Want To Go To Church?

I rejoiced with those who said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord." (Ps. 122 ) (HCSB)
Better a day in Your courts than a thousand anywhere else. I would rather be at the door of the house of my God than to live in the tents of the wicked. (Ps. 84:10) (HCSB)
Do you find yourself not wanting to go to church? Is there always some reason why you can't make it on Sunday morning? How about Sunday night? Wednesday night? Sunday School? Do you feel like you don't need to worship and fellowship with other believers? If so, you might want to check your spiritual thermometer to see if you're sick. Because that's not the way a true saved person should feel.


Now I know that all of us from time to time can think of other things that we might rather do on Sunday morning; for me it's wanting to stay in the bed because I'm not an early-riser like some of you folks out there. Some of us have jobs that cause us to miss church at times. But if you're routinely not going to church for just any old reason, then you just may have a real problem. In fact, you may want to examine yourself to see if you've really been saved. Because when your sins have been forgiven and washed away, when you've been saved from an eternity in hell without God, when your life has been truly changed by the Lord, then you should have an inner longing to attend corporate worship services and to fellowship with the people of God. You should have a longing, a thirst for worshiping the Lord like the psalmist describes in (Psalm 42:1-2)---As a deer longs for streams of water, so I long for You, God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I come and appear before God? (HCSB)---and like this passage from (Isaiah 26:8-9)---Yes, Lord, we wait for You in the path of Your judgments. Our desire is for Your name and renown. I long for You in the night; yes, my spirit within me diligently seeks You, for when Your judgments are in the land, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. (HCSB)

So if you don't have any desire to go to church and to worship with other believers on a regular basis, you need to examine your spiritual life. Search your heart prayerfully and ask yourself some questions. Are you certain that you've been saved? Are you saved, but maybe you don't have a close relationship with the Lord any longer? If so, then you know it's not God who's gotten out of touch with you; it's YOU. Pray for forgiveness and make a renewed commitment to God and the things of the Lord. Ask God for His help and a refreshed and renewed longing for Him and for His presence. Get back into His Word, and make a fresh start at a close relationship and fellowship with Him. You'll be glad that you did! And I'll see you in church at the next worship service, and the one after that!
Joey

Alternative Lifestyle

God is calling us to an alternative lifestyle. Now wait, I'm not talking about what the world and media often refer to as an "alternative lifestyle" which is nothing more than our society wanting to sugar-coat sin so that it doesn't offend anybody. No, I'm talking about a different lifestyle from that of the world around us. I'm talking about a lifestyle of worship.

As Christians, we are to be in the world but not of the world. God has called us to live a life separate from the world's views and standards, always endeavoring to please Him and striving to be holy as He is holy. (see 1 Jn. 2:15 & 1 Pet. 1:14-16) This doesn't mean that we should try to be weird or strange or some kinda "religious nut", in fact Jesus spent more time condemning the religious elite of his day (the Pharisees, Saducees, chief priests and scribes) than anybody else. But we are referred to as a "peculiar people" in the Bible. I know that some of us, myself included, are more peculiar than others, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The same scripture passage calls us a "chosen generation", "royal priesthood" and a "holy nation". (see 1 Pet. 2:9-KJV) And we should always declare the praises of Him who called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light!

Worship is more than just attending a church service once or twice a week. It's a lifestyle that reflects a deeper walk and a personal relationship with the Lord. True worship cannot be isolated to just once, twice or three times a week: it's a way of life. It's not where or when, but who and how we worship. We worship God in many ways other than coming to church and singing some songs on Sunday morning. God says that obedience is better than sacrifice (1 Sam. 15:22). Jesus said if you love me, you will keep my commandments (Jn. 14:15). So our every act of obedience to God is a way that we worship Him. When we love the Lord with all our heart and love our neighbor as ourself, we'll live a life that reflects the fact that we worship the Lord. We'll smile, be kind and polite to others, try to help those in need, lead in areas of church life: like teaching Sunday school, helping with VBS, etc. We'll be a good example for those around us by watching the words we say and the things we see and do, be ready to share what God has done for us with people we come in contact with. In other words, we'll do the best we can to live our lives in a way that reflects Jesus and His love for the world.

I recently read an article that speaks about this kind of lifestyle. In the LBC Live magazine-April 2009-Vol. 1-Issue 8, John L. Yeats, in his article, [Per-spec-tive], states: "A life of praise has little to do with one's expressions at a particular church worship service and has everything to do with an attitude of life. Imagine the power of a person's life who is more engaged in loving God and others than consumed with pleasing self. This God-centered attitude impacts a person's ethics, business, education, church, etc."

God is calling us to an alternative lifestyle, a lifestyle of worship. Will you endeavor to live that kind of life with me, making our very lives a sweet song of praise to our Lord? Or better yet, let's allow Jesus to live it through us!

Joey C.