“To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ, called to be saints together.” (1 Cor. 1:2)
“And when they (that is Paul and Barnabas) arrived and gathered the church together.” (Acts 14:27)
“In common parlance, the word church refers to a building where people meet to worship.”
”The visible church (that which you see; a local body of believers)…out of which there is no ordinary possibility of salvation.” WCF 25.2
“If you claim Christ as your head, you need to be part of his body, the church.” – Jim Stevenson
OT Passages on the fact and importance of God’s people gathering together:
1. Ps. 22:22, 25, “I will tell of Your name to my brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.” “From You comes my praise in the great assembly…”
2. Ps. 35:18, “I will give You thanks in the great congregation; I will praise You among a mighty throng.”
3. Ps. 26:12, “…In the congregations I shall bless the Lord.”
4. Psalm 107:32, “Let them extol Him also in the congregation of the people, and praise Him at the seat of the elders.”
5. Psalm 149:1, Ps. 40:9-10; Ps. 41:9, 10; Prov. 5:14; Neh. 8:1, 9:3; Deut. 31:11.
NT Passages on the fact and importance of God’s people gathering together:
1. Acts 2:42, “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship to the breaking of bread and prayer.”
2. Rom. 16:5, “also greet the church that is in their house.”
3. Col. 1:24, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church.”
4. 1 Thes. 5:27, “I adjure you by the Lord to have this letter read to all the brethren.”
5. Heb. 10:25, Not neglect the gathering together of the saints.
Conclusion: The Bible, from beginning to the end, knows the gathering of the people of God, for public worship and other events. This is simply what the people of God do, as a family.
“Rightly pursued, the study of ancient Christianity will lead everyone of us first to the feet of the living Lord, then to a simple confession of him and an active membership in his church.” – Machen.
Psalm 87:2 is often used in reference to the importance of public worship over private worship: “the LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.”