Spiritual Emphasis on Going to Church

Spiritual Emphasis on Going to Church

By Pastor Gary Wayne

This month I have focused on the need for spiritual emphasis on things that truly matter – on prayer, reading the Bible, creating an atmosphere for you spirit man to lead.

Today I want to talk about the need to emphasize the importance of going to church.

Text: Ex 20:8 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
The principal of a Sabbath day is all through scripture. In the O.T. that day was Saturday, and in the N.T. the disciples started to meet together on the first day of the week in remembering the resurrection of Jesus.

In our text we see it is one of the 10 commandments that we know we STILL observe. In Joh 13:34 Jesus made it 11 commandments - love others as yourself.

Jesus fulfilled and became our Sabbath, but He didn’t take away the principle of this command - one day set aside to honor God.

Most of us know the emphasis God put on observing a day of rest.
In the O.T. if someone didn’t honor God’s way of resting, they were to be put to death. (Ex.31:15)

The point I feel God wants us to hear is in our culture, we have smoothed over the emphasis God placed on giving Him 1 day a weed to rest, to where we see gong to church as “optional – if it fits into my busy schedule.”

We have taken this day as our “day off” or the day for myself instead of hearing the Heart of God in having Church as a priority.

Many have their thinking upside down: If I have time in my busy schedule to fit church in, then I’ll go, but if it’s doesn’t fit in, church is set aside for my priorities.
It NEEDS to be the other way around. Going to church NEEDs to be my priority – If I have time to fit other things into that day, fine, but if not they can’t be more important than honoring God.

A MAJOR point is this is not just a day for us to “rest” but in that rest, we set the day as one day a week to Honor God.

In times past, our culture would shut business down on Sunday – in Honor to God.

My point isn’t we need to close stores on Sunday, but the NEED we have to understand from God’s heart the emphases we need to place on “this is His day – not just from 10:30-12:00 – but the principle of giving Him one day a week.
Don’t take Pastor Gary’s word for this understanding, sit quietly with the Holy Spirit and ask Him where His heart is in this.
Church was NOT invented by preachers!

Why go to church? God’s presence.
I know God is everywhere = omnipresence.
There is His inner presence – where the Holy Spirit lives within us.
Then there is His manifest presence – His made known presence that happens when we come together.

Jesus said: Mt 18:20 "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them."
It’s God’s house, not ours. It’s God’s day, not our day off.
It’s God’s idea, not ours.

My point is we need to emphasize the things God says are important, and downscale things in my life that we have placed over – more important than His.

Heb 10:24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,
25 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.
Notice the wording “assembling of ourselves together.”

Church is about us, not ME.
We NEED each other – others rely on you being there.
My interaction with God is tight – I don’t need to be there today – MAYBE NOT, but others NEED you to be there.
You create a much needed draft to bring others into His presence.

I like the mental imagery of “assembling – putting pieces together –
Just like a pile of building material is not a building until they are assembled, the “church” needs to fit together – with each other – to be “God’s called out ones.”
WE NEED EACH OTHER.