When I was born-again, my wife and I started attending church services regularly. We travelled quite a distance to get to church and at first started attending both Sunday services, them a weekly prayer meeting we added to that youth and home cell meeting. We were drawn into serving the Lord with all our hearts. We have continued this pattern with some small adjustments for around 31 years now and we don’t intend to change it.
Did it cost us? Yes. Did it take sacrifice? Yes. Was it always easy? No?
During that time, I completed an Honours degree in Accounting and we raised 3 children. In the early days, we didn’t earn much, we didn’t really have the money needed to travel to church, it cost us for petrol and car maintenance, but somehow, God always provided.
Today we find ourselves pastoring this wonderful church, Christian Heritage. Do I have regrets? Absolutely not. We serve great and a faithful God.
What concerns me greatly is the tendency for Christians to spend less and less time attending church corporate worship services, both on Sundays as well as during the week. Yes, we all have busy schedules, but what ever happened to our original “first love” where we could simply not get enough of God, and of spending time in His presence?
Matthew 6:33 states, “seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you”. When we say we are too busy to spend time in the corporate gathering of God’s people. We say to the Lord, “I’m too busy for you today”, or possibly we say, “Lord I trust you with everything, but please don’t ask me for my time, I need to help myself with my busy schedule”.
The reality is that the same principle applies to our time as to our money where when we tithe by faith God can make the remaining 9/10ths of our salary go further than 10/10ths. If God can multiply our money, He can multiply our time by helping us to be more effective in the time we have after having dedicated time for attending church services and spending time with Him in our prayer closet.
Imitate Christ
Did you realise that when we make it our custom to attend church services we are imitating Christ. For the Christian, going to church is the same as going to synagogue is for the Jew. Jesus habitually attended Synagogue on the Sabbath. Let’s see what the Bible says:
Luke 4:16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.
Mark 1:21 - Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught.
Mark 6:2 - And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue.
Luke 6:6 - Now it happened on another Sabbath, also, that He entered the synagogue and taught.
Luke 13:10 - Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath
Paul did the same and He said. “imitate me as I imitate Christ”.
Acts 13:14 - But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down.
Acts 17:1-2 - Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures....
Acts 18:4 - And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks.
Attending church is good for us.
1 Corinthians 14:26 How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.
There is something very special about the corporate gathering of God’s people. To edify means to build up. We are certainly built up in church, from praise and worship to God’s word to fellowship and encouragement from our family in Christ, the benefits of attending church far outweigh anything we can get from neglecting the gathering of the saints.
What about the hypocrites?
We all know someone who says, “I don’t go to church because those people are a bunch of hypocrites, they are judgemental and look down on you”. Sadly, such a statement in its own sense is hypocritical and judgemental towards the people who attend church.
To paraphrase what Jesus Himself said, “those who are well don’t need a physician”. People who go to church are not perfect, they may even ruffle our feathers, but we should never use that as an excuse to stay away from the corporate gathering of the saints. Each of us has our own personal relationship with God, and when we start blaming other people for our own choice to serve God according to our own terms instead of according to His Word, we stand on shaky ground.
The New Testament Church was born in a corporate gathering of believers.
Acts 2:1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
The 120 were gathering regularly in the upper room when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost and the church was born.
Over the ages revivals have started where people came together in unity and eagerly sought the Lord with hungry hearts.
The greatest gathering of the saints is yet to come!
The book of Revelation describes corporate gatherings without comparison with angels and elders and multitudes worshiping before the throne of God. Here is just one example:
Revelation 7:9-10 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
Conclusion
Jesus set the example of attending corporate worship, so did Paul. Attending corporate Christian gatherings is good for us, we are edified, built up, taught God’s word and encouraged. Then, in time to come the biggest corporate gatherings of those who worship God almighty will take place in heaven.
Corporate worship in the form of church services is more important today than ever. My final scripture for this blog post is this:
Hebrews 10:25 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
Where will you be next Sunday?
Did it cost us? Yes. Did it take sacrifice? Yes. Was it always easy? No?
During that time, I completed an Honours degree in Accounting and we raised 3 children. In the early days, we didn’t earn much, we didn’t really have the money needed to travel to church, it cost us for petrol and car maintenance, but somehow, God always provided.
Today we find ourselves pastoring this wonderful church, Christian Heritage. Do I have regrets? Absolutely not. We serve great and a faithful God.
What concerns me greatly is the tendency for Christians to spend less and less time attending church corporate worship services, both on Sundays as well as during the week. Yes, we all have busy schedules, but what ever happened to our original “first love” where we could simply not get enough of God, and of spending time in His presence?
Matthew 6:33 states, “seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you”. When we say we are too busy to spend time in the corporate gathering of God’s people. We say to the Lord, “I’m too busy for you today”, or possibly we say, “Lord I trust you with everything, but please don’t ask me for my time, I need to help myself with my busy schedule”.
The reality is that the same principle applies to our time as to our money where when we tithe by faith God can make the remaining 9/10ths of our salary go further than 10/10ths. If God can multiply our money, He can multiply our time by helping us to be more effective in the time we have after having dedicated time for attending church services and spending time with Him in our prayer closet.
Imitate Christ
Did you realise that when we make it our custom to attend church services we are imitating Christ. For the Christian, going to church is the same as going to synagogue is for the Jew. Jesus habitually attended Synagogue on the Sabbath. Let’s see what the Bible says:
Luke 4:16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.
Mark 1:21 - Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught.
Mark 6:2 - And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue.
Luke 6:6 - Now it happened on another Sabbath, also, that He entered the synagogue and taught.
Luke 13:10 - Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath
Paul did the same and He said. “imitate me as I imitate Christ”.
Acts 13:14 - But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down.
Acts 17:1-2 - Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures....
Acts 18:4 - And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks.
Attending church is good for us.
1 Corinthians 14:26 How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.
There is something very special about the corporate gathering of God’s people. To edify means to build up. We are certainly built up in church, from praise and worship to God’s word to fellowship and encouragement from our family in Christ, the benefits of attending church far outweigh anything we can get from neglecting the gathering of the saints.
What about the hypocrites?
We all know someone who says, “I don’t go to church because those people are a bunch of hypocrites, they are judgemental and look down on you”. Sadly, such a statement in its own sense is hypocritical and judgemental towards the people who attend church.
To paraphrase what Jesus Himself said, “those who are well don’t need a physician”. People who go to church are not perfect, they may even ruffle our feathers, but we should never use that as an excuse to stay away from the corporate gathering of the saints. Each of us has our own personal relationship with God, and when we start blaming other people for our own choice to serve God according to our own terms instead of according to His Word, we stand on shaky ground.
The New Testament Church was born in a corporate gathering of believers.
Acts 2:1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
The 120 were gathering regularly in the upper room when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost and the church was born.
Over the ages revivals have started where people came together in unity and eagerly sought the Lord with hungry hearts.
The greatest gathering of the saints is yet to come!
The book of Revelation describes corporate gatherings without comparison with angels and elders and multitudes worshiping before the throne of God. Here is just one example:
Revelation 7:9-10 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
Conclusion
Jesus set the example of attending corporate worship, so did Paul. Attending corporate Christian gatherings is good for us, we are edified, built up, taught God’s word and encouraged. Then, in time to come the biggest corporate gatherings of those who worship God almighty will take place in heaven.
Corporate worship in the form of church services is more important today than ever. My final scripture for this blog post is this:
Hebrews 10:25 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
Where will you be next Sunday?