If you “go to church”, you are probably being mislead by the traditions of men. The Church is not a building or establishment made by man; It is the body of Christ.
Romans 12:5 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
Colossians 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
The Church consists of all who have faith in Jesus Christ as the son of God. Wherever we gather, the Church is. We are the Church and Jesus Christ is the head of the Church.
In the Bible we see references to many churches. These refer to the believers in different areas. The churches are not buildings or denominations, but are the people and are still one body. I believe this is important to understanding Scripture.
Your article notwithstanding, the first church of the Way by the apostles met in Solomon's Court in King Herod's Temple in Jerusalem. It was only after the martyrdom of Stephen the deacon that followers of the Way started meeting secretly in homes. Saul was sent from Jerusalem to Damascus to arrest such heretics. Antioch was the location of the first Church building, and when the Romans destroyed the Temple in AD 70, there were even more reasons to build individual Churches in each city.
As Christians, we go to a church building on a Sunday because we remember Jesus was resurrected on a Sunday, and because going to a separate building is easier than home churches. Not everyone has a piano/synthesizer in their home for singing hymns, you can pool your resources to pay for a pastor who is not bi-vocational to study and preach God's Word to others, and children can be taught in Sunday School, etc.
The items to avoid falling into is ritualism, petty jealousies and infighting, and other things that ruin a body of believers in a church building. What color the carpet should be. Some people try to reject a church building, but there is strength in numbers, as well as doctrine.
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Just to be clear, I do not condemn meeting together or meeting together in a building. I have another article coming out later today about the church. I just want to point out the difference between the church and a church building. Many people don't understand the difference. You can't build churches, you can only build buildings for us to gather in.
I personally believe most church groups today, in America at least, are corrupt. You should not be a number in a book and I don't believe in churches tying themselves to the gov with the 501c3, but that may be for another day.
I appreciate your comment :)
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