Summertime. It is a season of pools, tans, outdoor sports, boating, fishing, pretty much anything, with one exception - - corporate worship with other believers. Perhaps more than any other time of the year each one of us can think of a legion of activities that could be (and in some cases should be) done during the warm summer months. For the most part these activities are no doubt good and acceptable in and of themselves. The trouble comes when the pursuit of these activities becomes more important than gathering together with other believers to worship God. When this happens we tread on dangerous ground. The words of the writer of Hebrews are most pertinent here: "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) What will you be doing this Sunday, say around 10 AM? Will you be fishing on the local lake or playing in a softball tournament? Believer, please know that your church family needs you (not to mention the fact that you need them) infinitely more than you need that 10 lb. bass or championship trophy. This Sunday, instead of pursuing that which is temporal let us pursue the One who is eternal, and let us do it with a grateful heart in the presence of our brothers and sisters in Christ. I leave you with a quote from the puritan Richard Baxter. In his phenonmenal work entitled A Christian Directory , Baxter makes this wise statement: "O consider what it is for a sinner that must shortly die, to go with the servants of God to worship him; to pray for his salvation, and to hear what God hath to say to him by his minister, for the life of his immortal soul!" (616)
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Try Your Weekend Getaway...At Church?!
Summertime. It is a season of pools, tans, outdoor sports, boating, fishing, pretty much anything, with one exception - - corporate worship with other believers. Perhaps more than any other time of the year each one of us can think of a legion of activities that could be (and in some cases should be) done during the warm summer months. For the most part these activities are no doubt good and acceptable in and of themselves. The trouble comes when the pursuit of these activities becomes more important than gathering together with other believers to worship God. When this happens we tread on dangerous ground. The words of the writer of Hebrews are most pertinent here: "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) What will you be doing this Sunday, say around 10 AM? Will you be fishing on the local lake or playing in a softball tournament? Believer, please know that your church family needs you (not to mention the fact that you need them) infinitely more than you need that 10 lb. bass or championship trophy. This Sunday, instead of pursuing that which is temporal let us pursue the One who is eternal, and let us do it with a grateful heart in the presence of our brothers and sisters in Christ. I leave you with a quote from the puritan Richard Baxter. In his phenonmenal work entitled A Christian Directory , Baxter makes this wise statement: "O consider what it is for a sinner that must shortly die, to go with the servants of God to worship him; to pray for his salvation, and to hear what God hath to say to him by his minister, for the life of his immortal soul!" (616)
No comments:
Post a Comment