Happy Monday!
Two emergency calls made for a very late night… all is calm this morning.
Yesterday was another Sunday for the records! Church just doesn’t get much better than that service… tremendous change began for EVERYONE, I could SEE IT IN THEIR EYES; we’ll GROW from THAT for SURE! Then after church, we went to help some friends clean up after Saturday nights fairy-tail wedding… ended up EXPLORING the abandoned CASTLE!!!
SURREAL, IT WAS! Lots of Laughing and smiling and wow-ing and PRICELESS PHOTOGRAPHY! After you guys finish with the blog: you should head over to my facebook and look at the mobile uploads… taken with my iphone. (photo of Melanie Widener above)
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Question: How can people come to a sunday church service like yesterday… and be so awakened and challenged and blessed with LIFE, and then not come back for two or three weeks? After serving God for almost NINETEEN years, I still find myself LONGING FOR EVERY NEXT GATHERING!
The Bible teaches that we have been MADE ALIVE in Christ… we have a SPIRITUAL LIFE now! And if we are SPIRITUALLY LIVING, then we must have a SPIRITUAL APPETITE. Because ALL LIVING THINGS hunger.
Maybe I just have a bizarre spiritual appetite… but I’m not exaggerating when I say that my HEART LONGS, even faints for the COURTS of the LIVING GOD!
Psalm 84:1-3
How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
2 I long, yes, I faint with longing
to enter the courts of the Lord.
With my whole being, body and soul,
I will shout joyfully to the living God.
3 Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow builds her nest and raises her young
at a place near your altar,
O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, my King and my God!
Still today, almost TWO DECADES into this… I NEVER WANT TO MISS EVEN ONE CHURCH SERVICE! Even when I’m on vacation, I visit the beach church or I gather my family around the computer and watch Destiny Family Center Live Online.
I don’t go to church because I am the Pastor… I don’t go because I have to! I gather with fellow believers because I LOVE TO WORSHIP GOD… I love singing to him… AND I love listening to great messages from the Bible… AND I love building relationships with GREAT people… AND I love to give in the offerings… AND I love to cheer people up… AND I love to SHINE A LIGHT ON MY DARK WORLD!
Hebrews 10:25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
So… the question remains: How can people come to a Sunday church service like we had yesterday… and be so awakened and challenged and blessed with LIFE… and then NOT come back for two or three weeks?
Join the discussion… state the obvious, the not so obvious, and everything in between.
Have an amazing day you guys! I just finished praying for all the tribe… hope you feel the difference! Dream Big, Live Bold, and Make a Difference all day long!
As often as possible, but at least once a week. Nothing beats corporte worship on the Lord’s Day.
I know that my spiritual week (and my regular week!) goes so much better with a healthy dose of gathering to worship. When I’m not there, I miss the companionship, the fellowship, the sense of community, and the feeling of coming together to praise. I know I need a constant reminder that God is first in my life, and a worship service, or two, really helps with that.
I also find a Bible study to be almost essential. If I don’t immerse myself in it, then I don’t immerse myself in it, if that makes sense. I need the Word, and I also need motivation, like a study group.
I don’t know what the answer is…I mean, why don’t more people love to come to church, especially to worship? (we know there are those who slip in AFTER praise and worship is– or is almost over! You know who you are!) Sometimes it is hard to settle my mind down and focus on God, but when I do, I’m sure not sorry! Seeking God and THANKING Him ALWAYS aleviates some portion of stress, if not all!
There’s something definately powerful about corporate worship! A great mass of people all lifting up our God at once! All in one accord. It has the power to make city walls crumble! Even the ememy tries to use this power–just think of a worldly rock concert with every fan singing addictive lyrics, raising hands in homage to 4 guys they don’t even know and will be gone on a bus in less than 2 hours.
I hate missing church, it’s been a long time though I will admit, I have missed simply because I was tired or didn’t “feel like it”, BUT– I have LEARNED! You see, EVERY TIME I pulled a stunt like that, I found I missed something profound God had for me, and not very many things on MY schedule could be more important than another chance for God to get through–to improve me, to shape me.
Am I the only one who has experienced this? Perhaps the enemy knows this and tries to keep us away…whispering in our ears, “you deserve to sleep in, you’ve been working hard…”
Whether i’m jumping out of bed on Sunday morning or having to shut the devil down, I’m always thrilled I went to church!
In the Words of one of my favorite pastor’s, Pastor Joseph Hughes, who went home to be with the Lord earlier this year…I will sum it up this way; People don’t attend church regularly, because of “Hurts, Habits, and Hang-ups.”
I believe Healing, Acceptance, Forgiveness and Discipline are the cures for Hurts, Habits, and Hang-ups. Personal healing of an individual’s heart, Genuinely being accepted into the body as a family member, Forgiving everyone that has hurt him/her (including themselves), and choosing to make church a priority… putting forth the effort to attend, and be actively involved.
We should gather daily to worship….but it doesn't have to be in a local church building. We should be gathering daily to break bread and worship daily in our homes also. So come on down for some breaking of bread and worship of our Mighty God.