3 Reasons to Attend Church Weekly
The COVID-19 crisis has put a strain on many congregations with some not being able to meet in person, some limited to 50% capacity, and some relegated to meeting only outdoors. At our church we have had to cease services for two weeks due to several staff testing positive for COVID-19.
While the virus presents concerns itself, coupled with recent research the post-virus church may look starkly different from the pre-virus church. Lifeway research indicates that 45% of Americans attend services monthly (that’s once a month)! 60% of churches are plateaued (not growing) or experiencing decline. 65% of professed Protestants say they can walk with God alone and have no need of discipleship-based relationships. These numbrs are staggering. With many researchers telling us that between 20% and 30% of these churchgoers will not return post-virus I want to provide a biblical perspective for the need to attend church weekly.
1. IT IS COMMANDED
From the gathering of the Old Testament saints to the birth of the New Testament church, God has always called his people to meet together. The 5th Commandment states, “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy” (Ex. 20:8-11). The Lord desired his people to rest and worship corporately on the Sabbath. There was an expectation that God’s people would take time to renew themselves physically and spiritually through rest and worship. Hebrews 10:25 states, “not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” While these two verses are enough in themselves to display God’s expectation and command of his people to worship him corporately, a reading of the Old Testament and New Testament worship practices show a history of people gathering regularly to worship their Creator and Savior. We should be willing to meet together if for no other reason than God desires us to meet and to meet with us.
2. IT IS MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL
By meeting together regularly (I do not mean once a month, I take the stand that regularly gathering with the body of believers is at least a weekly practice) the entire body benefits. Meeting together regularly in worship and in small groups provides the believer an opportunity to hear the word of God proclaimed, participate in corporate praise to Jesus, be equipped through intimate discussion and practical application of God’s word, and be prepared to engage the lost world upon departing. As we gather together, we minister to one another (Phil. 2:25), encourage one another (Heb. 3:12-13), bear one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2), and learn to live out the biblical commands (Phil. 2:12). As we come together, we learn to love, forgive, and suffer long; we get the glorious opportunity to share life with one another; we can learn from one another’s victories as well as defeats; we can lift up holy hands and heavenly voices to the praise of our Savior. As the church is a family, when one member is absent the entire family suffers, but when all are present it brings a mutual hope and joy as well as encouragement and strength.
3. IT IS A PLACE TO REFOCUS
With so much pulling at our attention and passions we need a regular diet of God’s holy word to offset the confusing voices of the world. While the spiritual discipline of daily Bible reading is good and necessary for the believer to mature in Christ, the believer benefits tremendously from regularly hearing the Bible proclaimed. When the entire Bible is systematically and regularly proclaimed the church benefits by keeping its focus on Christ. The entirety of scripture drives the reader directly to Jesus. Paul comments to Timothy that, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16). If Jesus is our righteousness and if Jesus is the point of the entire counsel of the Bible, then a regular hearing of God’s word trains us in his righteousness and moves us closer to him. The believer who regularly hears the word in its proper context, explained in an understandable manner, and provided examples and opportunity for application will be focused more on Christ than the world. Regularly refocusing on Christ reminds us that this life is not about us, it is about Christ in us.
While this is admittingly a short list which could be greatly expanded, I hope to provide us with a basis to regularly attend corporate worship with our faith family. Come and be a part of what God is doing and desires to do through you.
Have a Blessed Day
Bro. Brad