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Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Hebrews 10:25 (NIV)

4 Reasons to Go to Church

1. Scripture commands it. Our key verse makes it clear – “let us not neglect our meeting together.” Early Christians met together regularly for worship and teaching. The writer of Hebrews warns the early Christians not to neglect those meetings, and stresses that it becomes even more important as we see the end times drawing nearer.
2. You need it! It is exceedingly difficult to maintain a passionate pursuit of God without participating regularly in corporate worship, receive biblical teaching on a regular basis, and be encouraged and sharpened by other Believers.
3. Your family needs it! It doesn’t mattered whether you are married or single, your family needs you to go to church. Sometimes the person in your family who you least expect to impact is watching. Your consistent pursuit of God will impact family members over the long haul. A spotty church attendance sends the message that God does not play a significant role in your life, that He can be pushed aside when other things come up.
4. Your friends need it! As with your family, your friends need the witness of you attending church regularly. We don’t live in isolation. Our friends are influenced by what we do. Even those friends who try their hardest to persuade you to participate in other activities on Sunday morning or late Saturday night are sometimes secretly disappointed when you abandon God to join them.

4 Reasons You Might be Tempted to Skip Church – This Week or Every Week

1. It’s the only morning you get to sleep in. I understand. The temptation is pretty strong some days. I would even endorse the rare missing of church to rest or relax with your family – rare means about once a year, not once a month! Rearrange your schedule if you need to. If you’re absolutely unable to, trust God to give you the rest you need at another time.
2. It’s the only time you have to yourself. You’ve just made serving and worshiping yourself an idol above serving and worshiping the Lord God Almighty, Creator of the Universe and Savior of your soul. Did you really want to do that?
3. You’ve been hurt or offended by someone in authority. You have a “sacred cow” that was swiped at by someone in authority and you’re unhappy about it. Get over it. Jesus was abandoned and betrayed but He forgave. Don’t cling to your offense. Forgive.
4. Unresolved conflict with other attendees. Again…get over it. Forgive and pursue reconciliation.

When I look at the reasons for not attending church, they seem so small compared to the reasons for attending church. Setting aside God’s desire for us to regularly worship with other Believers (which is a pretty big thing to set aside), the personal benefit and potential for impacting those around us is so strong that they far outweigh the inconvenience and discomfort I might experience.

I have gone through long spells of spiritual dryness – long periods of time when I had no desire to attend church every Sunday and during which I felt like I gained nothing by being there. In hindsight, I am so thankful for the commitment God put in me to continue attending each week. I know without that regular food and fellowship, my walk with the Lord would have deteriorated significantly.

So let me encourage you to be a practicing Christian in this area – don’t forsake your weekly attendance at a local church. There are rich relationships waiting for you there and God deserves your devotion.

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 12th, 2011 at 4:01 pm and is filed under Christian Living, Forgiveness, Our Priorities, Serving God. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.