Illus: A Johns Hopkins University medical researcher has just discovered what the Presbyterian Ministers’ Life Insurance Fund has known for more than two centuries: ATTENDING CHURCH IS GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH.
Illus: Statistics reveal that the risk of fatal heart disease is almost twice as high for the non-churchgoer than for men who attend once a week or more, according to a study made by Dr. George W. Comstock of the university’s Department of Epidemiology.
The doctor also observed that the “clean life” associated with regular churchgoing appears to be statistically related to a lower incidence of other major diseases, adding that going to church is a very favorable input.
But besides it being healthy to attend church, Bible preachers preach on church attendance for at least two other reasons, such as:
(1) BECAUSE THE WORD OF GOD COMMANDS IT
Notice, God’s Word does not say, “If you think it is a good idea, you can attend church regularly!”
The fact is, God commands church attendance as much as he commands “Thou shalt not steal” or “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”
The Lord clearly commands us to FORSAKE NOT THE ASSEMBLING OF OURSELVES TOGETHER.
But he preaches on church attendance for another reason.
(2) BECAUSE HE IS A BIBLE PREACHING PREACHER
If a minister is going to be a Bible-preaching pastor, he is going to have to preach on church attendance. This is something God’s Word commands.
But this is one command that many Christians take very lightly. They have all kinds of excuses for why they do not attend.
For example, it is said a pastor received this letter.
Illus: "Dear Pastor,
You often stress attendance at worship as being very important for a Christian, but I think a person has a right to miss now and then. I think every person ought to be excused for the following reasons and the number of times indicated:
Christmas (Sunday before or after) 1
New Year's (Party lasted too long) 1
Easter (Get away for the holidays) 1
July 4 (National holiday) 1
Labor Day (Need to get away) 1
Memorial Day (Visit hometown) 1
School closing (Kids need a break) 1
School opens (One last fling) 1
Family reunions (Mine and wife's) 2
Sleep late (Saturday night activities) 4
Deaths in family 4
Anniversary (Second honeymoon) 1
Sickness (One for each family member) 5
Business trips (A must) 3
Vacation (3 weeks) 3
Bad weather (Ice, snow, rain, clouds) 6
Ball games 5
Unexpected company (Can't walk out) 5
Time changes (Spring ahead; fall back) 2
Special on TV (Super Bowl, etc.) 3
Pastor, that leaves only two Sundays per year. So, you can count on us to be in church on the fourth Sunday in February and the third Sunday in August unless providentially hindered.
Sincerely,
Faithful Member
As ridiculous at that letter may be, there are people who profess to be Christians who attend church this way.
However, any time a preacher preaches about church attendance, he needs to make two things very clear. Such as:
(1) ATTENDING CHURCH WILL NOT SAVE ANYONE
Illus: One man said it very eloquently: Going to church will not save you any more than going to a garage will make you a mechanic.
(2) ATTENDING CHURCH IS SOMETHING YOU DO BECAUSE YOU LOVE THE LORD
Most of us fellows would have had a hard time getting our wife to marry us if she had to beg us to come see her before we married her.
• The fact is, because of our love for her, every time we got a chance we went to see her
• The fact is, we were not looking for an excuse, we were looking for an opportunity
• And when we did not have an opportunity we made an opportunity to go and see her
Listen, someone said, “If your religion will not even take you to church, how do you expect that religion to take you to heaven?”
I WANT TO STATE AGAIN; GOING TO CHURCH WILL NOT SAVE YOU.
There are hypocrites all over the world that go to church every time the church doors are open, and they are lost as the sinner person who does not even claim to saved. GOING TO CHURCH WILL NOT SAVE YOU!
You cannot help but wonder about the salvation of that crowd that professes to be saved, that you have to beg to come to the house of God.
WHY IS IT THAT SOME CHRISTIANS TODAY HAVE A PROBLEM ATTENDING CHURCH?
It is because of a number of reasons, such as:
• They love the things of the world more then they love God
• They do not consider the Lord worth the sacrifice of energy it will take to get them there
• They love the people of the world more then they love the people of God
About the only time you can get some folks to attend church is to bribe them to come for the wrong reason. They will give you one excuse after another why they can not come. But the true reason will fall into one of the three categories I just mentioned.
However, you can tell them that some celebrity is coming to our church and they will be there an hour early, sitting on the front seat!
Illus: Any church in town can advertise that some celebrity or some singing group will entertain them, and the church will be packed.
Illus: This is why some of the big television preachers are bringing in the celebrities in their city wide crusades - TO DRAW THE CROWDS.
Our motive for attending church should be because WE LOVE THE LORD.
Now we have already found out why we should attend church:
• BECAUSE GOD COMMANDS IT
• BECAUSE OF OUR LOVE FOR THE LORD
But let me show you briefly some other reasons why Christians should attend church on a regular basis.
I. IT SHOWS COMMITMENT TO HIS CHURCH
Look at verse 23, we read "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering."
Look at the words, "hold fast", this is the Greek word katecho, (kat-ekh'-o) which means to make toward, seize on. In other words, every time we have a chance to attend church, we ought to SEIZE the opportunity.
What a wonderful way:
• To show our lost neighbors that we love the Lord, as they look out and see us leaving to go to the house of God with a Bible in our hands
• To show our lost loved ones, we love them, but we love the Lord more
• To show the pastor that you love the Lord
Our love for the Lord and His church should never “waver”.
Paul said, "Let us HOLD FAST the profession of our faith without wavering."
One of the things that many Christians are going to regret as they stand before the Lord at the Judgment Seat of Christ, is that they failed to seize the opportunity they had to attend the house of God.
Their love for the Lord WAVERED OVER AND OVER AGAIN, and they stood with the lost world when they should have been standing with God and God’s people.
Illus: Have you ever been to a football game and seen the fans of one team that you were pulling for on one side, and the fans of the other team were on the other side?
But sometimes you find some fans from one team will leave their side of the field and come over to the opposing side.
Now I do not know how you feel about that, but that does not sit well with most people. Why? Because most folks believe you ought to be with your team and stand with them. You proudly stand with them and you wear their colors.
It does not speak well of us when we attend church, and half the people of God are out there with the devil’s crowd.
When we attend church IT SHOWS COMMITMENT TO HIS CHURCH.
You might not be able to preach, sing, or teach, but one thing every Christian can do is be faithful in attending the house of God.
If you do not have a desire to support the work of God with your attendance, you have every right to be concerned about the kind of salvation you have.
Again, I want to remind you; when we attend church IT SHOWS OUR COMMITMENT TO CHRIST. What a good testimony for the Lord.
Illus: On Sunday morning, September 27, 1959, President Eisenhower invited Khrushchev to accompany him to a worship service at Gettysburg Presbyterian Church. The Red leader declined and Eisenhower went without him.
WHAT A TESTIMONY, THAT THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES THOUGHT THAT ATTENDING CHURCH WAS SO IMPORTANT THAT HE PUT GOD AHEAD OF THIS COMMUNIST LEADER.
What a bad testimony it is to our lost family members and friends, when we profess to know the Lord and they know we are somewhere else when we should be in the house of God.
Illus: Reminds me of the Christian young lady that went to a dance. She was advised by her Christian parents that it would hurt her Christian testimony. She went anyway, telling them that she was going to witness for the Lord there. She was dancing with a fellow and she said, “Are you a Christian?” He said, “Of course not! If I was, what would I be doing here?”
And listen when the Christian is outside of the house of God when they should be in the house of God, the lost world is going to wonder why they are there.
When we attend church faithfully we are giving a visual testimony of our commitment of our love to the Lord!
IT SHOWS COMMITMENT TO HIS CHURCH. But also-
II. IT SHOWS COMMITMENT TO HIS CAUSE
Illus: Zig Ziglar tells us there are three kinds of motivations.
(1) The first type of motivation is "Fear"
This type of motivation says:
• "If you're not in by 11:00 PM, this will be the last night this month that you can go out
• "If you don't work harder you will be fired"
Fear motivation works for some people, but with most people it causes resentment that leads to rebellion.
(2) The second form of motivation is incentive or "carrot"
motivation which is simple reward for accomplishment
It says: "If you clean your room I'll give you your allowance this week.
(3) The third kind of motivation is internal
The old saying, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink", is true.
When people love the Lord, inside of them is a deep desire that motivates them to want to come to the house of God and worship Him!
Before they were saved, they had time for everything the world had to offer them. But when they became born-again, God placed within them a desire to go to church with God’s people, and worship the Savior who died for their sins.
Illus: Did you know that you can place a bowl of ice cream before some people, and they act like they do not know what to do with it. They have no desire for it whatsoever. We who love ice cream find this hard to believe.
We who love ice cream, say, “Eat it man! It’s good!” And they look at us with a frown on their face and say, “No, I do not like it!” And we who love ice cream say, “Man what’s wrong with you?” Why don’t you love ice cream!”
And we who love the Lord can not help but to look at the lost world, and wonder why PEOPLE DO NOT WANT TO WORSHIP THE CREATOR THAT MADE THEM, AND GAVE THEM EVERYTHING THEY HAVE!
But you know, you can place a bowl of ice cream in front of those of us who love ice cream, and we know what to do with it. There is something inside that motivates us to want to find a spoon as fast as we can.
Paul uses the word “prisoner” when he addresses God’s people about their faithful walk.
Eph. 4:1 “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,”
If we truly are a prisoner of the Lord, we will be committed to His cause. We are His prisoner, our hearts have been CAPTURED BY HIM!
Our Church attendance reveals:
• OUR LOVE FOR HIS CHURCH
• OUR LOVE FOR HIS CAUSE
But also-
III. IT SHOWS COMMITMENT TO HIS COMMANDMENTS
I would like to remind you that CHURCH ATTENDANCE is a commandment.
Look at Lev. 22:31 “Therefore shall ye keep my commandments, and do them: I am the LORD.”
The Christian's lack of commitment can be seen by the little things will keep them out of church.
• A FEW DROPS OF RAIN
• A SNIFFLE
• A GOOD TV PROGRAM
• A NEIGHBOR DROPPING BY
• A COMFORTABLE COUCH
• A HOBBY
Illus: Little Johnny can get a cold on Sunday morning and the whole family will stay home to blow his nose!
By the way, it is strange that these same things do not keep these folks from their jobs on Monday!
Look what the Bible says about the fact that our obedience to God’s commandments shows our love for Him.
John 14:15 “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
When we attend church, we are keeping the commandment of, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves TOGETHER”
Conclusion:
When we go to church some things happen to us. People often say:
•“I came to church TIRED”, but after church they will say, “Now I am not tired at all!”
• “I came to church DISCOURAGED”, but after church they will say, “Now I am fired-up for the Lord.”
• “I came to church with all kinds of things ON MY MIND”, but after church they leave with only Christ on their mind.
You see, all week the devil keeps filling our life with the things of the world, and we are not even aware of it. But when we come to church, the world gets knocked out of you while you are in church.
Anyone who wants to, can find an excuse not to attend church.
But people who love the Lord are looking for an opportunity to attend church to worship the Saviour who died for their sins.
WHY SHOULD WE ATTEND CHURCH REGULARLY?
I. IT SHOWS COMMITMENT TO HIS CHURCH
II. IT SHOWS COMMITMENT TO HIS CAUSE
III. IT SHOWS COMMITMENT TO HIS COMMANDMENTS
