Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Change”
Our Bible verse for today: “I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.” Psalm 122:1 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Going to church changes us.”
When it comes to bringing about and sustaining positive change in our lives we have to consider the power of association. The fact is that over time we become like those we associate with. So if you spend time with a band of thieves, it won’t be long before you too are a thief. If you hang out with people who abuse drugs and alcohol, soon you will do it too. If everyone around you regularly uses profanity, pretty soon those words will begin coming out of your mouth also.
Conversely, if the people you surround yourself with are honest, trustworthy, well-spoken and kind, over time you will become that way too. There’s a lot of truth in what your mother used to tell you “Choose your friends carefully.”
The best change that can ever occur in any person’s life is the change that occurs when Jesus comes into their life, and the Holy Spirit then begins to transform them into the person God wants them to be. One of the best ways to sustain and nurture that change is by your faithful attendance at the regularly scheduled gatherings of your church family. In other words, we need to be in church.
Psalm 122 is known as “A song of ascent”. The picture David paints is of a group of God’s people gathering together in the valley and then joyfully traveling together to Jerusalem, which was known as “The city on a hill”. In verse one David tells us that he rejoiced at the prospect of joining with his brothers and sisters to go up to the house of the Lord.
Is that how you feel about the prospect of “going to church”? I hope you do. I hope your regular experience of gathering with your church family is so joyful, so uplifting and encouraging, so helpful and transforming, that you look forward to it with eager anticipation. It’s true that going to church changes us.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 