Is Church Attendance Important?

Is Church Attendance Important?

Hebrews 10:24-25 (ESV) 24  And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,
25  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.

A few years ago I read a book from an author I admired who said that there were some very spiritual people who decided they didn't need to go to church. The books implied that the problem was with the church and not with the non-attenders. I was disappointed in the author. I asked then what I ask now when someone makes a statement that affects a person's spiritual walk: What does the Bible say about that?

The writer of Hebrews seems to have encountered similar people when he wrote that some were neglecting meeting together. He tells they are needed. Needed for what, you ask.

Church attendance is not all about what the attender needs. It is an opportunity to stir up one another for love and good works. Sometimes you are the one that needs to be stirred and sometimes you need to do the stirring.

Last year our church started something we call "Mega Sunday Fellowship." On the first Sunday of each month we serve a real, sit-down breakfast between our morning worship services. The goal was to make sure that everyone was contacted with an invitation the week before and fellowshipped together. At first, several people went to their Sunday School classes and waited for them to begin because they had already eaten breakfast at home. I chided them after a couple of months of their missing: Everything isn't about you! The breakfast is great but it is not the point. The most important thing done just might be a conversation around a table that stirs someone else to love and good works.

Your church attendance encourages others. "Who does it encourage?" you ask. It encourages your pastor for one. I know that I am amazed at everyone that shows up on Sunday.  Each person who attends is God's blessing to me.

Your attendance encourages others too. It encourages the persons who feels like he has come to the wrong place. An empty room can do that to a visitor. There is something that happens when people worship together that won't happen otherwise. Attendance brings the level of encouragement up a couple of notches.

Today is Wednesday. It is a great day for you to decide that you are going to church Sunday. You are needed there.