the importance of church

²⁵not deserting our assembly, as some are accustomed to do, but consoling one another, and even more so as you see that the day is approaching.

¹²For just as the body is one, and yet has many parts, so all the parts of the body, though they are many, are only one body. So also is Christ.

¹⁸And I say to you, that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.

²⁷Now you are the body of Christ, and parts like any part.

²⁸Take care of yourselves and of the entire flock, over which the Holy Spirit has stationed you as Bishops to rule the Church of God, which he has purchased by his own blood.

¹⁷Obey your leaders and be subject to them. For they watch over you, as if to render an account of your souls. So then, may they do this with joy, and not with grief. Otherwise, it would not be as helpful to you.

²³For the husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ is the head of the Church. He is the Savior of his body.

²³And traveling by way of Pisidia, they arrived in Pamphylia.

¹¹And the same one granted that some would be Apostles, and some Prophets, yet truly others evangelists, and others pastors and teachers, ¹²for the sake of the perfection of the saints, by the work of the ministry, in the edification of the body of Christ,

¹⁹Therefore, go forth and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰teaching them to observe all that I have ever commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, even to the consummation of the age.”

¹⁵But, if I am delayed, you should know the manner in which it is necessary to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and the foundation of truth.

¹⁸And Jesus, drawing near, spoke to them, saying: “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹Therefore, go forth and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰teaching them to observe all that I have ever commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, even to the consummation of the age.”

²²Do you not have houses, in which to eat and drink? Or do you have such contempt for the Church of God that you would confound those who do not have such contempt? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I am not praising you in this.

⁴²Now they were persevering in the doctrine of the Apostles, and in the communion of the breaking of the bread, and in the prayers.

²⁴And let us be considerate of one another, so as to prompt ourselves to charity and to good works, ²⁵not deserting our assembly, as some are accustomed to do, but consoling one another, and even more so as you see that the day is approaching.