“I don’t attend church any longer-I don’t really need to go to church.” Why do you not desire to be at church, with Gods people, under the oversight of a called man of God to watch over your soul, to sit under the means of grace, to Worship Him rightly, to partake in the supper, to confess your sins, one to another, to serve? The bride of Christ is an reflection of what Heaven will be like for the elect. If you don’t like going to church now, why would you be compelled to be in Heaven later-you have a misconception of what Heaven will be like.
Hebrews 10 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. Acts 2:42 and they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. Matt 18 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
Acts 4:32 And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them. 1 Cor 11 18 In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church…
Ch 25 of the Westminster Confession: OF THE CHURCH 1. The catholic or universal church, which is invisible, consists of the whole number of the elect, that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one, under Christ the Head thereof; and is the spouse, the body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all. 2. The visible church, which is also catholic or universal under the gospel (not confined to one nation, as before under the law), consists of all those throughout the world that profess the true religion; and of their children: and is the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, the house and family of God, out of which there is no ordinary possibility of salvation. 3. Unto this catholic visible church Christ hath given the ministry, oracles, and ordinances of God, for the gathering and perfecting of the saints, in this life, to the end of the world: and doth, by his own presence and Spirit, according to his promise, make them effectual thereunto. 4. This catholic church hath been sometimes more, sometimes less visible. And particular churches, which are members thereof, are more or less pure, according as the doctrine of the gospel is taught and embraced, ordinances administered, and public worship performed more or less purely in them. 5. The purest churches under heaven are subject both to mixture and error; and some have so degenerated, as to become no churches of Christ, but synagogues of Satan. Nevertheless, there shall be always a church on earth, to worship God according to his will. 6. There is no other head of the church but the Lord Jesus Christ. Nor can the pope of Rome, in any sense, be head thereof.
The exhortation to ‘not forsake the gathering’ is not fulfilled by one sitting in front of a computer watching (even) a live broadcast of a man claiming to be a preacher. In fact, giving this impression that it is ok to do this is bordering on the sinful. The person doing this will be held accountable to God for compounding the sin of the hearer by stumbling that (so called) sheep into believing this scenario is acceptable to God. The means of grace are administered under the active preaching of God’s word when the saint is elbow to elbow with their brothers and sister in the faith; where they can partake of the supper and pray together.