What Difference Does Church Attendance Make?

One of the greatest tragedies of the 21st Century in America is the realism that millions of people who claim to know Jesus Christ rarely attend a local church or participate in the worship services. In so many of the American churches, a lot of people basically attend three times in their entire life. The first time is when they’re born to be christened. The second time is when they are married. The third time is when they are buried. In other words, when they’re hatched, matched, and dispatched!

Yet, in the New Testament, if one consistently and deliberately missed the assembly, the coming together as a church, it was assumed that this person was no longer following Christ. They assumed that this person had gone back into the world and was no longer apart of the local church. In this case, New Testament Christians would eventually conclude that a person was no longer a Christ-follower simply because he/she was no longer attending the local assembly. They saw the worship service not only as a privilege and a priority, but they saw worship as a solemn duty.

There are three times in Hebrews 10:19-25, that the Hebrew writer uses the phrase, “let us,” to appeal to the local congregation about being steadfast in their attendance to the local assembly or church. When we attend the local church,

We Exalt Our Lord Through Worshipping Together

Jesus is everywhere since He is God. Yet, there is a special sense that Jesus is in the worship service in a way that does not exist out in the world. There is a special sense that Christ is in “the house of God.” In Hebrews 10:19-22, we read:

Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the

blood of Jesus by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the

veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let

us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts

sprinkled clean from evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

“Let us draw near,” is worship. Why do we meet on Sunday? We draw near to the Lord Jesus Christ! We do not come to church, primarily, to hear a sermon, to listen to music, to fellowship with others or to give an offering. The overriding purpose of our coming together is to draw near to Jesus. Today, a lot of Christians in America express, “I can worship Christ alone. I don’t have to attend church to do this.” Yes, Christians ought to worship Christ alone; but corporate worship is taught in the Bible and together, as the body of Christ, we are commanded to draw near to Him.

The Hebrew writer says, we’re to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. He is referring to the Holy of Holies. It was the innermost part of the tabernacle. It was the place where the Shekinah glory of God would be revealed to the High Priest. In other words, we are to come through the veil into the Holy of Holies. In the Old Testament, the High Priest could only go into the Holy of Holies once a year. He went in with a basin of blood and would sprinkle the blood upon a piece of furniture called the Mercy Seat. The High Priest would not go in without the blood and the permission of God.

Imagine an Old Testament scene. Let us begin with a man from Moab, who lives in Sinai and he sees the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle was a tent covered with badger skins with a fence around it.

This Moabite questions a Jew with, “What is this?

The Jew would respond by saying, “This is where we worship God.”

And the Moabite says, “Well, I would like to go in there.”

Yet, the Jewish man would reply, “You can’t go in there. That’s not for the people of Moab. That’s for the people of Israel.”

“Well, what would I have to do in order to go in there?” asked the Moabite.

“You would have to be born again an Israelite,” says the Jewish Man.

Then, the Moabite says, “If I were an Israelite, I would go in there!” And, I would want to also go into the Holy Place.”

But the Jew says, “Oh no,you couldn’t go in there unless not only were you a Jew, but you would have to be a Levite of the house of Aaron.”

“Well, I sure wish I could be born again an Israelite and a Levite of the house of Aaron.

And, I would not stop there. I would want to go into the Holy Of Holies.”

The Israelite exclaimed, “Oh no! You don’t understand. You could be a Levite but you couldn’t go in there unless you were the high priest, and you’d have to go in with a basin of blood.”