“The element missing in so many things is God.”
Those words spoke to me today in our Connect Group at Trinity Baptist Church as Josh Mudford led us through a discussion on the importance of worshiping with others.
Why has our society made going to church optional?
Because Satan uses being busy to keep us away from church. When we get so busy doing our routine things (school, work, activities, ballgames, fishing, hunting), better things (building relationships with Christ and fellowship with other Christians) take the backseat.
In the first century church, people greeted each other with “He is coming”. And the response was, “He is coming indeed”.
In the 21st century church, we no longer live like He is coming. Instead, as Christians, we often go through the motions. We show up at church, but we don’t spend the rest of the week in the word. We don’t spend our time sharing the gospel with others. We don’t fellowship with others when we leave the church.
We are living in the “flesh”, accepting the cultural norms, and walking away from the teachings of the Bible. One of those cultural norms is, “Church is optional. It’s okay to go when it’s convenient. It’s okay not to go so long as you claim to be a Christian.”
When we are traveling, or when we just don’t feel like going to church, we justify that it is okay to watch the live stream. Other times, we justify not going to church for a plethora of other reasons.
How many times have you thought, “I would go to church, but ______.”
If you have to justify your reason for not going to church to God, chances are the reasons you’re using to justify not going are probably wrong.
A lot of people use the excuse, “I can worship God from my deer stand” or “I can worship God from my boat.” And, they are correct. You can worship God from anywhere, but there is no substitute for worshiping God together in church.
As Christians, we are called by God to make disciples. We should be so worn out from our work in this calling throughout the week that coming to church on Sunday is our opportunity to get recharged.
**** Hebrews 10:24-25 ****
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another — and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
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In Hebrews, we are given the what and the why for how to worship together.
Why? We need each other to encourage each other and to lean on.
What? God will return.
It’s important when we think about worshiping together, that we understand what worship is.
Worship is more than singing a song in church on Sunday. It is putting God before everything else in our lives (work, sports, money, politics, you name it…).
Worship is giving, teaching, singing, reading scripture, praying, showing gratitude, having pure thoughts, and doing random acts of kindness.
**** John 4:23-24 ****
But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.
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What does it mean to worship in “spirit” and “truth”?
On the one hand, it means to worship the Father (God) through the Son (Truth), in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Worship through the spirit means we worship through our heart.
Worship through truth is worshiping who God is no matter our circumstances. It is being honest with God in asking for forgiveness for our sins to cleanse our hearts.
The question we have to ask as Christians is how much God are we truly ready to have in our lives? Is He a completely missing element because of your pride and arrogance, or are you ready to go all-in?