The book of Hebrews chapter 10, verses 22 to 25. “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” This is from the New King James Version. Recent studies suggest that large numbers of young adults have stopped attending church. Some say the church is full of hypocrites or is so judgmental. Some don’t feel as connected as they would like, and others say they are just too busy to go to church. Well, life can certainly become difficult, but attending and participating in church offers an amazing opportunity to find spiritual strength and help with the most difficult tasks of life. Some first, they say there are hypocrites at church. Well, a hypocrite is someone who pretends to be something that he does not intend to be. Yes, there are some pretenders at church; but most people who come to church come because they love God and want to live good lives. Everybody is weak; everybody sins; but that doesn’t mean they are pretenders or actors. It means they are human. Jesus told the apostles at the garden of Gethsemane that, “the spirit is indeed willing but the flesh is weak” Matthew 26 and verse 41 and that is still true of people today.

Before we start pointing fingers at others, perhaps we should look at our own lives. Peter described our adversary or the one who stands against us or opposes us. Satan is very deceitful in his activity and dealings with mankind. He is evil and very wicked. He will put so many reasons in ones mind to hinder us from being in Gods house. 1 Peter 5:8-5:9 says," Our enemy is not merely desiring to frustrate us or make us miserable. He wants to devour us, to devastate our lives. Jesus stated the matter this way. "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy" (John 10:10).If he keeps us from church he has done his job. There is only 1 ways one can travel down life road, Jesus said if you love Him you will do my will. You will keep my commandments.

Do you really want to let somebody else’s bad behavior separate you from God? You know it seems much wiser to let God deal with the hypocrites and to make sure that we remain right with God. The Lord Jesus had to deal with hypocritical Pharisees during His entire ministry, but He never let their hypocrisy keep Him from doing what was right! He kept right on teaching and preaching in the synagogues and loving people. Don’t let someone else’s sin infect your heart and turn you away from God. Researchers say that 35 million adults in America identify themselves as having no religion at all. In all there are nearly 100 million Americans who are “unchurched,” that is, they haven’t been to church in quite a while. And even though they are not going now, most of them used to go to church. Many folks feel you can be a good Christian and not attend any church at all. The Bible, however, places a high priority on active membership in church.

In Psalm 122 David sang, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!’” David and others would sing this song as they were walking up to Jerusalem to observe the feast. When brothers and sisters in Christ meet together for worship, they are meeting with God and His Son Jesus Christ. The church belongs to them, it’s their family. And of course, the Lord wants to meet with every member of his family regularly. He loves each of us .When you stop coming to church, the Lord and His people miss you.

Walk in Love

Sue Shipp Outreach