Can you worship God without going to a “church” building? Can you worship God without gathering with a bunch of other people? Can you worship God all by yourself in your home, or in the woods, or on a mountain, or golf course? The answer to all of these is a resounding yes! You can and you should. We are to do everything we do; thought, word, and deed, in the name of, or in honor of Jesus. But if you are not gathering with others in order to worship God then you are actually robbing God of glory He is due.
Look at what the Psalmist says in these last few verses of Psalm 26.
8 O Lord, I love the habitation of your house
and the place where your glory dwells.
9 Do not sweep my soul away with sinners,
nor my life with bloodthirsty men,
10 in whose hands are evil devices,
and whose right hands are full of bribes.
11 But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity;
redeem me, and be gracious to me.
12 My foot stands on level ground;
in the great assembly I will bless the Lord.
O Lord I love the habitation of your house where your glory dwells….in the great assembly I will bless you. David understands that there is something vital about gathering with other people and declaring the greatness of God. David certainly understood how to worship God in the great outdoors. Psalm 8 is a fantastic example of that. But David also knew that there was a need to worship God, to declare His glory, in the midst of an assembly of people. The reason for that is love. When you love someone you want others to know how great they are. I want people to know how awesome my wife is. Do I think she is awesome when I am alone in my study? Of course I do. Do I let her know how awesome she is when it is just me and her? Absolutely. But to truly honor her, I need to declare to others, in the midst of the assembly so to speak, how amazing she is. The same is true with God. Yes you can worship God by yourself and you can declare your love for Him when it is just the two of you. But if you really want to honor God, worship Him, declare His greatness, then you have to do so in the midst of others. To fail to do so is to fail to truly honor and worship God in a way He deserves.
Dan Lacich: Provocative Christian Living 