We Need to be a Great Church
Jesus deserves a great church! So does our community, our loved ones and those we are trying to reach with the Gospel! Every Christian should to their share in making God’s church great!
If this is true, then why do so many Christians treat the church with such disregard? Some even treat the church with contempt! Why do we give our houses and jobs so much attention without matching that effort when it comes to obeying Hebrews 10:25, “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together?” Why do we make time for all sorts of activities but have no time for the work of the church? There’s no suggestion in this passage. This is a command. It tells us to stop neglecting our local church!
God spoke through the prophet Haggai when His people were slacking in their responsibilities to gather in their public assemblies. He addressed their messed up priorities by saying, "Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins? Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts. Consider your ways! You have sown much, and bring in little; You eat, but do not have enough; You drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And he who earns wages, Earns wages to put into a bag with holes (Haggai 1:4-6)."
Look at that passage again. According to Haggai, the people’s inability to get ahead in life and prosper was a result of not prioritizing the activities of corporate worship. Could it be that many Christians are now suffering from the same malady? Because they have neglected their public place of worship and focused so much of their attention in their own selfish desires that they languish in perpetual emptiness? They are continually in debt? Never able to get ahead? Always looking for happiness but never finding it?
I want to say it again: Jesus deserves a GREAT CHURCH! Each Christian has a part to play in making it happen. Decide today to prioritize your life according to God’s Word. DO NOT neglect the assembling of yourself together with other believers. This will glorify God…this will make the church what our communities need…and this is the best way for you and your family to get ahead in life!