"There is a law irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated; and when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated" (Doc. and Cov. 130:20).
LOW GLORY: The sociologist in me reasons that church-going is a discipline. Like other disciplines---academic, sports, arts or such---church positions me to reap many benefits. Some benefits are obvious and expected, some are not.
MEDIUM & HIGH GLORY: Sociology-hindered eyes are unequal to the task that Jesus now sets before me: to reveal benefits of church that are so brilliant they border on being beyond belief.
The Lord bids me to 'speak with the tongue of angels' as I testify to the world that had I not attended church regularly all these many years I would have missed out on key blessings, which I list below.
1. TITHING. Everyone I know who stops going to church, stops paying tithing. They miss out on blessings promised in Malachi 3:10, wherein the Lord promises to "open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to recieve it."
2. WORD OF WISDOM. Everyone I know who stops going to church, stops obeying the word of wisdom. They miss out on blessings promised in Section 89 of the Doctrine And Covenants.
3. TEMPLE. Everyone I know who stops going to church, stops attending the temple. They miss out on the blessings of the temple. Such as the gift of vision spoken of by the Apostle Boyd K. Packer, who said, "Sometimes our minds are so beset with problems, and there are so many things clamoring for [our] attention at once that we just cannot think clearly. At the temple the dust of distraction seems to settle out, the fog and the haze seem to lift, and we can 'see' things that we were not able to see before."
4. FAMILY HOME EVENING. Everyone I know who stops going to church, stops having family home evening. They miss out on the blessings of family home evening.
"...in 1915 President Joseph F. Smith introduced, church-wide, the "weekly home evening program" with promised blessings to all who faithfully adopted it. Many refused and lost the promised blessings." (Elder Ezra Taft Benson, CF, 1965)
5. MISSION. Almost everyone I know who stops going to church, their children do not serve full-time missions.
"Men and women who turn their lives over to God will find out that he can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace. Whoever will lose his life to God will find he has eternal life” (“Jesus Christ—Gifts and Expectations,” New Era, May 1975, p. 20).