Greetings and welcome to Temple Baptist this morning! It was David from the Old Testament who said, “I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord.” Psalm 122:1
Christians should be committed to their local church, involved in their local church, and supportive of their local church. This requires regular church attendance. A believer will naturally love his brothers and sisters in Christ, and that love will manifest itself in a desire to fellowship, not avoidance. When the church is praising the Lord, all believers should want to join in the praise; when the church is praying for others, all believers should want to join in the prayer; when the church is studying the Word, all believers should want to join in the learning.
We live in a world of distractions. So many things call us away from our commitments, our involvement, and our support of the local church: sports activities, work schedules, community projects, etc.—the list is never-ending. There are valid reasons for missing a church service, and we must avoid legalism in such matters. At the same time, we should make sure absences are the exception, not the rule. Each believer should examine his own heart to determine his motives for missing church. It could be that a rearrangement of priorities is in order.
Pastor Tom