This devotion is a monthly ministry of the Pee Dee Baptist Association, comprised of 31 Southern Baptist churches in Dillon and Marlboro Counties. For more information call 774-8062. Featured this month is Rev. Jim Warren, the pastor of Fork Baptist Church, Fork.
Is Church Membership Important?
Is Church Attendance Important?
Fifty to seventy-five years ago, the answer to both of these questions would have been, without a doubt, yes. Church at that time was politically correct. It was the right thing to do. Church was the gathering place, the social activity of the week. Family was important, marriage mattered, children were the subject of love and future, not abortion, and authority in every area of life was respected. Parents, teachers, policemen, and even politicians were looked up to. But, most important of all, God was known as the ultimate authority in the lives of most Americans. People knew in their hearts that God was actively involved in every part of life (Romans 13:1). One hundred years from today, most of the people reading this article will be deceased. If God has not been important to you in this life, He will be very important to you then. If you have chosen to ignore Him in this present life, your eternal future will be the worst nightmare you could possibly imagine today.
This statement isn’t made lightly or with any reservations. Don’t allow what “they say” or others say to be your guide. Don’t even take my word for it. Pick up your bible and read it for yourself, meditate on its wisdom and truth for your own benefit. C. S. Lewis, famed English author, did. David Limbaugh, a lawyer and brother of Rush Limbaugh, did. Like Lewis and Limbaugh, many others have read the Book and decided for themselves. If you do not read the Bible for yourself, you are the only one you can blame for your fatal eternal future.
The one book which has stood the test of time, has survived wars, dictators, corrupt religious leaders, atheists, corrupt kings and politicians, and many other enemies, is the Bible.
Still the number-one best-seller in the world, the Bible gives us God’s Truth through over 40 human authors that were handpicked and inspired by God Himself to write His Word to all mankind. In a world gone mad, there is still one important truth: God is alive and active in this entire world, whether you believe it or not, and one day in your near future you will know it (fact not fiction)!
You have tried everything else. Why not try God today! Maybe you have, but you didn’t read the Book and only occasionally attended church. Failing to attend church and read the Bible for human beings is like fish swimming only in the air: it is suicide.
Now that you have decided not to read the rest of this article, let me tell you the rest of the story (as Paul Harvey would say). Why should Christians, young and old, attend church regularly and maintain current membership status? Because God designed the Christian life for active, regular fellowship with other believers and regular worship of His Son, Jesus Christ.
The Bible tells us in Romans 3:23 that all of mankind alike are sinners falling short of God’s glory and righteousness. In this same book (Romans 6:23), the apostle Paul tells us that the wages of our sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through His Son, Jesus Christ!
Together, these two verses describe two inescapable truths: (1) spiritual death is the payment for every man’s slavery to sin and (2) eternal life is a free gift God gives undeserving sinners who believe in His Son, Jesus.
Meditation on 2 Corinthians 5:21 reveals the heart of God’s good news (gospel) to us. God sent His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, Who had no sin, to wash away all our sins with His blood on the cross. By believing in Jesus, we become the righteousness of Jesus to God.
With His righteousness in us, we are joined with all believers as a part of the Body of Christ, which is another name for the church. The gift of the church to us is not a building but a body of believers serving each other and serving God.
In Ephesians 2:8-9, we learn that god gives us the grace necessary to produce the faith we need to receive His Son, Jesus, as our Lord and Savior. Man or woman cannot earn eternal life but, if we are willing to seek God’s grace and turn from our habit of sin, He will freely give us the faith to receive the righteousness of His Son, Jesus. With this righteousness we become the Body of Christ.
Just attending church will not make your life easier. However, if you attend to worship Jesus and serve others and to become a student of the Bible, God will bless your life and your marriage, and grant you a most wonderful eternal future.
It is been said that life is “tuff” and then you die.
With Jesus in your heart and mind as your Lord, life will still be “tuff,” but you will never die!
See you in church Sunday to serve and fellowship with Jesus!
