Spiritual Growth
Check out Lance's (WCC's Lead Pastor) Blog!
-Corporate Worship-
I've been thinking alot recently about why we gather together weekly to worship. I'm sure many of you have thought through this issue a long time ago in your journey to know God more, but for a variety of reasons I've been wrestling with this idea. The Church sometimes gets a bad rap for their weekly meetings. Sunday mornings have been described as the most segregated hour in the United States every week. Usually an offering is received in these meetings and that adds to some people's perception that the church is all about money. You are bound to find someone in a worship service on Sunday mornings that you also saw behaving poorly somewhere else during the week, and it might even be the preacher! This occurrence lends itself to some people's assumption that the church is full of hypocrites. With all of it's flaws why do we bother gathering each week to worship? I've been thinking about these reasons:
1. The Church is the hope of the world! The only relationship that will change a person's life for all of eternity is a relationship with Jesus. The Church is still the best place for a casually spiritual person to be introduced and grow a transforming relationship with Jesus. Even as we struggle with a bunch of different flaws the Church is the hope bearer for the world. We can not drop this ball!
2. It provides us with a weekly opportunity to publicly acknowledge God as our God! Sure, there are other ways that we must be proclaiming Jesus as our Lord through out the week. We cannot ignore those other opportunities, but don't underestimate the power of a student seeing their teacher in a worship service on the weekend. Please do not ignore the influence you have with a coworker when they discover you make worship a weekly habit. Understand that your presence and participation in weekly worship matters to those around you in the community. How much more powerful do you suppose this influence becomes when we sacrificially offer ourselves in worship even when the music, or the message is not delivered via our personal preferences? I think that is the kind of act I want the Holy Spirit to get His hands on! I'm praying that I'll provide Him with that opportunity more often!!!
3. I don't want the rocks to cry out! Jesus promised if we, His people, do not worship Him the rocks will take our place. I have a real problem being replaced by a rock!
4. Scripture says to! Hebrews 10:25 says, "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching."
Because of Him,
Lance