Why do I need the church?

Why do I need the church?

Let me start this post by saying I believe in the church, not a denomination, a religion, but the Church.  We are called the Body of Christ, the Church.

I have met so many that say they love Jesus, but don’t attend church on a regular basis if at all.  Now I believe you can love the Lord, but I am also convinced that you will never reach your full potential in the Kingdom without allowing yourselves to be involved in corporate worship.

Let me say this at the very beginning, I know many have been hurt by those in the church, but it seems to me that this is one relationship we seem to walk away from way to soon.  We jump from church to church as we get hurt and eventually just figure it isn’t worth it.  I wonder how many other relationships we cast aside so quickly.  We will go for counseling to save a marriage and yet we are unwilling often times to work on the most important of relationships that of the one with the Lord and His children.

I could right a book on the importance of being with a Body of Believers, but that is not the purpose of this blog so a I will just say a few things and let each of you search it out for yourselves.

One of the reasons that we need corporate worship is because God gave the five fold ministry to His Body the Church (Ephesians 4).  That is not an individual, but rather individuals that can fulfill these roles.  In a word, we need each other to fulfill our Kingdom destiny.  You and I were created for relationship and God desires a relationship with each of us.

God inhabits the praises of His people.   (That is plural not singular).  I’m not saying you cannot be in the presence of God when you are alone, but I am also well aware that He desires to dwell with people who come in unity and in one accord with nothing more than a heart that wants to worship and praise Him.

 Another reason why we need corporate worship and I want to share this in a different way than maybe you have not looked at before.  There are many plants and trees that have a deep root system and they need that to survive.  And I believe we need the five fold ministry that God has given to the Body to establish a deep root system in the Kingdom.  However, the tree I want to use to illustrate my point is the Redwood.  A Redwood tree is massive growing to as high as 350 feet and you would think that a Redwood tree of that size would need an extremely deep root system to survive, and you would be wrong.  The Redwood root system is around 5 or 6 feet deep, however, it may be 100 feet wide.  What a Redwood root does is it will intertwine with the roots of the neighboring trees so when the weather gets rough they are supported by one another.  As a matter of fact often times the root system will actually seem to grab a hold of each other with more force as the weather beats upon them.

I believe this is another reason why we need to come together in corporate worship.    When someone in the Body of Christ is going through a storm and the winds are beating against them there is nothing better than having the root system of a local assembly to wrap around and grab a hold of them and help them stand in the storm.

 Believe me when I say that the hurt that some of you may feel from the church, I get it.  But when God has planted you in a Body you need to grab a hold of each other, wrap your arms around one another and stand firm.  The enemy is not intimated by people who jump from relationship to relationship (meaning church to church) but  he is of those who, when the storms come wrap around one another and stand strong with each other in unity until it passes.

Is there ever a time to walk away from a corporate gathering, yes and that may be another topic.  But as fast as many of us do so I don’t think that is a healthy, mature, or a spiritually wise decision.

 Another reason why I think it is important is that Luke 4:16 tells us, He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. . .

This was Jesus and it was a His custom to go into the synagogue (church, corporate gathering).  Shouldn’t we make it our custom as well?

I think many of us need to ask ourselves this question, “why am I closing off my heart about being in a local assembly?”

Blessings

Pastor George