Firstly: The Fourth Commandment requires that the whole day be spent in exercises of public, private and family worship; see WCF 21.
Second, public worship is to be preferred over private worship (Ps. 87.2). *See Article on the subject here @ SemperReformanda.com
Thirdly, we are not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together when called to worship (Heb. 10.25) and we are to obey our elders (Heb. 13.17). *Elders are you following this?
Fourth: When the call to worship occurs, it should be considered that it is God calling His people, not the Preacher per se; reversing this order is a break in the 2nd commandment. *My sheep hear my voice and they follow me.
If we truly believe the exhortation that God is in our midst, why would we ever miss an opportunity to be in that setting to witness the Spirit of God move in word and deed?
Fifth: Since the preaching of the word is a means of grace, forsaking the means is akin to idol worship. It is a misunderstanding of what the means of grace actually is. It is a illicit ‘taking for granted’ of God’s blessing and spirit.
