Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Worry”
Our Bible verse for today: “I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go up to the house of the Lord.” Psalm 122:1 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Church attendance helps us overcome our worries.”
I read a great statement from Mother Teresa recently regarding worry. She wrote, “God will never, never, never let us down if we have faith and put our trust in Him. He will always look after us. So we must cleave to Jesus. Our whole life must simply be woven into Jesus.”
“Our whole life must simply be woven into Jesus.” How is that accomplished? Without question it would have to involve the personal individual spiritual disciplines of prayer and Bible study. Those are the two primary means by which the Lord communicates with us.
Also, every day, all day, we need to be consciously and intentionally including Jesus into all aspects of our lives. In Revelation 3:20 He said, “Listen! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and have dinner with him, and he with Me.” We commonly use that verse in an evangelistic way to encourage unbelievers to place their faith in Christ. But Jesus actually spoke those words to Christians. He was speaking to lukewarm believers in the church in Laodicea and His meaning was that He wants to be invited into all the moments of our lives.
But another important way in which we include Jesus into our whole life is by participating in the regular gatherings of the church family. This is a crucial aspect of life in the family of God. We have to be together in worship and in a learning setting with other believers. The New Testament is crystal clear on this point and it makes no provision for Lone Ranger Christians who are not actively and regularly engaged in the life of a church family. That’s why the writer of the letter to the Hebrews cautioned us to “not stay away from our worship meetings, as some habitually do.”
Ok, back to our theme of worry. One of the impacts we experience from good Sunday school, a good time of group worship, and from good fellowship, is that our cares and worries tend to melt away. Instead of being focused on the problems, we’re focused on the Lord and on others. Consequently our time with our church family becomes a time of renewal and refreshing. We need this. We need it a lot. Church attendance helps us overcome our worries.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 