Folks attending the membership class at our church are often surprised at the emphasis we place on attending our Lord’s Day gathering. However gifted someone might be at talking to teenagers or working on the website, we insist their presence at corporate worship is a far more essential and significant way to serve the flock. This priority isn’t just a particular quirk of our church; it should be a biblical priority for every church.
Let’s look at four reasons the Bible prioritizes gathering, followed by four ways that gathering is currently under threat.
FOUR REASONS THE BIBLE PRIORITIZES GATHERING
1. The presence of the Lord commends it.
The Lord Jesus promises his presence at the gathering of his people: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I with them” (Matt. 18:20).
In light of the whole biblical narrative, this passage shows the extraordinary eschatological implications of the gathering. God’s presence was lost in Eden (Gen 3:8), but it returned in some capacity in the tabernacle (Exod. 25:8, 22), the land (Num. 35:34), and the temple (1 Kgs. 8:10–11). But his presence with Israel was always limited: “Will God indeed dwell on the earth?” (1 Kgs. 8:27).
In the coming of
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