CHURCH ATTENDANCE 8/12/20

“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20 KJV).
“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is” (Hebrews 10:25 KJV).
“Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts” (Acts 2:46 NIV).
“Every day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ” (Acts 5:42 NIV).
“He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom” (Luke 4:16 NIV).
The New Testament calls the Church, “the body of Christ”, and, “the Bride of Christ” too many times to quote. The Church is where Christ is found all the time. Christ dwells in the individual believers, yes, but when many, or, “2 or 3”, come together as Church (in His name) He is multiplied and magnified in the midst of them. When the Christ in each individual comes together in one, the all-powerful Spirit binds all the individuals together into one Body. I Corinthians 10:17, “Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf.”
Every single Epistle in the New Testament assumes Christians are Church attenders. All the letters are addressed to churches. They tell how to get along with other members, how to encourage the church, how to behave in church, and what to do in the church. It seems to me that every real Christian who loves Christ would want to be with Christ in the most profound way possible and that is always with and in His Church because He is always there in ways you cannot find Him anywhere else on earth.
According to Pew Research the vast majority of people go to Church to feel closer to God, and that is as it should be. There is no more holy place on earth than Church because it is God filled and God breathed. Only about 28% of those who do not attend Church regularly are nonbelievers. Most claim to be Christians! I Cor. 12:27 says to the believers in Corinth, “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” I Peter 2:4-5, “As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen and precious in God’s sight, you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house.”
I have heard many dying people say they just want to attend Church one more time. During this pandemic many have told me that want to see the crosses on the back wall once again. The early Church met every day! And they met together in their homes and ate together. Acts 2:44 says all the believers were together. Acts 2:42, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
There are legitimate reasons for missing some Church services, such as sickness and/or the pandemic, vacations, family and numerous others, but these are always temporary. And, for me, the streaming counts as attendance when attendance is dangerous.
However, when all is said and done, and all the cards are on the table, how can someone claim to be Christian and not want to be closer to Him, to be a part of Him and learn more about Him? How can someone remain a Christian and choose not to attend Church? Because Christ is coming back for His Church!
Jim