No one can accuse Christopher Ash, the author of The Priority of Preaching, of having a low view of the church. In this excellent little book he places the gathering of local churches in the context of all history. A people once scattered (Genesis 11) are in the process of being gathered (John 10) and, one day, our gathering will be complete (Revelation 7).
But in the meantime, until every Christian is together in the new heavens and earth, we gather as local bodies of believers throughout the world. And these gatherings are more important than most of us are willing to admit. As Ash put it:
We do not gather just in order to hear; we gather because gathering is important. Gathering is what Jesus does. The time when the whole local church gathers is a foretaste of the time when all redeemed humanity will gather. We could scrap Bible study groups and still be a church (an impoverished church, perhaps, but still a church); but if we fail to gather together in our main meetings under the preached word of God, we cease to be a church (92).
Are you looking for to Sunday morning? Christian, you should be! A foretaste of heaven is right around the corner.