Back To Church Sunday!

This fall when you see geese heading south for the winter, flying along in V formation, you might be interested in knowing what science has discovered about why they fly that way. It has been learned that as each bird flaps its wings, it creates uplift for the bird immediately following. By flying in a V formation, the whole flock adds at least 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew on its own. Christians who share a common direction and a sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier, because they are traveling on the thrust on one another.

Also, when a goose gets sick or wounded and falls out of formation, two other geese follow him to help and protect him. They stay with him until he is either able to fly, or until he is dead, and then they launch out to catch up with their group. Jesus gave us the church so that we could do the same for one another: support each other and stand by each other when we're down and out.

Secondly, church gives us an opportunity to magnify the God who made us.

MAGNIFICATION

Going back to Acts 2, the Bible says, "They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord's Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity, all the while praising God" (vs. 46-47 NLT).

In case no one has ever told you this, it's not all about you. It's about Jesus. Church gives us an opportunity to worship God the Father and his Son Jesus, though the power of the Holy Spirit. Now, I've said more times than I can count that worship is far more than what goes on in a brick building for one hour on Sunday mornings; worship is a way of life. But the truth is that most of us don't worship God on our own.

Life is busy and hectic, and we're so easily distracted. All of life should be worship, but usually it's not. Church gives us one hour a week of focused worship and attention on Jesus Christ. I've always like how David described worship. He said, "Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!" (Psalm 34:3 ESV).

Do you know what it means to magnify something? When I was a kid, my dad bought my mom a colossal crimson-colored telescope for her birthday one year. I remember taking it out on the back porch; my dad steadied it as I climbed up on a small stool to peer through the little lens. That telescope magnified the moon! In other words, it made the moon bigger to me as I gazed in awe at its radiance, its cavernous craters and majestic mountains. The same thing happens when we magnify, or worship, God. He becomes bigger in our hearts and lives as we stand in awe of his indescribable beauty, his inexpressible splendor and incomprehensible wonder.

If you let yourself be truly immersed in worship, no matter what style of worship service you prefer, you will feel God's presence in this place, and it will stay with you.

Third, church helps lead us to spiritual maturity.

MATURITY

Jumping back to Acts 2 again, the Bible says, "All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to prayer" (vs. 42 NLT). In other words, they were committed to learning more about Jesus, who was the focus of the apostles' teaching, and growing to become more like him.