Church Attendance Heb. 10:25 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

Why should I be concerned with church attendance?  Because God says so, for one thing.

The Bible gives us clear instruction on the necessity for church attendance.  The following are some of the most important reasons for attending a good church.

For obedience to God – Heb 10:25 says, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”  Clearly, the Lord tells us that as we see the day of the Lord’s return approaching, we should be even more diligent to assemble together with other believers.  He commands church attendance.  We need encouragement from the singing, teaching, preaching and fellowship with other believers.

For edification – In Eph 4:11-12, we find that the Lord gave gifts to the church.  The gifts include pastors and teachers.  Through our work, the saints are perfected, among other things.  You will never grow as well staying at home and studying on your own as you will by church attendance in a good church under good preaching and teaching.

For preaching – According to 2 Tim 4:2-4, we are living in a day and age where the saints don’t want the truth and they cannot endure sound doctrine.  They want teaching and not preaching because preaching reproves you, rebukes you and exhorts you.  And they can’t stand these things.  They would rather just fill their heads with knowledge of things they like.  But you must have preaching in order to grow and serve the Lord.  And you can’t do that without church attendance.

For discipleship – In 2 Tim 2:2, Paul taught Timothy a principle of discipleship that involves passing along things that he had learned from Paul to other men who would be capable to teach others, as well.  There’s no better place for this kind of discipleship than a local church where you find sinners coming to Jesus and then sticking around to grow with the help of other saints.

For missions – In Acts 13:2-3, Paul and Barnabas were sent out of the church to labor in regions beyond their local ministry.  They went on missionary journeys to lead souls to Christ and to start other churches.  This is one of the most important functions of a local church and it requires the faithful and sacrificial giving of members to accomplish this work [2 Cor 8-9].  You cannot do this by yourself.  You must be faithful in church attendance and giving.

For fellowship – As we see in Acts 2:42, fellowship was a very important part of the early church.  In 1 Jn 1:3 and 7, we see that we have fellowship one with another when we are saved.  However, it’s going to be awfully hard for you to have fellowship with other believers by staying home on Sundays and Wednesdays.  Fellowship necessitates church attendance.

For singing – According to Col 3:16, congregational singing is absolutely essential to Spirit-filled preaching and teaching.  Congregational singing is what allows the word of Christ to dwell in you richly in all wisdom.  And of course, Jesus Christ is honored and glorified in the right kind of singing and he is worthy to be praised [Rev 5:12].  As you can tell, it is impossible for you to admonish one another in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs if you are sitting at home alone.

For service – the ministry involves many aspects and many people.  God gave pastors for the work of the ministry.  But as you can see by reading Paul’s salutations at the end of his epistles, there were many saints who helped him and ministered to him.  Likewise, you are called to serve [Matt 20:26-28].  And the best place to serve is in a church, where you can easily join with others to meet the spiritual and physical needs of people.

For submission – when you read through the New Testament, you see that Jesus is the head of the church [Eph 1:22; Col 1:18].  And since we are in the church, which is his body, we are to be subject to our Lord [Eph 5:24].  Therefore, one of the best ways to stay subject unto Christ is to stay in a local church.

Conclusion: as you already know, not all churches are good churches.  So we commend you to a church where the pastor and the people believe that the words of the Bible are the words of God, where souls are saved through the preaching of the word, where young Christians can grow through good teaching and discipleship, where the singing is Christ honoring and spiritual, where missionaries are regularly and generously supported, and where there are opportunities for you to serve.  These are the things that will make church attendance very worthwhile.