Why Should I Be Part of a Local Church?

my answer is that according to the Bible we should be part of a local congregation and that philosophy is very individualistic it's really contrary to human nature and it's certainly contrary to scripture I've also had people say well I just go where the spirit leads me and I would say well the spirit is not going to lead you personally contrary to what the spirit has told everybody everywhere through the written word so for example Hebrews 10:25 tells us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is so that's pretty pertinent and even more so as you see the day approaching so as you see judgment coming how much more should you be connected the same book going into Hebrews 14 talks about uh obey those that have the rule over you and it's not talking about dictatorial leadership it's talking about being accountable to Spiritual Authority how can you do that you you have to have a church you have to have a pastor you have to have fellow Believers to whom you actually feel accountable to that check up on you um that that you hear the preaching and teaching the word it's so easy to deceive ourselves and justif y ourselves Jeremiah says the heart is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things so if you're just depending on yourself that's very subjective and you can easily deceive yourself but when you submit to the regular preaching and teaching of the word of God when you are part of a congregation that has expectations there's accountability there's culture there's a common pursuit of Holiness you all agree on certain values and how to implement them then now you're not just depending on your deceitful sinful heart but you're depending on the body of Christ the word of God the spirit of God and that's really what we need we we actually see this in Acts two is and Acts 2 is the Paradigm or pattern of a local church it's not just a historical record but it's actually explaining how the early church lived so to be a role model for how we should live so notice in Acts 2:42 after you had the birthday of the Christian Church initially 120 Believers received the spirit then after Peter and the apostles preached another 3,000 were added so the early church started with these 3,120 Believers and notice acts 242 new King James they continued steadfastly in the apostles Doctrine and fellowship in the breaking of bread and in prayers so obviously you must have the original Pentecostal experience that's what brought them into the church but then you're to continue steadfastly in the apostles Doctrine so there's teaching you must have a regular diet steadfast uh diet of teaching and fellowship you must participate with other believers breaking a bread that no doubt referred to the Lord's Supper but not only the Lord's Supper but Fellowship meals so how can you be a Christian if you don't participate in the Lord's Supper how can you be a Christian if you don't have fellowship with the body of Christ and in prayers so it's indicating not only your individual private prayer But continuing together in prayers if you read continue to read as a result uh many miracles took place as a result they pulled their resources and gave generously and of course the early church you had thousands of people from these other nations they were trying to supply uh for them and help them and so there was sacrificial giving um and then verse 46 so continuing daily with one Accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart praising God and having favor with all the people and the Lord added to the church daily those were being saved so here we see they continued in the temple which would be the temple grounds uh where where hundreds or even thousands could gather uh but then house to house so where they met for worship and study and prayer and fellowship uh and it says they were praising God and having favor with all the people so so there was not only individual prayer but corporate prayer there's not only individual praise but corporate praise so this is an example this is a paradigm and throughout the Book of Acts and the Epistles written for the church The Book of Revelation you find repeat reply uh another example 1 Corinthians 12 through 14 talking about the gifts of the Spirit but it talks about how the local church meets together they sing together they listen to one another share the word of God they exercise spiritual gifts they pray together um and so all of this is happening in community so if you read the entire New Testament you get a clear understanding the church is a corporate body and of course the church is not the building the church is the people so you can't be a Christian and yet not be part of the church you can't be a Christian and yet not be part of the body um you must be part of a local assembly I've written a book called AP the Apostolic Church in the 21st century and it has a number of chapters that talk about the importance of the church how the church should operate why we have the church I would also say an interesting thing because there are a lot of things and let me summarize the church Prov provides of course corporate worship and prayer it provides Fellowship which is essential it provides discipleship which is essential so being a Christian is not just believing the right things it's being in community being in Fellowship growing learning you have to be a disciple and to be a disciple you have to be connected with other people you have to have mentors teachers pastors but you have to have fellow Believers that your fellow disciples and it's also for evangelism if you want to win lost souls if you want to see other people come to church you have to work together for Missions for evangelism it provides balance it provides protection uh it makes sure that you're not just going off on your own but you're part of the larger body and in that regard the upci does have a position paper called Church government so if you're interested a little bit more about that you can go to upci.org and you can go to the statements archive which actually upca SL statements hyen archive and you can see the one on Church government so that would give you some of the scripture and some of the description of how the upci tries to fulfill the scriptures but suffices to say it's a scriptural teaching that people should be part of a local church should have a pastor and should grow together as Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ