Why is it so important to worship with other Christians? Many believe that one can consistently worship God alone, individually and have no spiritual need to include others in this intimate act of love and adoration. Worshipping the Father is, by its very nature, a communal act. We, as individuals, can only offer a small reflection of the Father’s characteristic as we worship with others. But together, we can offer each other a much bigger (fuller) picture of the divine Father.
But thinking corporately brings up another issue. If the church is the human community that lives by divine life (Galatians 2:20) and participates in and reflects the divine fellowship (2Peter 1:4), and I am counting on my brother and sister to be a resounding board for revelations from the Lord then it is incumbent upon us all to first of all allow space for the believing priesthood and then strengthen it so that when we come together new revelations of Jesus will permeate our time together.
Matthew 18:19 For where two or three gather in my name, there I am also. This passage came to me when I was thinking about corporate worship. Relationships are built together as living stones building on the foundation of Him.
The First letter to the Corinthian Church has a really neat word picture of how this all might work out
(1Cor.14:26) and the result is that the vitamins that the community needs to build up its life energy/immunities come from what each person brings to the whole group. This also shows how each of us is a gift of God’s Spirit to the “Body of Christ” of which each of us is a part.