why go to 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.

²⁰For wherever two or three are gathered in my name, there am I, in their midst.”

¹⁷Therefore, faith is from hearing, and hearing is through the Word of Christ.

⁸Remember that you are to sanctify the day of the Sabbath.

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

¹⁷Iron sharpens iron, and a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.

²⁴And let us be considerate of one another, so as to prompt ourselves to charity and to good works,

¹¹For one day in your courts is better than thousands elsewhere. I have chosen to be lowly in the house of my God, rather than to dwell in the tabernacles of sinners.

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.

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.

¹A Canticle in steps: of David. Behold, how good and how pleasing it is for brothers to dwell in unity. ²It is like the ointment on the head that descended to the beard, the beard of Aaron, which descended to the hem of his garment. ³It is like the dew of Hermon, which descended from mount Zion. For in that place, the Lord has commanded a blessing, and life, even unto eternity.

⁴One thing I have asked of the Lord, this I will seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, so that I may behold the delight of the Lord, and may visit his temple.

¹³Instead, exhort one another every day, while it is still called ‘today,’ so that none of you may become hardened through the falseness of sin.

¹And so, I beg you, brothers, by the mercy of God, that you offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, with the subservience of your mind.

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.

²I trust in the Lord. How can you say to my soul, “Sojourn to the mountain, like a sparrow.” ³For behold, the sinners have bent their bow. They have prepared their arrows in the quiver, so as to shoot arrows in the dark at the upright of heart. ⁴For they have destroyed the things that you have completed. But what has the just one done? ⁵The Lord is in his holy temple. The Lord’s throne is in heaven. His eyes look upon the poor. His eyelids question the sons of men. ⁶The Lord questions the just and the impious. Yet he who loves iniquity, hates his own soul. ⁷He will rain down snares upon sinners. Fire and brimstone and windstorms will be the portion of their cup.

¹⁶All Scripture, having been divinely inspired, is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in justice,

²And on the seventh day, God fulfilled his work, which he had made. And on the seventh day he rested from all his work, which he had accomplished. ³And he blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. For in it, he had ceased from all his work: the work whereby God created whatever he should make.

¹⁹Again I say to you, that if two of those among you have agreed on earth, about anything whatsoever that they have requested, it shall be done for them by my Father, who is in heaven.