DO I HAVE TO GO TO CHURCH?

Those who have accepted Jesus as their Lord and savior, as taught in John 3:16, 1 John 5:12, are saved. No amount of Church will gain you eternal life, only faith in Jesus as described, no lack of Church attendance will reduce your salvation. God the Father and JESUS His Son have created the body of Christ, which is made up of all believers who share the common beliefs and gather together to worship, pray and to be taught by Pastors, Elders who have had a calling on their lives to share the word of God. If you have heard of, or even have had bad experiences in Church, that is unfortunate to say the least. God never intended for confusion, backbiting and any other fleshy Experiences to be allowed in Church.

The fact that there has been this kind of activity then and even to this day, is not for you to judge the Church as a whole. Let's use a large family, in that family there are decent, humble, giving, loving family members, then there are those who are rebellious, angry, judgmental, unforgiving and just plain nasty. I think we can all agree on this example, but nonetheless, they are all family. Therefore, while JESUS doesn't like the attitudes of many family members, they are still His. There are huge amounts of Churches that operate in loving kindness, full blown Christian teaching, uplifting and caring as a family. You need to find a Church that is "Spirit filled" and visit soon. 1 Corinthians 12:14-20.

There is more to this subject and this answer is a short version, you will need to further research the reasons for attending Church. John 4:23-24, God wants Christians to worship him in Spirit and in truth. There are approximately 5 activities in which we can come or draw near to God: prayer, singing, bible study, partaking of the Lord's supper and giving. See Acts 2:42, 20:7, 11:26, 1 Corinthians 14: 15, 16:2, 11:17-34, Ephesians 5:19. God intended , not just a few of His people to worship Him, but all of them. See Revelation 19:5, Romans 15:9.

The Bible teaches that Christians should indeed attend meetings to accomplish all these activities and learn from Him; Acts 11:26, 20:7, Hebrews 10:23-25. Remember, these same things you can do at home, just bear in mind, private worship is not enough, meetings are essential to solid good growth, and not be subject to error.