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Q: Why is it important to have a regular connection with God’s Word?  

A: Because the Word is God’s Word, and he gave it to us for an important reason.

• God the Holy Spirit uses it to create faith and to keep us strong in our faith which focuses on Jesus Christ as our Savior. (John 20:31)
• Faith entails more than knowing who Jesus is.  Even the devil knows who God is! (James 2:19)
• Faith is Confidence that in Jesus sins, yours and mine, are forgiven and that we will go to heaven when we die.  (Hebrews 11:1)
• Faith makes itslfe known by the kind of lives we live, the kind of words we speak, and the attitudes we display.  That includes our attitudes toward God’s Word, the Bible, and the Sacraments. (James 2:26) 
  

Q: Why does God want us to gather together with fellow Christians for worship?  Can’t we just do it on our own? 

A: The answer to the second question again is “Yes!” We can worship God privately.  But while he loves our private devotion and praise he also invites us to worship together.  Consider this:

• Why did Jesus choose disciples and send out missionaries who established Christian congregations?
• Why did Jesus establish the various offices of the ministry to lead and serve congregations? (Ephesians 4:11-13)
• Christians need each other!  In our spiritually perilous world where our faith is often attacked, we can help and support one another. ^25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:25)
• Christians can do great things together!  If we believe that the cure for death is found in Jesus, then we’ll want everyone to know.  Together we can pool our time, talents, and treasures to bring the message of Jesus’ forgiving love to people here and around the world! (Mark 16:15)
• Worshipping with fellow Christians is, therefore, an unselfish, generous, and loving thing to do that gives us great joy: I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.”  (Psalm 122:1)
• And that’s all secondary!  First and foremost it is a way in which God offers us his blessings through the Word and sacrament.  The Spirit will work through those means to make all the rest happen automatically. 

Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ^29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ^30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  (Matthew 11:28,29)