The Importance of Church and a God Who is Worthy of our Worship

The Importance of Church

"And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." -Hebrews 10:24-25 ESV

     I guess you could say I have about as much experience being a part of a church as anyone who is still under 20 years old. I've grown up going to church and my dad was a youth pastor before I was even born. So far I've been a part of three churches...I mention this because the one I am currently at is a new church plant that my dad is pastoring. The foundation for this part of the post comes from the transition that my family and I had in between our last church and the one that just started meeting regularly. 

     First let me say: I love being a part of this new church plant. I am so blessed to be able to see God working in his people and I can't wait for all the exciting things that I am sure are to come. We've been meeting regularly as a core team and those times have been a refreshing time to pray together, learn more about plans for the church, and get to know one another better. However, this transition was far from perfect. 

     An obvious difficulty was leaving our old church that we had been going to for about 13 years and all the friends we had there. We didn't move very far but we see a lot of the people that we saw regularly on Sunday's and at church events a lot less. But something that I never saw coming and now have realized is how hard it is to not be a part of a specific group of God's people gathering to worship every Sunday. 

     In the gap between when my dad stopped his job as youth pastor at our old church (August) and when our first service at the new church took place (this past Sunday) we did not consistently go to any particular church. We went to our old church some weeks, but we also took advantage of this opportunity to visit some other churches in our area and some of the other churches in our denomination. We did this because it was pretty much our only chance for a long time now that we are going to be fully committed to a new church. I am definitely not saying this was a bad thing. I do think it was a good opportunity that we took advantage of. However, it made me realize the importance of being a member of a specific church that you attend every week.

    

     Why is this true? Because of the support and unity you have as the body of Christ. Wait just a second before this gets too confusing....you DO have this support and unity in every Gospel-believing church that you attend (or should anyways) but there is just such a difference between jumping from church to church every week and going to the same one every week. And just think: if that's true, how much more of a difference will there be if you don't attend church at all? Attending the same church week after week allows you to grow close with the people that attend with you. You are given the chance to build friendships and encourage one another. The body of Christ is so important and that is why God gave it to us. 

A God Who is Worthy of our Worship

"Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power." -Revelation 4:11 ESV

     The second part of this post is related to the first. It is explaining another reason why going to church is so important. Consequently it was also the point of my dad's first sermon at our new church. :) I am going to be taking a lot from his first sermon actually, but don't worry, I asked his permission...

     Why is God worthy of our worship? Well for many many reasons, but I am going to be giving you a summary of my Dad's sermon for a basis:

1. God is worthy of our worship because he is the Almighty King.
   -God is the one who rules the universe
   -God is the king who will always remain; the King of kings
   -God has the whole world in his hands; he has the church in his hands and controls her future
2. God is worthy of our worship because he is Holy.
   -God is perfect. He is without error or sin. he has never done a wrong deed EVER
   -For God to be holy means that he is completely different from his creation
   -There is no one like our God; he is God and there is no other
3. God is worthy of our worship because he is the Sovereign Creator of all things.
   -God created EVERYTHING from NOTHING
   -God created each and every galaxy and knows every star and planet by name
   -Our bodies are incredibly designed by the God of the universe
4. God is worthy of our worship because he is the Worthy Lamb who was slain for us.
   -He has ransomed people with his own blood
   -There are NO barriers that can stand in the way of the Gospel
   -You would have no hope were it not for God Almighty dying in your place

     It is important to go to church because it is an amazing opportunity we have to worship our God. This is something you can and should be doing throughout your entire life. All day every day. However worshiping God at church is very important as well. 

** I just wanted to put a little note at the bottom here explaining something. I talk a lot about "church" in this post....well that's what it's about! The church that I'm referring to is the individual buildings and gatherings of believers. However the Church is really every believer that lives on earth. We are all a part of the body of Christ. But we are called to meet regularly together to worship our God and learn more about him, therefore we have smaller gatherings in buildings that we call "churches." Hope this helps. **

     

Godly Friendships

     I cannot express to you just how important it is to have friends that are following after God with all of their being.  The people who you hang out with make you into the person that you are. Believe me, you will pick up habits and mannerisms from your closest friends. There is even a good chance that your personality will change according to who you hang out with. Therefore, spending most of your time with people who are living for this world will definitely not be healthy for your relationship with God. And, on the flip side, spending a majority of your time with people who are living to please and worship God will help you grow in your relationship with God as well. 

     I want to clarify that I'm not saying you shouldn't have any friends that aren't completely focused on God, or even friends that aren't Christians. I actually think it is very important to have these kinds of people in your life. Why? Because it is a chance for you to set a godly example for them. Having friends that are not living their lives to please God opens you up to an amazing opportunity to witness whenever you are hanging out with your friends. This is where you have to be careful though. When two people hang out they usually both rub off on each other rather than only one rubbing off on the other. So when you are in the situation of hanging out with someone who is not a Christian: guard yourself. Make sure you are not changing and acting more worldly when you spend time with these people.

     As I'm talking about the importance of these friendships I also want to give you a challenge: are you a godly friend? I know how hard it can be to stand out in this world; how easy it is to conform to this world. But I also know that real satisfaction comes from standing out. Being different in this world is what we, as disciples of Christ, are called to do. What's more, being someone striving after God will make you a better friend for someone. Don't be afraid to speak up when your Christian friends are gossiping or doing something you know is wrong. Most likely this will attract the right kind of friends. More importantly, God sees what you are doing and you will be repaid more than a hundred times over one day in Heaven. 

     Before I close I want to impress upon you the pure blessing of having godly friends. I have the amazing privilege of having some very close friends who are striving after God and growing in their faith daily and I am so blessed to be growing along with them. It is so beneficial to have these friends that can come alongside you and stretch you in your relationship with God. Please don't underestimate the true value of godly friends. 

The Beginning

    Well here I am. The first post to a new blog. I haven't had quite enough time to articulate in my mind just what I want this blog to be like. I do know that it will be a blog fully designed to give glory to God. I want to help girls lead lives focused on Christ. I am not the perfect person; far from it. But I hope that you can learn with me. Come along for the journey.