The church gathers for communion | Rapp Report Daily 0135 | Striving for Eternity

Welcome to The Rapid Bull, daily edition, where we provide a quick biblical interpretations and applications. This is a ministry of striving for eternity.

As we discuss what is a church, and we look through the New Testament, we see that the church, again, is something you can't do on your own, just sitting watching TV or listening to sermons. Because the church would also require the elements of baptism and the Lord's Supper.

Part of the function of the church is to baptize and bring into membership, I would argue. Now, membership is something that some would say is not seen in scripture, but baptism is clearly seen as part of the functioning of the church.

Communion and the Need to Gather

The other functioning we see is the Lord's Supper or communion. In fact, the purpose of communion is to symbolize and display that we, as part of the body of Christ, are unified together. That symbolism requires the actual body to gather together.

So when you sit at home by yourself, listening to sermons on the internet or on TV, you are not participating in church. Because even if they have communion done on TV, you're not participating of that.

Not Forsaking the Assembling Together

No, to be part of the church, to fulfill the command that we have to not forsake the assembling together, we must gather. We must actually be part of a local congregation. And I understand that sometimes it's hard to find a good congregation, but just because it's hard doesn't mean we get a pass.

We must not forsake the assembling together, because that's what God commands.

This podcast is part of the Striving for Eternity ministry. For more content or to request a speaker or seminar to your church, go to strivingforeternity .org.