Hallelujah! Praise God in His sanctuary. Praise Him in His mighty heavens. Praise Him for His powerful acts; praise Him for His abundant greatness. Psalm 150:1-2 HCSB
As Christians, should church be a big deal? Does it really matter if we go to church regularly?
I fell into the category of thinking that many years ago. I went to church when it was convenient for me. Once I rededicated my life to Christ, however, I wanted to be in church every time the doors were open. I still feel that way.
Many people tell me they can worship God wherever they are on Sunday mornings. This is true, but do you? If you are out on the river, are you singing praises to God and worshipping Him with all your heart? If you are at some sporting event, are you paying attention to God or your favorite team?
The Bible is how God speaks to us. Have you ever asked Him whether or not you should attend church regularly? Let’s see what His word says about church attendance. Our Scripture passage for today tells us we should praise Him in His sanctuary, that would be church.
We as Christians are called to be the church. It’s not as easy to be the church if you rarely go there. Think about that for a minute.
Hebrews 10:23-24 says, “And let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works, not staying away from our worship meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
We have hope in Christ; He is our only hope for salvation. He is the only way. He is the truth and the life (John 14:6). Jesus told us we must love Him with all our heart and all our soul, and all our mind and we must love others as we love ourselves. Church is where we gather with others who love the Lord. We do this to promote love and good works. We know works won’t get us to heaven, but most churches have ministries and outreaches to the communities. We shouldn’t just attend church but should be a part of their ministry. When we go to church, we should be encouraging each other. It says we do this as we see the day drawing near. My friend don’t fret over the news. As Spencer Smith says, “Things are looking really good because things are looking really bad.”
The bad things going on in this world are bringing us closer to going home to spend eternity with our Savior. Are you ready? Perhaps you should be gathering weekly to hear God’s word and spend time with fellow Christians.
God wants us to want to go to church. If you go out of obligation and you really don’t want to be there, believe me it will show. How do you avoid that if you really don’t want to be there? Glad you asked, get your heart right with God. When I didn’t want to go to church it was because I wasn’t living right and I got tired of being called out for it or getting my toes stepped on, as we Baptists often say. Turn to God and repent. Trust in Him. God loves a cheerful giver, and this goes for our time as well.
Psalm 100:4-5 says, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name. For Yahweh is good, and His love is eternal: His faithfulness endures through all generations.”
If you have a nice boat, or season tickets, or hunting gear or whatever it is that keeps you out of church on Sunday, remember God has blessed you with these things. Shouldn’t you take some time to praise Him for all He has done for you?
Have a great day!