Attend Church - Check!

Why Attend Church?

Today, my devotional reading is from 2 Kings 4. In the story, a Shunammite woman was barren and the prophet Elisha interceded with God for her. A year later, she bore a son but while still a young child, he died.

One very interesting phrase from the story stuck in my mind. The woman spoke to her husband about going to visit Elisha, the man of God. Since the husband was not aware that their son had died, he asked his wife, “Why go to him today? It’s not the New Moon or the Sabbath.” To which his wife replied, “It’s all right.” (See 2 Kings 4:22,23.)

The husband’s comments sound amazingly similar to contemporary questions of WHY anyone would attend church if it was not for some special circumstance?

It occurred to me that there are some general reasons why people attend church:

1. Special Holidays & Events. That was evidently the husband’s reasoning (“It’s not the New Moon.”) Today, we often see dramatic increases in attendance at church on both Easter & Christmas. Some people only attend on those days – and for weddings and funerals.
2. Weekly Scheduled Services. The husband also referred to the “Sabbath” as a logical reason for visiting the man of God. Until around the 1950′s, church attendance was recognized in the USA (and many other countries) as a normal responsibility. But in modern times, there does not seem to be such a requirement. Even those who DO attend the weekly services still may not be there for true worship.
3. Times of Great Need. The mother in our story needed the man of God – not for a funeral – but for new life! She reported (both ti her husband and Elisha’s servant), “It is all right.” But Elisha recognized that she was in “bitter distress.” When Elisha went to the child and prayed, the Lord brought new life to the child (see v.35). It is not uncommon that those who are in great need will call upon God. In any given congregation, a large portion are likely experiencing something that they consider “bitter distress.”
4. Time of Celebration. The final reason for church attendance seems to be the best. When we compare the picture of the mother holding Elisha’s feet in distress (verse 27) to her celebration at his feet (verse 37), we can better understand that true worship is the celebration of the great and wonderful works of God.

So, will you be attending church today (or soon)? WHY?

A couple years ago, I read Louie Giglio’s book, “I am not but I know I AM – The story of God.” It was an enjoyable read and the overall content was excellent. I question some of Giglio’s theology and techniques but not enough to matter. One thing that I did pick up from the book was his “One Word Bible Study.”

The idea is to pick a verse of Scripture and then read it one word at a time. Literally, ONE WORD. Giglio suggested that you mediate on that single word for a day or longer. During that time, you seek God for instruction, you search your memory for associated information and you allow the people & events of the day to teach you.

This type of study has some benefits and some liabilities. The benefit of remaining sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s guidance for an extended time is enormous. However, and this is one of the problems that I find with Giglio’s theology, focusing on a single word (or even a single verse) encourages non-contextual ideas. It is akin to the old adage, “Can’t see the forest for the trees.” All Scripture must be interpreted in the proper context and must be consistent with all of the other verses of the bible.

At any rate, I enjoyed ministering at the New Covenant Church of God in Roseland, LA this morning. Pastor Keith Hawes and the congregation there were kind and receptive and even ignored the fact that I preached for almost an hour (grin). I say “preached” but I don’t know if it was preaching or teaching or a seminar or what. But that was my intention! I wanted to illustrate that the line between teaching and preaching is very difficult to locate.

I framed the message as being instruction on how to do the One Word Bible Study (OWBS). I used Romans 1:1 as the focal point of the instruction (who has EVER preached a sermon from Ro. 1:1???). Then I selected four primary words from the verse (Paul, Jesus, Called & Separated) to use in the study.

Without giving away the “bottom line,” I will just say that  the actual message was meant to clarify some commonly held but mistaken concepts of holiness, sanctification and the offices in the church. I really believe that God directed the entire service. Thank you Pastor Hawes for the invitation!

You can view the slide show presentation here:

You can download the slide presentation (with speaker’s notes) and the outlines (PDF) of the entire message. If the audio recording is available, I will also upload that. Check back here in the next week or so to see if it is available.

BTW, the presentation (& my preaching style/technique) was patterned somewhat after the ideas found in the Steve Jobs post here: http://chiefshepherd.com/2010/01/how-to-present-like-apples-steve-jobs/