The answer to the above question is a resounding "Yes." For the Lord has given this commandment, "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy." To keep the Sabbath day holy is to set it apart for the Lord's purposes, for the Sabbath rest that He gives to us in His Word and Sacraments. Jesus said, "Come to Me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." In the midst of the turmoil and confusion and hectic pace of our lives, it is essential that we seek this peace which passes all understanding.

The meaning to the third commandment states, "We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it." Those who cannot set aside even one hour a week for the divine service of the Lord's preaching and His Supper show that they are in fact despising God's Word, through which the Spirit sustains and strengthens us in the saving faith.

To avoid attending church on a weekly basis in favor of other activities and pursuits is also a breaking of the first commandment. For this commandment teaches us that we are to "fear, love, and trust in God above all things." Whatever becomes more important to us than the Lord and His Word has become a false god and an idol in our lives, despite our rationalizations to the contrary. Those who show up in the Lord's house only when it happens to fit into their schedule show that their hearts do not really trust in Christ but in themselves and their own wisdom and strength. Their help is not in the name of the Lord but in the things of this world.
 
Let us never forget the great blessings that our Lord desires so much to pour out on us each week in the divine service. He freely grants to us the forgiveness of our sins. He gives to us His new life by which we are made able to live in faith toward God and fervent love toward one another. All the bounty of heaven is here present for us to receive. Here the eternally saving benefits of the holy cross of Christ are delivered to us by grace. Trusting in Him alone, we will truly be able to say with all our heart, "I was glad when they said to me, 'Let us go into the house of the Lord.'" (Psalm 122:1)