What is the purpose of the church?
A church has a huge purpose; Slick presented the purpose of the church as thus:
To worship God (John 4:23), study the word of God (2 Tim. 2:15), pray (Acts 2:42), love one another(Phil. 1:1-4), help each other (Gal. 6:2), partake of baptism and the Lord’s supper (Luke 22:19-20), to learn how to live as godly people (Titus 2:11-12), to be equipped to evangelize the world (Matt. 28:18-20). (Slick 1)
Is it important for Christians to meet regularly?
Yes, it is important for Christians to meet regularly apart from the times when one may be in a hospital bed or working in a place where no church is available. Going to Church facilitates the Christians to have a fellowship with the son of God, Jesus Christ (Holy Bible 791) and a fellowship with fellow men. In the early Church, the bible recorded in Acts 20:7 that “they were in the habit of meeting the first day of the week to break the bread and share the word of God” (Holy Bible 773). Their meetings could go up too late in the night, and the church grew stronger.
The Purpose of the church to meet
Anderson stated that the purposes of going to church are “edification, discipleship for evangelism and to share the word of God” (Slick 1). Though, there have been mistakes of taking it that Christians go to church to worship, evangelize, and listen to the sermon. The mentioned above should be part of the Christian life, not occasional practices. Paul, in Romans 12:1 taught that Christians were supposed to offer their bodies’ continuously as living sacrifices as a service of worship (Holy Bible 789). Evangelizing was to be done at all times as the disciples practiced without necessarily having to be in specific places.
In Ephesians 5:19, the purpose of the gathering is “to speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with their hearts to the Lord” (Holy Bible 813). The church gathered for mutual edification and later dispersed for evangelism. According to Hebrews (10:24-25), the purpose of church meetings is for the strengthening of Christians’ faith.
Another purpose of the meeting is for fellowship. Fairchild put it clear that every Christian needed to grow spiritually, to learn to serve, and to practice forgiveness (1) since Christians are one body, as Romans 12:5 stated (Holy Bible 789).
Does meeting together contribute to the Christian life?
Yes, it does. Since Christian life is full of trials, there is a need for Christians to meet together. Often Christians drift from the will of God, and to be back on track; they need to be in a fellowship where they will get encouraged and be challenged. As Christians pray for one another, one feels to belong in a family, and thus his/her faith grows. As Christians share testimonies of how the Lord has helped them through different difficult situations, one gets encouraged to know that he/she may not be the only one going through the situation, and there are chances of victory over the situation some day. Thus, constant meetings strengthen Christians
Works Cited
Fairchild, Mary. “What Does The Bible Say About Church Attendance?” About.com, 2011. Web.
Holy Bible. The Holy Bible. New York: International Bible Society, 1983. Print.
Slick, Matt. “What is the purpose of the church?” Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry, 2011. Web.