I haven’t been to church in a long time.

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Anthony D'Arienzo

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One Church His the spiritual one filled with those who follow Him
Not until the last day.
Who are the deacons in the one church you speak of?
The word church means assembly.
Where does the one church you speak of assemble?
 

Anthony D'Arienzo

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people do sit in those assemblies! False churches, apostates and ‘uncalled’ preachers are good liars.
Sadly this is also true
Many in our day are mislead because they leave the safety of biblical doctrines for false teaching storytellers.
Sometimes we out of necessity must attend a weak church with a view to help them.
 

mjrhealth

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Not until the last day.
Who are the deacons in the one church you speak of?
The word church means assembly.
Where does the one church you speak of assemble?
Its being that way since pentecost but men still reject His calling and prefer to follow strangers
 

mjrhealth

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God places the members in the body as it pleases Him.
Yes Jesus first us second but some would rather be third.

Joh 6:45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.

so who is it you are following
 

Giuliano

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The day reference could be the day one comes into the unity of faith.
After all salvation is today.
For me, that is the first appearance of Jesus. Where people are gathered togethered in his name, he will be in their midst. I believe Jesus is present when someone hears and accepts the Gospel and when they are baptized. If God sees a swallow falling to the ground, surely Jesus would take notice and want to be present. I can't see how anyone could "join" the Body of Christ without Jesus himself being present. Yes, salvation is always today, always a matter of now.

Then in expecting a second appearance, the author of Hebrews says Christians should "exhort" one another and so on.

Hebrews 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
 

theophilus

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I conclude then that there is more to this than filling a church pew once a week.
Obeying Jesus involves more that just meeting together but certainly doesn't involve doing less.
The day reference could be the day one comes into the unity of faith.
After all salvation is today.
Before that day comes there will be a time when the whole world unites under the antichrist in rebellion against God and Jesus returns to put down this rebellion and reign as king over the whole earth. The time of rebellion is the next thing that will take place and we must be ready for it.
 

Giuliano

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Obeying Jesus involves more that just meeting together but certainly doesn't involve doing less.
I think we may put too much emphasis on weekly meetings and not enough on other things. I ran across this article about a Catholic charity. I'd say people were "coming together" or "assemblying" in a wonderful way.

Catholic Charity sends aid to Brazil

Brazil is to receive emergency aid from a leading Catholic Charity as the coronavirus crisis deepens there, with the second-highest number of COVID-19 cases in the world.

Brazil, the largest country in Latin America, has a population of 210 million people, many of whom live in conditions of poverty. The coronavirus outbreak there has become one of the worst in the world, with 775,581 Brazilians diagnosed with the virus, of whom 39,803 have died.

The impact of the pandemic and concomitant lockdown measures upon the Brazilian economy has also undermined the work of the Church in that country, with income falling by over 60% in some parishes. Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), a leading Catholic charity, has announced 11 new projects in Brazil in response to this, focussed on supporting the work of priests, religious and lay missionaries.

In total, the projects will aid 169 priests, 141 Sisters, 31 seminarians and 56 lay missionaries, all of whom are engaged in work supporting their communities during the pandemic. Many of these projects involve the collection and distribution of food and other essential supplies to the neediest, who have been hit hardest by the disruption caused by the pandemic.

Father Francisco Silva, the treasurer for the diocese of Itapipoca, told ACN that although his diocese had stepped up fundraising efforts in order to aid those hurt by the crisis, it was now getting “very difficult” to secure financial support. Fr Silva explained that, by this point in the pandemic, very few people in his diocese had money to spare, and welcomed the help overseas charities offered. Ceara, the province of Brazil Itapipoca diocese is located in, has been especially badly affected by the coronavirus outbreak, with 71,402 cases of coronavirus recorded there, and 4,480 deaths.

Also when James talks about pure religion, he talks about visiting people who need it. Some people have difficulty going to a church -- in those cases, maybe church members need to go to them.

James 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
 
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theophilus

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I think we may put too much emphasis on weekly meetings and not enough on other things.
Half of this statement is true. We need to put emphasis on other things besides attending church, but going to church is important to and is something we need to do to carry out the work of the church effectively. Right now the coronavirus is making it hard to meet together but we must be prepared to resume meeting when the virus threat has ended.
 

Giuliano

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Half of this statement is true. We need to put emphasis on other things besides attending church, but going to church is important to and is something we need to do to carry out the work of the church effectively. Right now the coronavirus is making it hard to meet together but we must be prepared to resume meeting when the virus threat has ended.
I have no objection to people attending church; but people could be fooling themselves if they think warming a bench is all that is requried of them. When I see mega-churches, it makes me wonder.
 

theophilus

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people could be fooling themselves if they think warming a bench is all that is requried of them.
It isn't all that is required but it is required if it is possible to do it.
 

Giuliano

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It isn't all that is required but it is required if it is possible to do it.
I would not try to bind others like that. I think there are two commandments.

Matthew 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.


Someone attending church just because he feels obligated is falling into legalism. It's a waste of time if no genuine love is felt or expressed. It could also lead someone to think everything's fine when it isn't. It can become like the people tithing mint. Then people wonder why their churches are cold, and they wonder if there will be a revival.