GO TO A CHURCH and STICK WITH IT!
Here is a word of warning —join a church body today!
This is not a word borne out of a desire to preach religion. But….
The LORD has given me a stern warning to share with others: ‘Go to a church; be part of a fellowship; stop complaining and stick with it.’
We are meant to be part of a church. We are one body. An eye cannot be a foot and a foot cannot be a heart… (1 Corinthians 12)
I was driving home last evening (at the time of drafting this) after being at a singing rehearsal at church.
Out of the blue, or was it because the group had been talking about worship, I had a clear word which I believe is from the LORD to me, to friends, to all:
The message is simple and clear: Brothers and sisters in Christ, go to a church fellowship! Does it need to be a building? No, of course not! We, the body of believers, are the church. Can it be in a church building? Of course it can. Or it doesn’t have to be. Simply, if you are following Jesus, you need to be part of a church.
Pick a church and attend. And keep going, even in adversity. Church is family. Church is GOD’s bride. If we want Him to take us seriously, we must take our family seriously. Whoever is our family is His family. We need to be attending, be part of fellowship, part of His body. If not? He didn’t say. But I sensed the great strength of His intent:
BE part of church fellowship. Stick with one. Stay there and allow GOD to move in and through you for others and in and through others for you.
STOP complaining. I like that old adage, “If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.”
This all goes back to a few months ago….
I prayed about a month ago, “LORD, if there are people in this church who aren’t meant to be here, have them leave. And if there are people who are meant to stay, have them stay.
THEN, He began to shake things up. Gossip that had been carrying on increased until a hostile group left. And because some left, others left.
I didn’t know this was going to happen, but at about the same time, I got fed up about something and as a firm believer in not complaining, I thought I might just leave. I’m glad I didn’t because I was “fed up” the same week loads of others were exasperated and exited. That can’t be coincidence, can it?
So, tonight as I was driving home from a rehearsal that raised the issue of several households leaving our congregation, I thought of a friend who loves the LORD but has been out of regular church fellowship for a few years, and this word sprang out of me: “Choose where your church is and stick with it!”
So the overriding message is: attend church to be part of GOD’s family.
Why?
Not because it’s a religious exercise. Not even because it’s good for us or the right thing to do. Go, because GOD asks us. That needs to be a good enough reason.