Have you ever heard this….
“I don’t need to go down to that church house to worship God. I can do that anywhere.”
Maybe you don’t know what to say to that? Well for one, their right. They don’t have too. You can worship God in your backyard, on your daily walk, or driving in your car. You do not need to be in a church building. Many places in the bible worshipped by rivers, creeks, or homes before they built church’s to worship in. So if that’s true why do we have churches ? Are they necessary or are they a luxury?
I’d like to start out and say that a church house Isn’t necessary. You can have church in your living room. It does say in Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
With that being said, you can worship at a ball field , a living room, or even at a campsite…. A church without God in it is just a build. Anything without God is just boring and lifeless.
The kicker is that church is necessary as well. Why? Because God told us to gather together. He told us to fellowship with others who are likeminded. We are to come together to worship God and Praise him for all he has blessed us with. It’s important as Christians to have a church to go to. It’s important in this day in age to come together and be lifted up in prayer so that we can make it through out the week. Church is our place to recharge our spiritual batteries.
So if it’s necessary, why don’t more Christians attend? That’s a good question. I truly believe that as a Christian you see church in a different way. If your a Christian and you do not hunger for the word of God; I’m going to question you. Because If we truly give our lives to him, we will want to know him. We will want to praise him. We will want to know his will for us. We will want to attend because it’s a place to worship our God and hear from him….
Yes, I do know that although we are saved through Christ we fail. We get into our worldly ways. “Well I’m tired. I’m sick today…. I went last week…. I don’t like so and so….. I don’t have anything to wear…. I can’t give money right now….. I don’t have a ride….” I could go on with excuses that we use. If we allow these excuses to stop us from going to church what are we going to do when God says, “Hey do you see that man? He needs me. Go tell him about me.” What would you do? Would you say, “Well I would but he looks busy….. Well I would but he doesn’t look like a nice person…. Are you sure you want him? … I can’t today I’m scared….” Or would you say, “Ok God …but I am going to need you help?” . This is where church can help us in our daily walk. We can go and talk about how to tell others about Christ. We learn how to handle life’s challenges. We get to pray for the lost , sick, and those who need help. A true God filled Church shouldn’t break down one another but to lift up one another .
I heard someone say, “Church should be a hospital for the broke. Not a museum for good people but a hospital for the broken.”. How true is that? Jesus compared the lost souls to sick people. When your sick you go to a doctor to heal you. You trust your doctor. If your healthy you hang out with your friends and go to work. Jesus is both. He heals us from sickness & he’s our friend when we are well. The church is the doctors office & your best friends home. You go there because you need or want to see them. That’s why we go to church, because we need and want to praise God.
But is church a luxury? I believe so. There are countries that do not allow Christians in their towns etc. They do not allow the Bible at all & they do not believe in God. China for example is one who out law Bibles. Missionaries have to be careful about how the witness to others. Bibles are a luxury over there. How many times have you read yours all the way through? They literally rip the pages out of them and memorize that page word for word so then they can pass it on to the next person. They trade pages until they have it down. They meet for church under ground in dark places because they will die if they were caught. Jesus is not welcomed there.
What would we do? Would we still worship God? If we can’t get to church by 10:45 and last an hour- how would we survive there? Would you be a Christian if that’s what you had to go through? God called us to lay down our lives for him. If you can’t give up an hour or two for church, how are you going to give up your life?
I say church is a luxury because we never know how long that we can attend church freely. Tomorrow our new president could say,”Ok no more churches. If you go we through you in jail. Build a wall 15 foot high around every church so no Christian can get in.”. What would you do? Would you be throw in jail for God? Paul was. Many of the disciples were. I don’t know who told you that the Christian walk is easy, but they lied. It’s hard. We have to fight a battle everyday against the devil. We could die for our faith. My blog could get shut down or possibly they could come and find me. One day that may happen. It’s a luxury that isn’t thought of as one. If you won’t serve God now, how will you serve God when they want to come and kill you? You won’t.
So I beg you, find a church. Get in the word of God. This is necessary and it’s a luxury. We may not have this opportunity much longer. If you don’t have a place to go, come down to Green Chapel in Herdon Oklahoma. We would love to have you. If you live farther off, ask around – I pray someone can tell you where to go. There isn’t anything like a church family. Fellowship with true believers is an awesome thing. Take time out of your day to give back to God. He died for you, praise him for at least an hour. What do you have to loose? Nothing today, but maybe everything tomorrow.
May God Bless You & Yours,
– Marli
Just Being Marli 