why church is relevant to me

I thought about this topic reciently, it's another one of Gary Molanders topics. I am so glad I was able to reconnect with him and his family a little, even if it's only on Facebook. On to the topic at hand. Reciently, I have missed 3 weeks of church due to family illness (thankfully minor but it took a while to get us all well at the same time) and transportation issues. So as I sat thinking about this I wondered why we do church at all. Besides the Biblical mandate to not forsake assembling together, which I suppose could be done at Starbucks or Denny's just as easily; God never says how we are suppose to assemble. So there has to be something more than that command. Why does church matter to me and to God. Looking back on 32 years of walking by faith I have come to realize that quite often this is where God speaks to me. You see it is the one time in my week that I am purposely drawing away from all the distractions of life, with like minded people, to focus on God. Musical worship has a profound affect on my soul. Often when my heart is dry and weary, when I don't have the faith to be in the Word, it is worship music that draws me in. I thank God for gifted individuals who take words and music and wieve them into something that lifts my soul to the throne of God. And when with others I am focused on God, through music, that power, that effect on my soul is just magnified. And God is glorified and blessed. I am once again struck by how something we are suppose to do to glorify God also brings us such joy. Then there is the spoken word. I have heard many a preacher say that they are surprized how God takes their words and uses them in different ways to meet then needs of the congregation. Often what speaks to me is very different to what speaks to my husband or our daughters. So God takes this food for my emotions (music) and this food for my mind (the spoken word) and fulls up my soul.
So I suppose you could summerize this whole post in this, church is relevant to me because it is "Soul food".