A few months back I received an email that raised the question Why Go to Church? This question started a real controversy in the 'Letters to the Editor' column. Someone wrote, 'I've gone for 30 years now, and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them... So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all. Another reader of the column answered with this response... 'I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this ... They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!
This is an interesting analogy… I believe that we should not forsake assembly as it says in Hebrews 10:25. AND I also strongly believe that it is vitally important to have a one on one complete relationship with God EACH and EVERY day. How often do we REALLY spend time connecting with our Lord and Savior during the week? The nourishment and spiritual strength that this answer speaks of can only be received by having a personal relationship with God. Not by simply attending church on Sunday. The sermons or messages that God gives to the pastor are also helpful in our daily walk with the Lord. But far too often we don’t choose to take the time to talk to our heavenly Father. Attending church on Sunday becomes a way to catch up on spirituality. It would be like being married to a person for 30 years and only talking to them every Sunday and what kind of a relationship would that BE? I believe that building a relationship with God is of a far greater importance than attending church every Sunday. You can not look to the pastor, man/woman or the church building with its rows of pews and sometimes stained glass windows to establish the kind of relationship that I am speaking of. When you asked the Lord to come into your life it was just you and the Lord. Somewhere along the line Christians have blurred the significance of going to church with establishing a true relationship with the Lord… after all didn’t this begin with just you and God coming together? In my pastor’s message last Sunday he told us that the masses, "have no idea what we as Christians know…" how much more effective could you be in letting other people know about your Lord and Savior if you are daily relating to him... now lets go to CHURCH!
Trish
Photos By: Trish At Through the Viewfinder
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