Advance decision-making can offer huge rewards when it comes to church attendance. The Bible speaks clearly about the discipline of Christians coming together in groups in order to help one another grow. Hebrews 10:25 says, "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another." Coming together, whether for formal church services or more informal small-group gatherings, is not about following some legalistic rule; it is about taking advantage of a significant means of spiritual growth. You and I never know when God is going to show up at a particular gathering of Christians in such a powerful and personal way that it touches our hearts and transforms us on the inside. If we take a casual approach to gathering together and say, "It's raining outside today. I guess I won't go to church," we are setting ourselves up to miss out on the potential work of God in our lives.
After a recent service at Willow Creek a woman said to me, "I could take you to the chair I was sitting in the day I first understood the message of amazing grace and opened my heart to Jesus Christ. Then I could take you to the chair I was sitting in when I decided to let go of a sinful pattern that was destroying my life. I could take you to another chair when I took the major step of trusting God with a huge challenge in my life. I'm sure glad I didn't miss those opportunities to hear God speaking to me as His Spirit moved throughout this place."
During my lifetime, I have sat through many church services and small-group meetings during which it seemed as though nothing special was happening inside of me. But I have also sat through similar services and meetings during which my heart was turned inside out and my life was turned around. There was no way to know ahead of time when God would choose to use the gathering of Christians, the teaching of the Word, the lifting up of voices in worship or the sharing of personal testimonies to touch me in a unique and powerful way. Only an advance decision to assemble together with other Christians consistently could have put me in the right place at the right time to receive God's gifts of guidance and growth.
-- Bill Hybels in Making Life Work: Putting God's Wisdom into Action
#2301
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
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The message today regarding "God showing up in such a powerful and personal way that it touches our hearts and transforms us on the inside" fit right in with my small group book study today. The chapter is titled "The Leap" (author John Ortberg in "Faith & Doubt"). The leap of faith is a "leap" because it involves making a total commitment. We need to present ourselves in activities and groups and have an awareness in such a way that we will hear and feel God's presence to guide us in our spiritual growth.
ReplyDeleteLooking over to the photo of the daffodils on the blog (for the week of May 11, 2009), I am awed with the beauty of this field of the many daffodils. It is a sight that few of us get to see in person. God truly is there.
Thank you Dave, for these SOUND BITES and photos.
P.Calder
Green Bay, WI