If you know me, you know I love Sundays. Why? Because that is the day the church gathers to worship our great God… together. Sure, I enjoy worshiping God throughout the week but on Sunday the church gathers for corporate worship. To hear the people of God sing with passion, pray for each other, serve and care for one another is supernatural. Truly, I am not exaggerating, it is supernatural!
I realize that not everyone is excited about Sunday. Many dread the idea of gathering with God’s people. And… I get it! Leaders have caused great hurts. Pastor’s have failed the very people they are called to shepherd. Relationships have fallen apart due to things like gossip, a trust betrayed, or divisive behavior. Besides all of that, we live busy and tired.
Some prefer to stay home and worship God from the comforts of the couch with coffee in hand. Some think: “Who needs the church anyway? Isn’t my walk with Christ, my walk with Christ?” To that I must reply, “yes” and “no.” It is your walk with Christ but the writers of Scripture never imagined solo Christianity. Rather, the Bible speaks of ones walk with Christ as something that is walked with other believers. How else are we to make sense of all the “one another” imperatives throughout the New Testament?
I understand ones desire to not belong to a local church! I really – really do! It can be painful and hurtful. However, I have found that even in the hurts our God is at work in us. Let’s face it… we are all in process. That is why it is called “progressive sanctification.” We have not arrived and much work is yet to be done in us. It’s ok – God’s got you and me. He is not sweating it out wondering if our sanctification will ever be completed.
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
Philippians 1:6
This past Sunday was a bonus day in that we had a guest speaker at Trinity. My new friend Juan Carlos Hernandez from Barranquilla, Colombia was with us. At Trinity we are in a mini-missions series on the Heart of God for the lost from Luke 15. Juan preached the parable of the lost sheep. Wow, what mercy – we serve a God who seeks after and pursues the lost! That is the very heart of God. If you are a Christian, it is because God went on an all out search for you. Often we hear people speak of how they came to a place and found the Lord. While I understand what a person is trying to say, it is more accurate to speak of how the Lord found you! Herein lies the wonder and glory of salvation! He found me! Me! Who am I to know the Lord? Who am I to be on the heart of God and a part of His rescue mission?
You can listen to Juan’s sermon here.
Another highlight of the morning was from Casey Greene. Casey has been working on growing our missional foundations at Trinity. This includes: WHAT, WHY, and HOW Trinity Community Church is seeking to grow in mission impact. Below is more info if you are interested.
If you are not a part of a local church, I ask you to prayerfully consider finding a church you can call home. I close with a favorite quote of mine from C.H. Spurgeon – enjoy!
Absolutely loved reading this and so right on. I don’t want to miss out on gathering with my church family, worshipping our Lord and learning from the teaching out of God’s very own word! Perfect church no and that’s because I’m part of this body of believers along with everyone else. We all are unworthy of the grace the Lord has given us but he still loves us. Come join me and my church family, we’d love to have you. Think about it, if you don’t have a church home come visit us and share in the joy of the Lord!