Thankful For The Church

 Ephesians 4:10-16

11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

Hebrews 10:24-25

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.

Acts 2:42-47

42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. 44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.

46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

Ephesians 5:25-26

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,

I started this devotional with a lot of verses but each and every one of these verses stress so much the importance of the church and why we should be thankful for it.  In today’s society, it seems that church has become more of a commodity than a necessity.  What was once considered a need and a welcome weekly event in the life of a family, has now become something that is as quickly discarded as the occasional vacation.  In fact, I believe some put more importance on their vacations than they do with the attendance of church.  

Now, I know, one of the biggest excuses (not arguments because it is invalid), that I hear all the time is, “You don’t have to attend church in order to be saved and I can worship God anywhere.”  That is true.  There is nothing erroneous about that statement.  However, if you are saved, you will crave to be in the company and fellowship of other believers.  They are a part of the same body you are and in order for your walk in Christ to grow it is vital to be around other believers.  Ephesians 4 is all about that.  While corporate worship is definitely one of the functions of the local church, worship is a given.  Worship is a natural response of the believer.  The local church was established as a place for the equipping of the saints and the edifying of each other.  When we attend a local church, our faith should grow through both discipleship and fellowship.  We learn through discipleship by breaking open the Word of the Lord and discovering it’s truth’s.  We learn through fellowship by sharing in each other's trials, failures, successes, and testimonies.  Sadly, a majority of today’s churches do not reflect that, instead they reflect more like the social clubs of the world than a church.

Should that be a reason that you stop going though?  Absolutely not!  Instead, you should be the change!  Look at the Epistles.  Paul knew the errors that some of the early church was making.  Instead of completely ignoring them and shunning them, he wrote letters to them and visited them encouraging them to get back on the path to fully realize their potential as part of the body of Christ.  You should do the same.  Begin a biblical discipleship group within the walls of your church.  Instead of hosting nothing but movie nights, dedicate yourself to the study of the Word and gather other believers within that same local body that want to as well.  I guarantee there are others that crave that as well.  Take a stand, and you can be the change within the body of your local church.

Church is so crucial especially during this time that we are living in.  We know the return of Christ is very close.  We see all the pain and turmoil in the world.  The escalation violence and hatred in the world.  We see the falling away and unbelief in the world.  It can be discouraging.  Almost so discouraging that you almost want to say, “What’s the point?”  That’s why in the book of Hebrews it says we should not forsake the assembling of ourselves together.  The importance of attending church today is to encourage each other.  To put our focus back on our first love, Jesus Christ.  When we do that, we stir up love for each other and for others.  In response to that love for Christ and for each other, good works follow.  Satan tries to isolate us.  Satan knows if he can isolate a believer then they are quick to become discouraged and trust in themselves rather than upon God.  Even much more in this time should we crave to be with the church body.

As the early believers did, we should gather not just on Sunday’s but daily.  Now, does that mean that we should have church services every day?  No, it does not.  However, we should in some way or form, reach out to other members of the Church on a daily basis just in some form of fellowship.  Notice I did Church with a capital “C.”  You don’t necessarily have to be in contact with someone from your local body, but you should glean from somebody in the Church every single day.  When the early believers did it, look what happened….”And the Lord added daily to the Church those that were being saved”  Just imagine the impact we can have on the world if we follow this simple practice!  If we are obedient to this, God will keep His promise and do this even today.

Finally, we should have a heart of thanksgiving for the church simply because of the fact that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ gave Himself up for her.  Jesus died for us.  He gave His life as ransom for us.  That is so immense.  When we put that in perspective, we should be ever grateful for the Church.  Jesus found her worthy to die for, making her worthy by His own death and resurrection.   

When was the last time you thanked God for church?  How much of a priority is it in your life?  This month of thanksgiving I know has been great for that in my life as well.  It has made me reconsider priorities in life and in direct result, has drawn me closer to God.

I pray that as we continue to thank God for what He has given us, that you consider this great thing that He has given us by His own death, the Church.