Church?

What is the purpose of church? 

I'm going to explore this topic more in depth by breaking it down into two separate posts. This first one is a response from Pastor Jim Murphy when I posed the following questions to him:

• What is the purpose of church? As in, going to church, meeting together at a set time, etc.
• What are some Biblical references where I can begin to study it for myself?
• As well, what insights and thoughts do have on this topic?

Here is his response, which I agree whole-heartedly with:

I see these reasons for attending a church:

--to worship God in the fellowship of His people. There's no doubt you can worship God in your home or on a mountain, but something is different about corporate worship. It may be Jesus' promise that when two or more are gathered in His name, He is there. Certainly the subjective experience of worshiping alone, or even in a small group, is different from what we experience when we are with a larger group.

Psalms 122:1 I rejoiced with those who said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord." That verse speaks about what a good thing it is to join with God's people in worship together.

--to strengthen our faith. We live in a culture that is increasingly opposed to biblical truth and faith. It reinforces our convictions to fellowship with other believers who share our beliefs - and this is especially important when we work in a secular environment and may get some opposition during the week.

Hebrews 10:24-25 "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching." --this isn't speaking specifically about "going to church to a worship service", but what it says certainly applies to that setting as well as to fellowship groups, etc. When we gather at church, we have the opportunity to encourage each other in the faith.

--the 4th commandment is to set aside one day in seven as a "sabbath" to the Lord. This day has two purposes: one is to refrain from work, which is an act of faith, expressing our confidence that God will provide for our needs even though we are not working. The other is to worship Him - it is a "Sabbath to the Lord". It's not intended to be just a day to play, but a day to focus on God, to establish a rhythm to our week that intentionally and deliberately includes the Lord, thereby anchoring our lives in Him, rather than in ourselves or our culture.

So that's some of what I see as the purposes for "going to church". But really, if it is seen that way, I think it misses the whole point. Somehow that phrase puts it in the realm of a duty, an obligation, something I am supposed to do, and if I don't do it, I'm a bad person. Rather, I see it as something I WANT to do. I LOVE worshiping with the Lord's people. I LOVE fellowshipping with His people. The question I have is, Why would someone NOT want to do that?