The Importance of the Church

"But because the rest of you have forsaken the Lord and have forgotten his Temple..."  

Isaiah 65:11 NLT

As I read Isaiah, I see many parallels between Israel and America today.  One is that Americans have forgotten His temple.  While a vast majority of Americans still claim to be Christians, faithful church attendance is steadily on the decline.  Whether the cause is apathy, laziness, pursuit of pleasure or the cares of life, Americans have forgotten His temple.  Many churches have omitted Sunday evening services due to poor attendance and have morning services only.  Some churches have even began to omit the mid-week services as well, because people have forgotten His temple.

It stands to reason as followers of Christ, we as "Christians" would do as Jesus would do.  Remember the popular saying a few years back, "What would Jesus do?"  When Jesus was on the earth, He did not forsake the temple.  As a young boy, Jesus' parents could not find Him on the journey back home, and they began to search for Him.  For three days they hunted frantically for Him and finally found Him. Where?  In the temple!  Three days, Jesus had been in the temple learning and studying the law, and yet we can't get "Christians" to church for three hours a week!

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus can be found at the temple, honoring the Sabbath days, and participating in the sacred festivals.  If the temple was important to Jesus, shouldn't it be important to His followers?  Do we think in America that we know better than Christ who told Peter in Matthew 16:18 that "...upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."  The enemy has successfully deceived many into believing they do not need the church.  I'm afraid that he knows better than we do the power in the congregation of the saints.  Paul teaches extensively on the importance of the body of Christ and of each member to make up the whole, and the writer of Hebrews gives this warning regarding the assembling of the saints: "And let us not neglect our meeting together as some people do , but encourage one another especially now that the day of his return is drawing near."  Hebrews 10:25

Some reason that they are essentially a "good" person, so they are doing okay without the church.  Others say they can read their Bible and pray at home.   Then there are those who are in the church bashing crowd and blame their lack of attendance on hypocrites in the church.  Whatever the excuse or reasoning, when we stand before God, all those excuses will crumble.  No, church attendance does not save us.  Only the precious Blood of Jesus Christ has the power to save our wretched souls from sin and hell.  However, when we have truly believed on Him as Lord and Saviour, not just in our heads, but in our hearts, when we have become new creations in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, we will find that just as Jesus was on this earth, we cannot get enough.  Our hearts long to be in the assembly of the saints worshiping God with our fellow believers.  (There is something powerful when two or three are gathered together.)  We desire to fellowship with other believers, encouraging and being encouraged.  We enjoy studying and growing in His Word.

The church is powerful, and Christ knew we would need the church when He established it.  He knew in these last days we would need it more than ever before.  The gates of Hell cannot prevail against the church.  It is time for those who claim to be followers of Christ to follow Him to the temple.  I encourage you to find a Bible-believing church today and get plugged into what Christ is doing through His body.  It will change your life.

Dear Heavenly Father,
I pray that Christians in America would wake up from their slumber and shake themselves from the deception and lies of the enemy.  More now than ever, we need one another to stand in these last days.  I pray that Christians would have the desire to worship, fellowship, and study with other believers.  I pray their desire for You and Your house would be greater than the desires of this world.
In Jesus' Name, 
Amen