Brother Bob said:
Jhn 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Jhn 4:24 God [is] a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship [him] in spirit and in truth.
Jer 26:2Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD'S house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah,
which come to worship in the LORD'S house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word:
BBob,
You have taken Scripture out of context Bob. We don't live under the law, nor are we Jews. We don't worship at the "Lord's house," referred to in Jeremiah as the Temple. The temple in the NT is the body (1Cor.6:19,20)
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
It says clearly that our body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you.
We, personally belong to God.
Though we occasionally meet in a building, that is not the church. The church is composed of the believers that assemble in the building or in any other place that they may choose to assemble. The church is the people, the believers of that particular body.
Our worship there is very limiited.
Christ (and the apostles) put far more emphasis on private worship than on corporate or public worship. Even Christ himself set the example for us.
Mark 1:35 And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.
Christ got alone with God and worshipped. It is private and personal, He taught he disciples to do the same thing:
Matthew 6:6-7 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
--Again the worship is private. It is private and personal. Christianity centers around a personal relationship with Christ, not a building. You can worship without a building, but you can't worship without Christ. If you have no personal relationship with Christ you have nothing. Your worship must be primarily with Christ and Christ alone.
The gathering together at the local church is more for instruction than for worship. There is some worship there, but not much. There is generally more teaching and preaching than actual worship. The singing and praying (the worship part of the service) doesn't take up the major part of the service--at least not in our church. It plays a minor role compared to the importance and centrality of the Word of God.
Worship is done privately and primarily at home, alone with God.