Today, we have so many Christians who do not go to church for one reason or the other. Some see it as just a normal or religious gathering of people called Christians while some come up with excuse like “I forgot to get my clothes ready”, “I want to wash my clothes” “I don’t feel like going” blah blah blah!! If we really know the reason(s) why we should be in church always, we will not come up with these flimsy excuses. Majority of Christians today have a superficial understanding of this subject. That is why you will ask a Christian why do you go to church and all he can say is to worship. What do you mean by worship? If that is all you went to church to do, then that is not good enough. I pray God opens our understanding as we read through this post.
Here are some reasons why we go to church
Fellowship
Cooperate fellowship with the brethren and with the Holy Spirit (1Cor 1:9, 1John 1:3-7). Fellowship with the brethren is so important. It has its own way of keeping us in track. I remember discussing this subject with a friend and she told me a story how that she was a leader in her school fellowship and travelled to spend a particular holiday with her aunt. For some reasons, she did not follow her aunt to church all through her stay though she carves out time to study, pray and worship the Lord on her own every Sunday. When she got back to school, she said she noticed she could not join in the flow of the spirit easily like she used to. There was this difficulty in connecting. Well, thank God she did not remain in that state. The bible says iron sharpeneth iron (Prov 27:17)
To receive instruction
Instruction here is not the thou shall and thou shall not but instruction in righteousness. Instructions on how to live the life we now have as new creations in Christ Jesus. 2Tim 3:16
To receive information---information in the kingdom
Oftentimes we are somewhat confused on how to walk in the light of God’s word and end up sometimes believing God does not love me that much or I am not qualified for this blessing. If we go to church regularly and receive God’s word, we can nudge out of this idea. Jer 3:15 says; “And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.” Look at the preceding verse Jer 3:16a “And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land,…”. You see, our increase comes by yielding ourselves to the ministry of our pastors. I understand there are churches where they do not teach the word of God in depth. They do not hold in high priority, accurate teaching of God’s word. If you attend that kind of church and you are waiting for Jesus to come down from heaven to tell you to leave that church and join one where God’s word is taught, then you need not wonder why the stagnation in your spiritual life.
To be strengthened
Strengthened through the first three. Ps 84:7 They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God
Ps 133:3b “…for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.”
To worship
Through the prayer of adoration, songs of worship and praise that exalts God, offerings of worship and thanksgiving in demonstration of our commitment. Some may be surprised I listed offerings as a form of worship. Paying our offerings is one significant way of worshiping the Lord. We recognize Him as Lord over our lives and so we pay our offerings in honour, thanks and submission to Him.
To receive cleansing
We live in a world that is unclean and dirty. Gal 1:4 calls it “…this present evil world…” and we can be stained by so many different things. We can be stained in our minds, we can pick up negative thoughts and ideas. We therefore need to be cleansed through the word of God on a daily basis. John 15:3, Eph 5:26
To minister and to receive ministry.
This is where the gifts of the holy spirit comes in. if we stay at home, we may never receive this ministry. We may never experience the gifts and ministry of the Holy Spirit. Even the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives will be limited. Brethren, it is paramount for us to be in church all the time.
Notice all of them have something supernatural in them. Why? Because Christianity is about living a supernatural life. Going to church has a rippling effect in our lives. No matter how subliminal it appears
Excerpts from a message titled Christ in you part 2 by Pastor Chris Oyakhilime
Here are some reasons why we go to church
Fellowship
Cooperate fellowship with the brethren and with the Holy Spirit (1Cor 1:9, 1John 1:3-7). Fellowship with the brethren is so important. It has its own way of keeping us in track. I remember discussing this subject with a friend and she told me a story how that she was a leader in her school fellowship and travelled to spend a particular holiday with her aunt. For some reasons, she did not follow her aunt to church all through her stay though she carves out time to study, pray and worship the Lord on her own every Sunday. When she got back to school, she said she noticed she could not join in the flow of the spirit easily like she used to. There was this difficulty in connecting. Well, thank God she did not remain in that state. The bible says iron sharpeneth iron (Prov 27:17)
To receive instruction
Instruction here is not the thou shall and thou shall not but instruction in righteousness. Instructions on how to live the life we now have as new creations in Christ Jesus. 2Tim 3:16
To receive information---information in the kingdom
Oftentimes we are somewhat confused on how to walk in the light of God’s word and end up sometimes believing God does not love me that much or I am not qualified for this blessing. If we go to church regularly and receive God’s word, we can nudge out of this idea. Jer 3:15 says; “And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.” Look at the preceding verse Jer 3:16a “And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land,…”. You see, our increase comes by yielding ourselves to the ministry of our pastors. I understand there are churches where they do not teach the word of God in depth. They do not hold in high priority, accurate teaching of God’s word. If you attend that kind of church and you are waiting for Jesus to come down from heaven to tell you to leave that church and join one where God’s word is taught, then you need not wonder why the stagnation in your spiritual life.
To be strengthened
Strengthened through the first three. Ps 84:7 They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God
Ps 133:3b “…for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.”
To worship
Through the prayer of adoration, songs of worship and praise that exalts God, offerings of worship and thanksgiving in demonstration of our commitment. Some may be surprised I listed offerings as a form of worship. Paying our offerings is one significant way of worshiping the Lord. We recognize Him as Lord over our lives and so we pay our offerings in honour, thanks and submission to Him.
To receive cleansing
We live in a world that is unclean and dirty. Gal 1:4 calls it “…this present evil world…” and we can be stained by so many different things. We can be stained in our minds, we can pick up negative thoughts and ideas. We therefore need to be cleansed through the word of God on a daily basis. John 15:3, Eph 5:26
To minister and to receive ministry.
This is where the gifts of the holy spirit comes in. if we stay at home, we may never receive this ministry. We may never experience the gifts and ministry of the Holy Spirit. Even the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives will be limited. Brethren, it is paramount for us to be in church all the time.
Notice all of them have something supernatural in them. Why? Because Christianity is about living a supernatural life. Going to church has a rippling effect in our lives. No matter how subliminal it appears
Excerpts from a message titled Christ in you part 2 by Pastor Chris Oyakhilime
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