Going and Growing

My pastor always says that you should be a member of a church where you’re going AND growing.  For many of us, church membership is having your name on a roll somewhere.  You watch church faithfully every Sunday on the internet.  You may even send them your church “dues” or your tithes.  So why is it important to physically go to a church AND mature spiritually?

Before I joined my current church, I didn’t go to church for 6 months.  I have always gone to church.  Grew up in church.  Loved the Lord.  Rah-rah, sis, boom, bah.  I was the kid in high school that brought her Bible to lunch to do Bible study.  Jesus was my everything.  So, what made me stop attending church?

I experienced church hurt.  I was tired of being good, and nice, and kind to people in the church and not getting the same thing back.  I was also just physically tired.  When you belong to a small church, you can feel like you must do everything and be in every ministry.  And that’s draining.  And not what God called us to do.

God has called us to be in community with other believers.  Being a part of a community means that we should be invested in others lives.  That’s hard to do from your couch.  It’s easy to get caught up in technology and forget that we need physical fellowship with Christians.  Honestly, I wish that I could phone it in on many days, but that’s not God’s plan.

Some of you may get up and go to a church faithfully, but you’re not growing.  You go because that’s what you’re supposed to do on Sundays.  I guess you’re content.  But your life is not changing.  It’s sad to leave out the same way that you came in.  Jesus died so that we could have life and have it more abundantly.  So believe that!

Be a member of a church where you’re going AND growing!  If your car broke down, you’d get it repaired.  It’s hard to manage your busy schedule without a working car.  Your church home is a lot like your car.  It can help you get to your destination a lot more quickly than walking alone can.  #wepreach