When you drove to church today you probably noticed 2/3 of your neighbors chose not to. I read the other day that 2/3 of Americans who do not go to church say that they:
1) Believe in God. 2) Believe Jesus is the Son of God. 3) Believe in Heaven. 4) Pray to God.
So, that begs the question: Why go to church? That’s a fair question. I came across a humorous illustration the other day. I heard of one man who came home from church and said:
That’s it, I’m never going back to that church again”. His wife said: “Oh yes you are!” He said: “O, no I’m not! I’ll give you 3 reasons why: 1. Nobody speaks to me. 2. Everyone hates me. 3. I have no friends. She said: “I’ll give you 3 reasons why you are going back: 1. You promised when we married, you’d go to church. 2. You need to set an example for our children. 3. You’re the Pastor.
I also read the other day that 17% of all deaths occur in the home, and only .001% of all deaths occur in church. So going to church could literally save your life. Seriously though. Why is it that people are so reluctant to go to church? So, what’s so important about church? Why is there such an emphasis or big deal about going? Can’t a Christian get to Heaven without going to church? That’s like asking: “Can’t I have a relationship with my wife without spending time with her?” In this blog I want us to look at 2 main reasons why we should go to church (there are of course many more.)
1st reason is that Christ established the church. The church is not man’s invention. Christ established the church during His earthly ministry. In Matthew 16:13-19 it states,
13. When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples. “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 14. They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15. “But what about you?” he asked, “Who do you say I am?” (A question we all must answer) 16. Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ (Messiah or “Anointed one”) of the living God.” 17. Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18. And I tell you that you are Peter (Petros =fragment of rock), and on this rock (Petra), I will build my church, and the gates (not offensive) of Hades will not overcome it. (prevail against it) 19. I will give you (not just Peter) the keys *[not literal keys] of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you lose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
We must understand that the church was not founded upon Peter (Petras/fragment of a rock), but on Jesus (Petra/Rock). Peter was simply a fragment (Petros) of the Main Cornerstone (Rock) Jesus, (Petra)! Peter’s confession of faith in Jesus, as the Messiah, would be the “Foundational Rock” upon which Jesus would build His church. Today the stones (Petras) of His church are you and me. In 1 Peter 2:5, it says that “The church is not built out of bricks and mortar, but out of living stones.” (Petros). In other words, people who confess their faith in Jesus Christ. (Petra). You must understand that the building people go to on Sunday morning to worship God is not His church, but the people are. There is nothing sacred about a building. However, the building is a place where God’s people (the living stones) can come together to do the Lord’s work, worship, fellowship, minister, and disciple other believers. Today many have come to believe that the building is God’s church. That’s simply not true.
There is nothing sacred about a building. The believer is sacred. Also, Jesus did not give the “Great Commission” to a building. In Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus said:
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching [keys] them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Jesus gave this “Great Commission” to you and me! (His living stones). The church (you and me), and not the building. We can’t stay home and watch services online. We need to come together to carry out the Great Commission, use our spiritual gifts (can’t do that at home watching T.V.), glorify and worship God. So, Jesus established the church to carry out His work!
In Romans 12:4-8, it states,
4. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function. 5. So, in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8. If it encouraging let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
What happens to the church body when some of its members do not show up? We become crippled and have an incomplete body (missing a hand, leg or foot), moving along limping forward. Satan has effectively crippled the churches today. He crippled us by getting us to think that it’s not important, and that sports, or other worldly activities, are more important. The church suffers and operates at half strength when its members do not show up. What would happen in the churches across America if every member showed up for church almost every Sunday? Wow! There is no telling what we could do! As it is now, we are running the race crawling on our hands and knees. The Lord’s Spirit dwells in the church body (no longer in the Holiest of Holy places in temple). In 1 Corinthians 6:15&19, it states that “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ Himself? 19 Do you not know that your body is a Temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God?” In Romans 8:11, it states that “The spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is Living in you.” In 1 Corinthians 12:4&7, it states “There are different kinds of gifts, but he same spirit.7 Now to each one the manifestation of the spirit is given for the common good.” Did you catch that? Why is the Holy Spirit given to you? For the “common good” Not for yourself! “We belong to each other” (Romans 12:5). We all need each other. I want you to think about how effective our army would be if half the soldiers did not show up for the battle. Is God’s work any less important? (Fighting spiritual battle). Understand, our Lord Jesus Christ: 1) Loved the church. 2) Gave His life for the church. 3) Purchased the church with His blood. In Acts 20:28 God’s word says: “…be shepherds of the church of God which He bought with His own blood.” 4) Establish the church.
2nd reason is the purpose of the church. Do you remember the story of “Alice in Wonderland”? In “Alice in Wonderland”, young Alice comes to a fork-in-the-road, and asks Chesire cat: “What direction should I take?” The cat said: “That depends a good deal on where you want to go.” Alice said: “I don’t much are where…” The cat said: “Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.” Without a clear purpose for the church, there can be no sense of direction, therefore one course of action is as good as any other. Understanding the church’s “purpose” is critical when deciding what course of action to take and what direction we should go. In Acts 2: 42-47 we discover our purposes. From this passage I want you to notice that the early church was devoted to: 1) Discipleship “the Apostles teaching” (v.42.). 2) Fellowship (v.42). 3) Ministry “selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had a need (v.45). 4) Worship “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their home and ate together with glad and sincere hearts praising God and enjoying the favor of all people.” (v.47). 5) Evangelism “…and the Lord added to their numbers daily those who were being saved.” (v-47). So, the purposes of the church are worship, evangelism, discipleship, fellowship, and ministry. We must be devoted to these things. Everything we do should revolve around these 5 purposes.
Conclusion: Every Chirstian should know the importance of going to church and worshipping our Lord Jesus. The church is out to change the world for Christ! (we have the keys to the kingdom). I pray that after today you will realize its importance and understand your part in it. You should get excited about being part of God’s plan to redeem the world. How has the Lord spoken to you through this blog today? What would He have you do in response to it? However God spoke, you need to respond in obedience!
South Beach, Miami
Palm trees
Summer girl
Old red car in Havana
Strawberry ice cream
Beach picnic