What if we can’t always find a congregation to worship with?

Answer:

Personally, I'm of the mind that the worship of God comes first, especially over games. What will your son remember when he is grown? "Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6).

I understand people want to feel connected to their brethren, even when ill or prevented from attending. However, watching a service remotely does not meet the requirement that the church is to gather together in one place to offer worship to God (I Corinthians 11:17-18,20; 14:23,26). Have I watched services when I was ill? Yes. Do I think that I was assembling with the saints? No.

The core problem is that the assemblies are not solely about what you receive from the services. It is about what you give to others when you are together.

• "Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:19).
• "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near" (Hebrews 10:23-25).
• "And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ" (Ephesians 4:11-12).

None of these commands can be fulfilled remotely.