Do I Have to Attend Church / What Do
the Scriptures Say?
Duet
12:1-32
The Lord’s Chosen Place for Worship
“These are the decrees and regulations you must
be careful to obey when you live in the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. You must obey
them as long as you live.
2 “When you drive out the nations that live there,
you must destroy all the places where they worship their gods—high on the
mountains, up on the hills, and under every green tree. 3 Break down
their altars and smash their sacred pillars. Burn their Asherah
poles and cut down their carved idols. Completely erase the names of their
gods!
4 “Do not worship the Lord your God in the way these pagan peoples worship their
gods. 5 Rather, you must seek the Lord
your God at the place of worship he himself will choose from among all the
tribes—the place where his name will be honored. 6 There you will bring
your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, your sacred offerings, your
offerings to fulfill a vow, your voluntary offerings, and your offerings of the
firstborn animals of your herds and flocks. 7 There you and your
families will feast in the presence of the Lord
your God, and you will rejoice in all you have accomplished because the Lord your God has blessed you.
8 “Your pattern of worship will change. Today all of
you are doing as you please, 9 because you have
not yet arrived at the place of rest, the land the Lord your God is giving you as your special possession. 10
But you will soon cross the Jordan River and live in the land the Lord your God is giving you. When he
gives you rest from all your enemies and you’re living safely in the land, 11
you must bring everything I command you—your burnt offerings, your sacrifices,
your tithes, your sacred offerings, and your offerings to fulfill a vow—to the
designated place of worship, the place the Lord
your God chooses for his name to be honored.
12 “You must celebrate there in the presence of the Lord your God with your sons and
daughters and all your servants. And remember to include the Levites who live
in your towns, for they will receive no allotment of land among you. 13
Be careful not to sacrifice your burnt offerings just anywhere you like. 14
You may do so only at the place the Lord
will choose within one of your tribal territories. There you must offer your
burnt offerings and do everything I command you.
15 “But you may butcher your animals and eat their
meat in any town whenever you want. You may freely eat the animals with which
the Lord your God blesses you.
All of you, whether ceremonially clean or unclean, may eat that meat, just as
you now eat gazelle and deer. 16 But you must not eat the blood. You
must pour it out on the ground like water.
17 “But you may not eat your offerings in your
hometown—neither the tithe of your grain and new wine and olive oil, nor the
firstborn of your flocks and herds, nor any offering to fulfill a vow, nor your
voluntary offerings, nor your sacred offerings. 18 You must eat these in
the presence of the Lord your God
at the place he will choose. Eat them there with your children, your servants,
and the Levites who live in your towns, celebrating in the presence of the Lord your God in all you do. 19
And be very careful never to neglect the Levites as long as you live in your
land.
20 “When the Lord your God expands your territory as he
has promised, and you have the urge to eat meat, you may freely eat meat
whenever you want. 21 It might happen that the designated place
of worship—the place the Lord
your God chooses for his name to be honored—is a long way from your home. If
so, you may butcher any of the cattle, sheep, or goats the Lord has given you, and you may freely
eat the meat in your hometown, as I have commanded you. 22 Anyone,
whether ceremonially clean or unclean, may eat that meat, just as you do now
with gazelle and deer. 23 But never eat the blood, for the blood is the
life, and you must not eat the lifeblood with the meat. 24 Instead, pour
out the blood on the ground like water. 25 Do not eat the blood, so that
all may go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing
what pleases the Lord.
26 “Take your sacred gifts and your offerings given
to fulfill a vow to the place the Lord
chooses. 27 You must offer the meat and blood of your burnt offerings on
the altar of the Lord your God.
The blood of your other sacrifices must be poured out on the altar of the Lord your God, but you may eat the meat.
28 Be careful to obey all my commands, so that all will go well with you
and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and
pleasing to the Lord your God.
29 “When the Lord
your God goes ahead of you and destroys the nations and you drive them out and
live in their land, 30 do not fall into the trap of following their
customs and worshiping their gods. Do not inquire about their gods, saying,
‘How do these nations worship their gods? I want to follow their example.’ 31
You must not worship the Lord
your God the way the other nations worship their gods, for they perform for
their gods every detestable act that the Lord
hates. They even burn their sons and daughters as sacrifices to their gods.
32 [a]“So be careful to obey all the commands I give
you. You must not add anything to them or subtract anything from them.
Heb
10:24-25
24 Let us think of ways to motivate one
another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting
together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the
day of his return is drawing near.
Eph 4:16
16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does
its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is
healthy and growing and full of love.
Eph
1:22
22 God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made
him head over all things for the benefit of the church. 23 And the church is his body; it is made
full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.
1 Cor 12
One Body with Many Parts
12 The human body has many parts, but the many parts
make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. 13 Some of us
are Jews, some are Gentiles,[e] some are slaves, and some are free. But we
have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same
Spirit.
1 Cor 12:14-23
14 Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. 15 If the foot says, “I am not a part of
the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the
body. 16 And if the ear says, “I
am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a
part of the body? 17 If the
whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear,
how would you smell anything?
18 But
our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. 19 How strange a body would be if it had
only one part! 20 Yes,
there are many parts, but only one body. 21 The eye can never say to the hand, “I
don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”
22 In
fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and
least important are actually the most necessary. 23 And the parts we regard as less
honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect
those parts that should not be seen, 24
while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put
the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that
have less dignity. 25 This
makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each
other. 26 If one part suffers, all
the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad. 27 All of you together
are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it. 28 Here are some of the parts God has
appointed for the church:
first are apostles,
second are prophets,
third are teachers,
then those who do miracles,
those who have the gift of healing,
those who can help others,
those who have the gift of leadership,
those who speak in unknown languages.
1 Cor 22:1-19
1 Then David said, “This will be the location for the Temple of the
Lord God and the place of the
altar for Israel’s burnt offerings!”
Preparations for the Temple
2 So David gave orders to call together the
foreigners living in Israel, and he assigned them the task of preparing finished
stone for building the Temple of God. 3 David provided large amounts of
iron for the nails that would be needed for the doors in the gates and for the
clamps, and he gave more bronze than could be weighed. 4 He also
provided innumerable cedar logs, for the men of Tyre
and Sidon had brought vast amounts of cedar to David.
5 David said, “My son Solomon is still young and
inexperienced. And since the Temple to be built for the Lord must be a magnificent structure, famous
and glorious throughout the world, I will begin making preparations for it
now.” So David collected vast amounts of building materials before his death.
6 Then David sent for his son Solomon and instructed
him to build a Temple for the Lord,
the God of Israel. 7 “My son, I wanted to build a Temple to honor the
name of the Lord my God,” David
told him. 8 “But the Lord
said to me, ‘You have killed many men in the battles you have fought. And since
you have shed so much blood in my sight, you will not be the one to build a
Temple to honor my name. 9 But you will have a son who will be a man of
peace. I will give him peace with his enemies in all the surrounding lands. His
name will be Solomon,[a] and I will give peace and quiet to Israel
during his reign. 10 He is the one who will build a Temple to honor my
name. He will be my son, and I will be his father. And I will secure the throne
of his kingdom over Israel forever.’
11 “Now, my son, may the Lord be with you and give you success as you follow his
directions in building the Temple of the Lord
your God. 12 And may the Lord
give you wisdom and understanding, that you may obey the Law of the Lord your God as you rule over Israel. 13
For you will be successful if you carefully obey the decrees and regulations
that the Lord gave to Israel
through Moses. Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or lose heart!
14 “I have worked hard to provide materials for
building the Temple of the Lord—nearly
4,000 tons of gold, 40,000 tons of silver,[b] and so much iron and bronze that it cannot
be weighed. I have also gathered timber and stone for the walls, though you may
need to add more. 15 You have a large number of skilled stonemasons and
carpenters and craftsmen of every kind. 16 You have expert goldsmiths
and silversmiths and workers of bronze and iron. Now begin the work, and may
the Lord be with you!”
17 Then David ordered all the leaders of Israel to
assist Solomon in this project. 18 “The Lord your God is with you,” he declared. “He has given you
peace with the surrounding nations. He has handed them over to me, and they are
now subject to the Lord and his
people. 19 Now seek the Lord
your God with all your heart and soul. Build the sanctuary of the Lord God so that you can bring the Ark
of the Lord’s Covenant and the
holy vessels of God into the Temple built to honor the Lord’s name.”