Good Morning All,
Psalm 10:17; “O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen
their heart; you will incline your ear”
“Why do I have to go to church? Timmy’s mom doesn’t make him go!” Many parents go through this time and time
again. Even adults go through it. There are times when it can be tough to
muster up the energy to attend worship services. So why go?
Often, when I ask adults why they attend, their answer is simply “because
that is what you do!” Some mention the
third commandment and God “telling us to go to church”
There are many, long answers about this but
fortunately there are a couple of short ones as well. The short ones are, first, this is where God
gives us his gifts. Our faith is an
audible oral faith. Our faith is “sense”
oriented. We hear, we see, we touch, we
taste, we vocalize, we experience God’s gifts in the worship service. This is where God invites us to come and to
re-energize our batteries. God nourishes
our body, soul and spirit with the sacraments, with the pronouncement of our
forgiveness and with the encouragement of his Word. These gifts, these wonderful gifts strengthen
our faith. These gifts fix the scratches
and the scrapes of the week. It
nourishes us when we are spiritually hungry.
It reminds us of where our salvation comes from. It is God coming to you, in Word and
sacrament, to bring you healing, to bring you comfort, and to build you up for
the next week.
This is how God builds faith in us. Faith is the desire to trust God’s
promise. Faith wants to cling to the
certainty of life eternal. Faith clings
to the loving arms of God holding us and comforting us in all that we
face. Faith is what lets us stand up to
the devil’s lies and face them down and some of those events, facing illness,
or financial problems, or relationship problems or any of a myriad of other
painful and fearful events including death; whether these events occur to us or
our loved ones; it takes faith to stand up to them and to withstand what the
devil throws at us. Faith needs to be reinforced
and shorn up in order to withstand the onslaught that we face. It takes faith to face each day. God gives us the faith and then he gives us
the means to build it up. This is why he
commands us to gather together in worship.
It is not because God has need of it; it is because we have need of
it. This commandment is for our own
good.
So remember to join with your fellow
redeemed brothers and sisters in Christ and grow. Join together to be healed, to be comforted
and to share in the wondrous gifts of God.
Share what God gives to you and be strengthened by His love. This is why you should attend worship services. It builds us up and gives us a renewed hope
and the strength to face the day.
Father of all mercies, you pour out upon your people
your wonderful gift of life. You promise
to give us life and to give it abundantly.
Lead us to receive this promise with an open heart and relish the taste
of your great goodness. Heal us, restore
us and guide us by your Spirit to always trust in Your holy promise. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.
God’s Peace,
Pastor Bret
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