 IS ALL OF LIFE WORSHIP?
Dear Bro. Jim:
If as you say, "there are five different Greek words used by NT writers in making reference to worship and without exception, each has reference to the Christian LIFE, not to the assembly...and the primary purpose of assembling is to encourage one another," would be it not be acceptable to omit the corporate worship to God in our assemblies and spend that time golfing, or fishing with other Christians just so long as we encouraged them? I can assure you all of life is not worship. True, Romans 12:2 does teach us that what we do in our daily lives is "spiritual service" (ASV) that we present unto God. A quick check of my New Testament in 26 Versions shows that at least 6 translations render the term "worship." Obviously there is some sense in which the righteous deeds we do in our daily life are "like" gifts offered unto God. But no thinking person would argue that "every thing" we do is worship. At the risk of being crude, I mention that every human being has certain daily bodily functions that surely are not worship; nor is sleeping, or feeding your dog, watching a ball game, chewing gum or a thousand other mundane things of daily life. All of us sometime worship outside of the assembly. For example: when we pray at home; when we have devotionals with our families; when we have other Christians into our homes for songs and prayers; when we visit folks who are shut-in and serve the Supper to them....with prayers and sometimes with Scripture readings and songs. But any or all of these things do not take the place of our corporate worship when the body of Christ assembles together (Acts 20:7; I Cor. 16:1-2). It is certainly true that all of life must be lived in reverence and devotion to God, but for some reason the earliest Christians all felt constrained to assemble each week for a corporate occasion of worship to God through Christ, even if such put them at great risk of harm. When circumstances and situations isolate us from other Christians we can worship alone as did John (Rev. 1:10). Yet God indicates that he wants us to assemble with others for some purpose (Heb. 10:25). Two Christians could encourage each other and never assemble. Yet Jesus promised to be with the two or three that gather in his name (Matt. 18:20). JHW | 
