Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Playing by the Rules”
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: “Christians need to be in church”
It’s unmistakable how important it is to God that His people gather together for worship. From the Fourth Commandment to “keep the Sabbath holy”, to the examples of nation of Israel consistently gathered in their places of worship, the Bible shows us examples of the people of God gathered to worship God. Jesus was frequently in the temple; and for the Apostle Paul, meeting with gathered believers was his regular practice.
In Psalm 122:1 we read of King David rejoicing over the thought of being able to gather together with other believers. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews makes it clear in 10:24-25 that believers are not to skip the regularly scheduled gatherings of their church family – and he doesn’t seem to offer any escape clauses such as “I was tired”, or “The weather was bad”, or “My dog was sick”.
In his book “This Day in Christian History” author Robert Morgan tells the story of how the Puritans in New England in the early days of our country’s history were so committed to going to church, regardless of the weather, that ministers would often preach wrapped in layers of coats, with woolen caps pulled down over their heads and heavy mittens on their hands. Members of the congregation would bring small personal foot stoves filled with hot coals to keep their feet warm. One man was reported to have routinely brought his big old hound dog to curl up at his feet during the service to share its body heat. Judge Samuel Sewall recorded in his diary one Sunday that it was so cold in the sanctuary that the communion bread froze and rattled around in the plate. And yet, they gathered.
In Acts chapter twenty we find the Apostle Paul in the city of Troas. The church was gathered late into the night as Paul continued preaching, and continued, and continued. Finally, around midnight, a young man named Eutychus became so drowsy that he fell asleep and tumbled out of a second story window, crashing to the ground and dying. Paul, undeterred, ran downstairs, prayed over him, raised him from the dead, then ran back upstairs and continued preaching. And the people stayed!
In China today it is illegal for Christians to gather for worship except in government authorized churches, under the supervision of government appointed monitors. Those Christians who are not willing to gather under such restrictive circumstances meet illegally in what is known as “the underground churches”. They meet in secret, often in the middle of the night, in remote barns, or in clearings in the woods, or in carefully closed and concealed basements. And if they’re caught, they go to jail.
In the USA we have none of those problems. If you go to church on Sunday, nobody will put you in jail on Monday. And it’s unlikely that you will need a personal coal-fired foot warmer or a big old hound dog to keep you warm.
And yet, how many of us will stay home this Sunday because …. well … just because.
From the earliest days of the faith God’s people have faithfully gathered together for worship. Doing so is Biblical. It is the normal Christian experience. It is for our own good. And, it is commanded by God. It’s one of the rules God has given to His people.
I look forward to seeing you on Sunday.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 