And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. Acts 2:42-44
As I attend church and prayer meeting and have opportunities to fellowship with my brothers and sisters in Christ, I am so thankful for the binding that God does. As we spend more and more time together, God allows us to learn more about each other, which then allows us to to pray for and encourage one another and ultimately to be more effective as the body of Christ.
I find that some of the most convicting, reviving and uplifting conversations that I have are often had at church, after a service or meeting, with my brothers and sisters in Christ.
Unfortunately, in this day and age, so many people avoid church for so many reasons, some of which are:
Church is full of hypocrites – You are absolutely right. Church is full of hypocrites, that is what sin does, it requires hypocrisy. If it didn’t our sin would be out in the open and not hidden. We pretend something offends and/or is detestable to us and yet in secret we participate. (“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”Matthew 26:41). The bottom line with this excuse is that the person who uses it is surrounded by hypocrites daily and is him/herself one, but that doesn’t bother them, the church hypocrites are the only ones we avoid.
Churches just want my money – Church doesn’t want your money. If money has been the focus of your church experience, you have been in the wrong church! God provides for our needs (And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19). He also provides for His church. Now, the bible does require a tythe, but God just asks for a percentage of what He gave you to be given to the church to provide for the ministries, missionaries and needs of the church. But ultimately that tythe is between you and God, not the church.
Someone in the church once hurt me – First, I am sorry that that happened. But, people in the church are just that…people. They are sometimes mean, short tempered, unkind and hurtful. They are not perfect and shouldn’t be expected to be. They can’t be held to some higher standard they are simply people who still sin, but are now saved by grace. And ultimately you avoid church because a person hurt you and stay away from the God who can heal you. Doesn’t really make sense, does it? (For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, Ephesians 2:8).
Then there are those that say “I need to get right with God before I come to church” – Well, you will never come to church then. Not only will you never be able to get right, but there is not a saint in the church who has ever gotten it “right”. Jesus wants you to come as you are (“Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. Isaiah 1:18).
How about – My kids have sports: If you allow yourself to avoid church and to assist your children in creating idols in their lives, you will stand before God and answer for that. (Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Exodus 20:3-4). Anything that comes before God is an idol. Teach your children to put Him first. If not, you will regret it later when they go through things that you can’t fix or be there for, knowing that, if God we’re first in their lives, He could fix it and be there with them.
There is also the excuse – I get church on TV: No, you don’t. You may listen to an evangelist and be fed by the word of God that they share, but you are not “getting church”. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” There are a lot of benefits in church attendance that you can’t get from television. Among them fellowship and accountability. But the thing that you are missing most and the greatest reason that you should attend is that the Lord is present (For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” Matthew 18:20). Even if we don’t desire gathering in the church with other believers, shouldn’t we desire being in His presence? Because the Holy Spirit isn’t televised.
There are certainly a lot more reasons people give for why they don’t attend church. But the fact that our Heavenly Father is present in our midst when we gather with other believers should be enough reason for us to want to be there.
I pray today that, if you are not attending church that, the fact that our heavenly father is in our midst when we gather together would be enough to cause you to desire being a part of a body of believers. I pray that if you attend sporadically that you would commit yourself to faithful attendance and taking part in the binding together of the body of Christ. I pray that even if we are faithful church attendees, we might be motivated to be more connected to our church and the members there and also to visiting and supporting other churches, because we are all the global church of Jesus Christ!
If you do not know Jesus Christ as your lord and savior and maybe have not even been attending a church, I pray that you would go to our Life Preserver page (https://forgiven-n-loved.com/life-preserver/) and pray the prayer that is outline there. Once you’ve done that I pray that you would reach out to me at admin@Forgiven-n-loved.com and let me know so that I can be in prayer for you and can help you grow in your knowledge of and relationship with our precious Savior, Jesus Christ. And maybe I can even help you find a bible-believing gospel preaching Church, after all He is the one inviting you.
Luv Ya!
