If I were to count on my fingers and toes how many Sundays in my lifetime that I have missed a weekly church service, I’m not sure I would reach 20. 52 weeks in a year, 35 years of my life… boop boop boop Calculators out! We are talking roughly 1,800 church encounters, and that’s not even including a mid-week service, connection group, Bible School, revival, VBS, or outreach!
I’m blessed to have been touched by the love of God since infancy. I’m blessed to have not grown up in the stiffness of religion. I even had the luxury of growing up a Pastor’s Kid, and I never once resented it. My Daddy would wake my sister and me up Sunday mornings, singing the happiest-dorkiest-made-up song! “Let’s all go to church! Let’s all go to church! Good Morning! Good Morning! Let’s all go to church!”
I remember putting on my dress, gathering my children (my dolls), and skipping on the sidewalk steps outside our building, singing songs, eagerly waiting for people to pull into the parking lot. I have always loved church, and I LOVE going to church. It’s actually one of my favorite things to do, and believe it or not; I do it for FUN! I truly don’t like to miss. I look forward to every single Sunday. Even when seasons of life are busy or hard. Even when I just delivered my 4th child, my family and I are off to church!
You may be reading this right now thinking… “What in heaven’s name… I can’t imagine going to church that much. I barely make it once a month, and when I do, I’m late and leave early!”
You’d be right. THAT’S A LOT OF CHURCH! 1800x is a big number, BUT when you think about those being encounters with Jesus, His presence, the shepherding of a loving Pastor, the community of smiling people, hugs and arm squeezes, a steaming cup of coffee and a glazed donut, a box of tissues at the altar where you rose from your knees with peace, hands joined in prayer for a common cause, music that cheers you up even on the gloomiest day, my heart wants to burst! What a great way to spend my time! Everyone should join me and spend their time this way! -Not to mention, I get to have a reason to wear jewelry, put on my new matte lipstick, and slip into some cute shoes! (My 4 children may look a little homeless because I refuse to be late, but my outfit is spot on!)
Maybe you’re thinking, “Well, church shouldn’t be a social event….” Um, it is! God designed it that way!
“Every believer was faithfully devoted to following the teachings of the apostles. Their hearts were mutually linked to one another, sharing communion and coming together regularly for prayer. A deep sense of holy awe swept over everyone, and the apostles
performed many miraculous signs and wonders. All the believers were in fellowship as one body, and they shared with one another whatever they had. Out of generosity they even sold their assets to distribute the proceeds to those who were in need among them. Daily they met together in the temple courts and in one another’s homes to celebrate communion. They shared meals together with joyful hearts and tender humility. They were continually filled with praises to God, enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord kept adding to
their number daily those who were coming to life.”
Acts 2:42-47 TPT
God is all about connection! He wants you to connect with other people who love Him! The church you attend should feel like family. It should feel like a support system. It should feel like home. Large or small, there should be connection. I can’t stress enough the importance of arriving on time to church. The connections made with people before the service begins is vital to your spiritual growth and survival. God wants to connect you with not only mature and godly mentors to help you along your journey, but he also has someone that YOU should connect with so that you can help THEM along their journey.
Here is what you miss when you arrive late & frazzled:
*The buzz of the church lobby as people laugh, hug, and catch up. You miss all the lovin’! All you introverts out there are saying, “Yea, I do that on purpose!” Ok, fine. We will allow you to shimmy away to your seat early after we hug you!!!
*A moment to yourself, in your seat, before the worship service begins. A moment to center your heart, and remind yourself why you came. To honor your King!
*The first couple of songs in worship. Generally, the first worship song is a song of invitation and freedom. It’s designed and placed at the beginning to help you shake off your worries and stress from the week. It’s generally high praise and upbeat. When we praise, burdens fall off!! You are missing an opportunity to let it all go! You are missing the beginning of a journey into the Holy of Holies of worship. Maybe you’ve walked in late before, and thought… “Man, this song is deep and I’m just NOT feeling it. Look at so and so lifting their hands, weeping, feeling Jesus. I want to feel that too. I feel nothing.” I can honestly tell you, you probably aren’t feeling it because you missed the “All aboard, the Worship Train!” And you had to RUN to catch up.
*Worship prepares the atmosphere, and your heart, to receive the anointed message placed on your Pastor’s heart, by God, just for you!
My friends, I believe in you! You can arrive on time and be apart of something life changing! Keep trying! Jesus sees your heart.
I remember a Sunday, a couple of years ago, where I sat in service, quietly listening to my Pastor preach, watching his enthusiasm as be brought a fresh revelation that God had instructed him to share with us. My eyes opened, (and no- I hadn’t fallen asleep) and I was reminded of college life. Watching my professors pace the front of the room, sharing their expertise because I knew nothing about psychology or the math formulas scribbled on the whiteboard. I definitely needed someone to explain to me proper English and grammar and how to use these darn commas, because run-on sentences are clearly my thing!
I absorbed knowledge in college, (Hey! That rhymed!) and that was exactly what I was doing in that moment, in that service, I was being taught something that I otherwise would have never known. I was seeing a perspective that I otherwise would have never seen. I was hearing the vulnerability of my Pastor’s heart pour out to me, that he otherwise would have never poured out to me in a casual passing conversation. I soaked in the moment. There he stood in obedience to God, sharing, caring, and I had the honor of receiving it. Because his words were anointed and God given, they were deposited into my heart, for my season, bringing answers to what I was going through, and right there, I was given an opportunity to grow. This happens week after week. Month after month. Year after year. AND FOR FREE! I had to pay thousands of dollars to receive knowledge in college! (Ok, that rhyme is cracking me up!)
It’s ok if you go to church solely for learning and connecting with God. This is a huge reason to go! But, you can also just stay home, connect with God in your quiet time, and watch online, listening to a powerhouse-trending sermon, and maybe get a whole lot from it too… but the Bible says: “Let’s all go to church!”
“Discover creative ways to encourage others and to motivate them toward acts of compassion, doing beautiful works as expressions of love. This is not the time to pull away and neglect meeting together, as some have formed the habit of doing. In fact, we should
come together even more frequently, eager to encourage and urge each other onward as we anticipate that day dawning.” Hebrews 10:24-25 TPT
We have the CHOICE to attend. You kinda have to attend your college classes, or you will probably fail, or receive an incomplete, or drop out. Before you drop the class completely and lose your investment, you need to go one last time, see how far behind you are, and decide if it’s a total loss. You choose a random Wednesday afternoon because Mondays are the worst, and you have plans on Friday, but you really should make an appearance and at least try! You’re in a hurry; you probably should have planned better and left 20 minutes sooner. “Aw man, forgot my book…Oh well! I’m here! Only 7 minutes late!” However, you’ve missed 85% of your classes that semester… You’re settled in your seat now, and you begin to think, “I don’t even know what they’re talking about. NONE OF THIS MAKES ANY SENSE! This is pointless! I’ve missed too much.” … looking around the room…. “I literally know no one, and that weird guy in the back smells bad, that group of people over there are all clicking before and after class, and I’m just kinda here, unnoticed, in my seat, staring into space, awkward, and sipping my iced coffee. Which ironically made me late, but…worth it! It’s so so good! And at least I have my coffee to keep me company….” The class ends. You make eye contact with the professor as you sheepishly make your way out the door, and you feel it… “I’m a failure.” And you drop the class.
You had a choice to attend. But you chose not to, for whatever your justified reasons were at the time. In the end, it’s your choice. God is all about choice. He wants us to choose Him. Have you ever felt the way I described above, but in a church service? Unlike a college class, in a church service, hopefully, you can feel the love of God (Whether you arrive on time or not). You may not understand all, but hopefully, something that was spoken is deposited into your heart, and you leave different from when you came. Hopefully, you leave knowing that God loves you, you are NOT a failure, and you DO NOT need to drop out. His arms are always open, and there is a place for you among the lovers and believers of Christ! Attending church is vital to your survival as you walk this journey of life. Through highs and lows, unite yourself with others. It makes you stronger.
When I look back on my 1800+ attended services, I see all sorts of seasons of my life. Some Sundays, I was barely hanging on. I needed to rest in that seat, breathe, weep, let the power of God give me the strength to face another day. I just needed one word of encouragement; I’d grab hold of it and think about it until the next word came my way. Other seasons I was jumping up and down, proclaiming the goodness of God in my life, tears of joy streaming down my cheeks (messing up my makeup!), thankful for what he had brought me out of. I’ve had seasons of impatience and boredom, where my mind wandered, and I felt unsettled like I needed more. I wasn’t unhappy or stressed; I was just bored. (This is a season of God calling us to go deeper in our personal and intimate relationship/quiet time, but that is another blog entirely!) And then there is the season like the one I’m in now, where I am delighting and running with Jesus, looking back only to see how far I’ve come. Ready to give!!
Do you have something to give to other people? The answer is: You can bet your bottom dollar, on your old Aunt Martha May, that YOU DO! What people crave most is acknowledgment, connection, and relationship. You crave it. Yet, it is so hard to prioritize this amongst our busy and hectic lives. We convince ourselves that we don’t really need another friend or relationship because ‘I gotta work tomorrow!’ Or ‘My family keeps me busy enough.’ Or ‘I really need to get caught up on laundry and grocery shopping this weekend because next weekend we are going to the lake.’ Or ‘I’m still recovering from my daughter’s 10th-all-girls-birthday-sleepover where they kept me up till 3 am.’ What ends up happening is living keeps us from living! Let the tasks wait. Don’t let a busy life keep you from living the life of growth that God has for you. Ironically, it is the life he has given us, and our heart is to give it back to Him, but we just don’t have the time. Oh, but you do.
I encourage you today, let’s all go to church, arrive early enough to greet someone new, stay late enough to make a connection, invite someone out to lunch, wave at the neighbor, put that dinner date on the calendar, grab a coffee with a friend. Start small. Honor and obey God in this, and watch what happens. I promise you will soon be enjoying the reward of relationship and deeper connection with some pretty amazing people who love Jesus just as much as you do!
I hope I see you Sunday!
“You are always and dearly loved by God! So robe yourself with virtues of God, since you have been divinely chosen to be holy. Be merciful as you endeavor to understand others, and be compassionate, showing kindness toward all. Be gentle and humble, unoffendable in your patience with others. Tolerate the weaknesses of those in the family of faith, forgiving one another in the same way you have been graciously forgiven by Jesus Christ. If you find fault with someone, release this same gift of forgiveness to them. For love is supreme and must flow through each of these virtues. Love becomes the mark of true maturity. Let your heart be always guided by the peace of the Anointed One, who called you to peace as part of his one body. And always be thankful. Let the word of Christ live in you richly, flooding you with all wisdom. Apply the Scriptures as you teach and instruct one another with the Psalms, and with festive praises, and with prophetic songs given to you spontaneously by the Spirit, so sing to God
with all your hearts!” Colossians 3:12-16 TPT
“Here’s the church, Here’s the steeple, open the doors, and see all the PEOPLE.”
By Rachael Strickland
