spirit has given us to use in the body [church]. And we fellowship; in various opportunities and in mid week meet ups and in potlucks and to celebrate various life situations such as baptisms, graduations, marriages, births. We also find godly men in the church to train and raise up. We give reports on what God is doing among us and the church. And we train and send out all believers to evangelize, as well as send out and support missionaries.
There are many reasons we are gather at Church on Sunday and during the week.
Other Answers about various Church questions.
<< return to prev page
Example of early churches underground in areas of persecution & in regular life.
You may have "watched" sermons, which are held in a church, among the gathered believers. They are in the church where they belong. You are avoiding it. Stop avoiding it - if you are a Christian. Get to Church, and be there every week.
