I’m a Christian … But Do I HAVE to Go to Church?

“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing.”

– Hebrews 10:25

Around 70% of Americans identify as “Christians”—but less than 30% attend church on a regular basis. If that statistic doesn’t surprise you, it’s probably because it hits close to home. You might be saying, “Sure, I’m a Christian, but I don’t go to church very often.” If that’s true of you, you’re not alone. When asked, Christians give a lot of reasons for not going to church: Some believe the church to be expendable (take it or leave it). Many Christians simply say, “I don’t go, because there are hypocrites in the church.” And others say they have a hard time finding a good church close to home.

That being the case, there has been one silver lining to the COVID-19 stay-at-home order. By placing their services online, churches have made worship more accessible than ever before. For Christians who say that they prefer to worship God at home, online services make that easier than ever. I admit, I’m a big fan of our online services at Impact Christian Church. Over the past two and a half months, we’ve been able to reach hundreds of people who would have never visited one of our live services. These services have helped lead to four baptisms. And our members have been able to receive a steady diet of God’s word each and every week.

So, as our church returns to offering live services tomorrow, some attenders may be wondering: “Do I have to go to church?  Wouldn’t it be okay with God if I just continued to stay home and caught an online service when I have the time? Do I really need to attend a live church service each week?” Well, if we check with the pure source of truth—God’s word—we can see five reasons why believers and followers of Christ need to get back to church A.S.A.P.  

           

Reason #1: The example of Jesus. Luke 4:16 tells us, “[Jesus] went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom.” Some people say, “I don’t need to go to church, because I’ve already heard all that stuff before. I’m not being fed.” Well, imagine being Jesus. Do you think that when he went to the synagogue each Saturday, the rabbis were telling him anything he didn’t already know? Of course not! Jesus is the all-knowing Son of God. If anyone ever should have gotten an excused absence from church, that person was Jesus. But Jesus’ “custom,” Jesus’ practice, Jesus’ priority was to attend a service in the synagogue each and every Sabbath Day. It was a priority for Jesus, so it should be a priority for Jesus’s followers as well.

Reason #2: The Bible says so. In Hebrews 10:25, it reads: “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing.” Millions of Americans who call themselves Christians have either put the church on the back burner or given up on it entirely. And this is not a new thing. The early Christians experienced the same problem 2,000 years ago. Christians got complacent. Christians became lazy. Christians didn’t think they needed the church. And Christians didn’t think the church needed them. But God’s word tells Christians in all times and places to make “meeting together” with the church a priority. Why? Read on.

Reason #3: Christianity isn’t just about getting; it’s also about giving. Back up a few verses and take a look at  Hebrews 10:22-24: “Let US live out our faith. Let US hold onto hope. Let US encourage each other to love.” These verses aren’t focused on “me” or “you.” It’s all about “US.” Bible teacher Warren Wiersbe says it so well: “Fellowship with God must never become selfish. We must also fellowship with other Christians in the local assembly… The emphasis here is not on what a believer gets from the assembly, but rather on what he can contribute to the assembly. Faithfulness in church attendance encourages others and provokes them to love and good works.” Our faith isn’t about just “me and Jesus.” Our faith is about “us and Jesus.” So, let me ask you: What is missing in “CH_ _CH”? U R. 

Reason #4: You will benefit from community. It’s true that the church needs you. But you need the church community every bit as much as it needs you. Sure, other Christians in the church need your love, encouragement, service, teaching, kindness and compassion. But to be a healthy, growing Christian, you need every one of those things from us as well. You need love and encouragement in your Christian journey. You need the service and teaching that the church offers, and the kindness, compassion and loving accountability that are so hard to find in the world today.

Reason #5: For your marriage and kids. You may have heard the often-quoted statistic that Christians have the same divorce rate as nonChristians. But that statistic is misleading. You see, most studies don’t take into account whether or not surveyed Christians attend church. Interestingly, other studies show that husbands and wives who prioritize church attendance are up to 35% less likely to get divorced. So, church attendance is very healthy for our marriages, and it’s also very healthy for our kids. The church will partner with you to help shape your kids’ character and help lead them to a saving knowledge of Christ. It will help them discover their spiritual gifts and develop a heart to love and serve God and people.

So, especially at those times when God feels a little bit distant and your faith feels a little bit stale … make church attendance a priority. Experience the blessings that come with standing side by side with believers and followers of Christ. Get back to church.

Dane Davis is the Pastor of Impact Christian Church. Please join us for our LIVE outdoor worship services Sundays at 8 a.m. or 9:30 a.m. at 17746 George Blvd. in Victorville. Or, join us online at 10 a.m. at Live.GreaterImpact, on our YouTube channel (Impact Christian Church) or on Facebook.

4 Pillars of Christian Ministry

“All the people were amazed and said to each other, “’What words these are! With authority and power he gives orders to impure spirits and they come out!’” - Luke 4:24

After leaving his hometown of Nazareth, Jesus never established a new home address. That’s why Jesus would later say that he “has no place to lay his head.” But Capernaum—the hometown of Peter, Andrew, James and John—was where Jesus spent more time than anywhere else. After speaking at a synagogue in Nazareth and nearly getting pushed off a cliff, he went to Capernaum, where he again spoke at a synagogue on the Sabbath. This time, he got a much warmer reception, and the results of his ministry were nothing short of amazing.

During this visit to Capernaum, Jesus modeled what we could call “The Four Pillars of Christian Ministry”: 1) Teach truth; 2) Confront evil; 3) Show compassion; and 4) Spend time alone with God. I’d like to take a quick look at each of these, starting with Jesus’ visit to the synagogue.

1) Teach truth. When Jesus was given the opportunity of teach God’s word, he taught. And in Luke 4:32, we see that “They were amazed at his teaching, because his message had authority.” What does that mean? It means that Jesus didn’t teach the way all the other rabbis taught. When other rabbis gave an exposition on a passage of scripture, they would quote another rabbi, then give the opinion of other rabbis who disagreed with him. In other words, the rabbis leaned on other rabbis’ authority when teaching a passage of scripture. They couldn’t lean on their own authority, because they didn’t have much. Even the great prophets of the Old Testament wouldn’t lean on their own authority; they would routinely say, “Thus saith the Lord” when sharing a truth of scripture.

But Jesus was different. He didn’t quote Rabbi So-and-So. He didn’t say, “Thus saith the Lord.” Jesus would just say it as if it was God saying it. And that fact blew the sandals off those who were listening as Jesus taught in the Capernaum synagogue.

2) Confront evil. In verse 33, while Jesus was still in the synagogue, he encountered a man who was “possessed by a demon, an evil spirit.” This demon called out the Son of God in plain view of the people Jesus had been winning over: “Hah! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” (verse 34). The demon knew full well that he was no match for Jesus in a head-to-head matchup. But he must have figured that if he was loud enough and gutsy enough to call Jesus out by name, Jesus would back down. But instead, Jesus told him sternly, “Be quiet! Come out of him!” And with that, the demon threw the man down and came out without injuring him (verse 35).

When the demon threw the man down on the floor of the temple, the onlookers must have thought that the demon had seriously injured him. But Jesus wasn’t about to let that happen. Jesus made sure that the man was not harmed by the demon. As theologian Matthew Henry wrote: “Whom Satan cannot destroy, he will do all that he can to; but … he can harm them no further than Christ permits; nay, he shall not do them any real harm.” You see, everything that God allows to come our way has to pass through the filter of His love for us. Therefore, whenever Satan harms us, it’s not “real” harm. It’s really only temporary and brings a blessing at the end of it.

3) Show compassion. In Luke 38-40, Jesus went to the home of Peter’s mother-in-law and destroyed the miserable fever that caused her to suffer. Then, one by one, people brought their miserably sick relatives and friends to Jesus, and Jesus healed every one of them. As William Barclay points out in his commentary, “Always Jesus was ready to help; his followers must be the same. Jesus did not need a crowd to work a miracle. Many a man will put out an effort in a crowd that he will not make among his own private circle.” But not Jesus. Whether he was in the synagogue, in a crowd, or behind closed doors in Peter’s home, he was the same compassionate Jesus.

Remember, it’s not just so-called “faith healers” who do their best work when the spotlights are on and the cameras are rolling. You and I so often can let down our guard when we’re at home behind closed doors. You and I should be the same compassionate Christians at home as we are at church, at school and at work.

4) Spend time alone with God. Luke tells us in verse 43, “At daybreak Jesus went out to a solitary place.” Mark records this as well, but Mark clarifies the purpose of Jesus going off by himself: He did it to pray. When we focus on Jesus’ powerful ministry, we tend to gravitate to his miracles, signs and wonders. He opened the eyes of the blind and cleansed the lepers and raised the dead and calmed the storm and walked on water. We love these parts of Jesus’ ministry … and well we should. The miracles were certainly a pillar of Jesus’ ministries. But so was Jesus’ prayer life—the hours and hours that Jesus spent alone in prayer with the father. They were vital to his life and ministry. And they will be vital to yours as well.

Dane Davis is the Lead Pastor of First Christian Church in Victorville. For more information,

visit www.YourVictorvilleChurch.com and join us for church tomorrow at 10 a.m.

A Real Cliffhanger

“Truly I tell you … no prophet is accepted in his hometown.” - Luke 4:24

Jesus’ ministry was off to a tremendous start. Within a few months of being baptized and facing down the temptations of Satan, Jesus chose at least four of his twelve disciples. He performed his first miracle—turning water into wine at a wedding in Cana of Galilee. He also shared with Nicodemus the most important verse in the whole Bible—John 3:16.

Suffice it to say: Before he ever rolled into his hometown of Nazareth, Jesus was doing a whole lot of life-changing ministry. When he went to Galilee, news about him spread quickly “through the whole countryside” (Luke 4:14). Luke tells us in verse15 that Jesus taught in the Jewish synagogues and “everyone praised him.” Jesus had reached a ministry sweet spot where most people loved him and cheered for him. His fans were many and his critics were few. But that would all change quickly as he returned home.

Word quickly spread through Nazareth that Jesus had returned, and his new-found reputation as a powerful teacher and miracle worker had preceded him. So, as Jesus entered the synagogue, he must have been approached by one of the religious leaders and asked if he’d like to read a Scripture and offer the exposition on that Scripture. When the attendant handed Jesus the scroll of Isaiah, Jesus stood and opened it to Isaiah 61:1-2, reading its words with just some minor variations: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

After reading those words, Jesus rolled up the scroll, returned it the attendant and sat down. Everyone understood this to be a nonverbal cue that Jesus was about to begin his teaching. But none of them could have anticipated what he said next: “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (v. 21). At first the crowd was supportive. They knew that this passage referred to the coming Messiah, who would preach good news to the poor, release prisoners and open the eyes of the blind. In verse 22, “all spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips.”

But after a few seconds, the reality of what Jesus was saying must have sunk in. Jesus said the prophecy was being fulfilled right here and now…in this synagogue…in this very room. So, their reaction shifted: “The Carpenter Boy that we’ve known for 30 years is actually saying that HE is the fulfillment of Scripture. He is actually saying that HE is the promised Messiah!” The crowd in the synagogue quickly went from being amazed to being offended.

And then they went from being offended to being furious when Jesus made his bottom-line statement in verse 24: “I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his hometown.” Jesus offered two quick illustrations of this truth. The prophet Elijah was sent by God to a Gentile widow in Zarephath instead of to a Jewish widow in Israel. And of all the lepers in Israel, God didn’t send any of them to Elisha to be healed. God only sent him a Gentile leper. By the time Jesus finished giving these examples of strangers who were more receptive to God’s blessings than the Israelites, the Jews in the synagogue were fuming. It was bad enough that Jesus was claiming to himself be the fulfillment of Scripture. But talking about Gentiles winning God’s favor before the chosen Jews…that was unacceptable!

St. Augustine offers this insightful reflection: “They love truth when it ENLIGHTENS them, but hate truth when it ACCUSES them.” Similarly, Christians today love to hear sermons filled with gracious words. But many of us quickly attack and reject sermons that speak a truth that hits too close to home. And in this case, the crowd attacked Jesus literally: “They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff” (v. 29). What a bunch of sweethearts!

Interestingly, Jesus’ hometown neighbors were basically repeating Satan’s third temptation in the desert, when he took Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple and tried to tempt him to glorify himself by doing a 150-foot swan dive to the pavement below. But once again, Jesus resisted the urge to make a flashy escape.

We know that Jesus had the power to defy the laws of physics. In Matthew 14:25, Jesus walked on a lake. If you didn’t realize it…that’s impossible. And so does walking through walls into a locked room and ascending into heaven after his resurrection. So, Jesus certainly could have jumped off the temple roof and survive the fall, or he could have taken a leap off the Nazareth cliff and defied gravity for all to see. But in both cases, he didn’t. Why?

Because Jesus and God the Father had already decided that he wasn’t going to take the quick and easy path, the path of showboating and scaring his followers half to death. Instead, he made himself “of no reputation” (Philippians 2:7). Almighty God had chosen the slower, more humble path of pain and suffering. Jesus chose the path of the cross. And I’m so glad that he did. It wasn’t flashy, but it saved my life…and yours.

Dane Davis is the Lead Pastor of First Christian Church in Victorville. For more information,

visit www.YourVictorvilleChurch.com  and join us for church tomorrow Sundays at 10 a.m.