Broadway Heights Baptist Church

Pastor’s Corner

“Is Church for Everyone?”

____________________________________________________________________________________SCRIPTURE

Hebrews 10: 23-25 NIV - ²³Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. ²⁴And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. ²⁵Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

________________________________________________________________________________COMMENTARY

                The book of Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians.  The new believers were struggling with how to incorporate their Jewish heritage with their faith in Christ.  Jewish Christians had trouble accepting that Christ was their new High Priest.  This caused a lot of issues on the subject of worshiping God. 

            God wants His children to meet with other believers on a regular basis.  He wants His people in Church!  When we go to church we discover that we are not alone as Christians.  We hear others share how God came through for them when they were in a tight spot.  Someone else shares about the pain experienced when they left the faith.  A new believer tells their story and rejoices in God’s grace.  Soon something begins to happen inside of us.  We start to get, “Spiritually filled up.”

            The accountability and encouragement found in church fellowship anchors us against the tides that work to sweep us away.  We can develop a network of relationships with other believers that work to ensure we don’t abandon our faith when the pressure is on to do so.  To neglect the regular assembling with other Christians is to miss out on this essential element in the development of our faith. 

            In Hebrews 10: 22, the writer said, “Let us draw near [to God] with a true heart in full assurance in faith.”  God desires a relationship with His children.  By becoming active in a local church, you safeguard yourself against missing out on all that God has for you. 

_________________________________________________________________________LIFE APPLICATION

                There is no perfect church, but there is a perfect God.  You make church what it really is.  What good does a health club do you if you attend three times a week to have coffee with a friend in the building?  Sure, you are in the building, but nothing is happening that will benefit you physically.   The same goes for church.  You can go to church, but are you making the most out of your attendance? 

            A churchgoer wrote a letter to the newspaper and complained that it made no sense for him to go to church every Sunday.  He wrote, “I have gone to church every Sunday.  He wrote, “I have gone to church for 30 years now, and in that time, I have heard something like 3,000 sermons.  But, for the life of me, I can’t remember a single one of them.  So, I think that I am wasting my time, and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all!

            This started a real controversy in the Letters to the Editor column, much to the delight of the editor.  It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher; “I have been married for 30 years now.  In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals, but for the life of me I cannot remember a single one of them.  But, I do know this:  They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work.  If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead.  Likewise, if I had not gone to church for spiritual nourishment, I would be spiritually dead. 

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