Calling All Worshippers!

In his sermon this past weekend, Pastor John talked about the fact that we are all “born to worship.”  Yet, the statistics seem to suggest a different story.  Only about 20 percent of all those who say they are Christians actually worship on any given Sunday.  Of course, there are a myriad of reasons why and lots of excuses people use to justify not going to church, especially when the Vikings are playing at noon, as they were last Sunday.

I’ve been reading a really interesting book by Craig Groeschel called The Christian Atheist.  In his book, he talks about how so many of us believe in God, but live as if He doesn’t exist in our lives.  Throughout the book, Groeschel tackles some of the common issues many people have about faith and about why they don’t attend church.  He says that many who grew up in the church are not asking “Which church should I go to?” but rather they are asking, “Why should I bother with church at all?” 

In our culture, there is a consumer mindset when it comes to “going to church.”  We can get all the Christian material we need by going to various Web sites, podcasts, books, TV and even radio.  Going to church on a weekly basis is seen as a needless waste of time, energy and money by many.

Friends, God is not calling us to GO to church; God is calling us to BE His Church and SHARE the hope of Christ with the world.  The people in the first “church” that we read about in Acts 2 didn’t see the church as an additional burden to their lives.  The difference, you see, is that they didn’t GO to church; they WERE the church! 

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayer.”  (Acts 2:42) 

In other words, they were worshippers!  They gathered together to read and hear God’s Word, to share communion as God’s children, to pray as a community of Christ followers, and to be about God’s mission in the world. 

Dream a little bit with me.  Can you imagine what our churches and our worship would be like if we all stopped merely “GOING” to church and seeing it as a burden to be endured, but started to BE the church as Jesus intended it to be? 

Listen to Chris Tomlin’s song, “Made to Worship.”  It’s a wonderful reminder that we are called to be worshippers!  Listen now>> 

Pax,

Pastor Carol