Why Church 4?

Hebrews 10:25

I make no bones about it – it is very discouraging to look out across a church Sanctuary and see so many empty places. Part of it is the fact that I am going to put the same amount of prayer and effort in a sermon for ten people as I would for a sermon for a thousand. So, it would be wonderful to have a large congregation, to know I am reaching many with the message.

But the biggest discouragement is the awareness that so many people are missing out on an opportunity to hear the Word of God and to have their spirits renewed. There is plenty of room for someone else to come to church.

Why aren’t people in church? There are many reasons. The biggest is simply, “I’m too busy.” Others find it dull. Others fear the judgmental looks of members. And I am certain there are hundreds more excuses to be given.

The author of Hebrews has a simple message regarding “church.” What are we NOT to do? What should we do when we meet together?

Flagging church attendance is obviously nothing new. The author of Hebrews in the First Century addressed this trend of people falling away from regular meetings to worship. Like us, I am certain they had the same reasons for not gathering.

But we can see that we are not to allow our organized faith meetings to be neglected. Gathering for worship, gathering for church, is part of our faith. It is important to be in a time of fellowship with other believers. It is important to spend time in the presence of God.

Many will claim that the boredom and the judgmental attitudes of others keep them away. But our worship should not be a dull time nor a time of judgment. It is meant to be a time of encouragement, of building each other up in the faith.

And so, if your place of worship is seeing declining attendance and you hear of those who stay away because of judgmental attitudes, it is your place to step in and change things. It is your place as a believer in God to work at making your church time a time for encouragement and welcome and joy.

DAILY CHALLENGE: What can you do to make church a time of encouragement?