Pastor Mickey Schneider was one of my mentors, as I have walked through life. When it comes to praying, he is one of the best, because he has memorized much of the Bible and prays using God’s words–it is beautiful. But, this is not a blog on prayer; it is about why we should go to church. My words and thoughts in this article are based on a sermon by Pastor Schneider, “How Important Is Going to Church?”

How do we forsake the assembling together as we are commanded in Hebrews 10:25? Some never attend a church, and some attend intermittently or partially. The author of Hebrews follows the command to not forsake the assembly of the saints with a warning about apostasy. When a person tries to walk the road alone, there is not the opportunity to be spurred on to love and good works and to be encouraged in times of difficulty. In times of crises or persecution, we need our brothers and sisters in Christ. We need to take seriously the importance of being in a local church every week.

Those who attend intermittently are people who hop from church to church without committing to one. There are no perfect churches. Every church will have issues: some more than others. Find a church that faithfully preaches the Word of God, baptizes in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (Spirit), and serves communion on a regular basis. In the military, we moved a lot. One of the first things we always did was find a church, because that was our family. After retiring, churches have always been surprised about how quickly we join and become involved. Find a church and commit to it.

Attending partially is taking a light and casual attitude towards worship. We are called to be obedient and attend worship services even if we don’t feel like it. The world has plenty of distractions which may be more fun than attending church. What does this attitude say about a person’s view of Christ or the Bible? If we are to be serious about loving and obeying Jesus Christ, then we need to commit to being in church every week worshiping our LORD.

In Revelation, the marriage supper of the Lamb is Jesus marrying His church. He is not marrying us as individuals, but as the church: a community of faith. The Bible does not support being a “lone-wolf” Christian. We must have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and trust in Him alone for our salvation, but we are saved into His one holy catholic and apostolic church. We are to live out our lives in the fellowship of believers. Nancy Pearcey in her book, Total Truth, says that Christianity met Americanism and Americanism won. In other words, we worry more about our individualism than faithfully being a part of the church of Jesus Christ.

Grace Christian School has a requirement that our employees and families be an active part of a local church for all of the reasons that have been shared over the past five weeks. If we are serious about raising our children in the faith, then we must be serious about being in church every week, as we partner together in Kingdom Education.

God Bless.

Psalm 106:1 - “Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!”