Church attendance is one of those subjects that some Christians would rather not discuss. Some feel that preachers and elders mention it too often rather than discussing what they consider “important topics”. I ask the question, have you considered that your attendance at all the assemblies of the Lord church matter? It matters to elders who watch for your soul (Hebrews 13:17). It matters to Bible class teachers who work diligently preparing material from God’s word for you and your children (Ephesians 4:11-12). It matters to the preachers who spent the week preparing something from God’s word for your spiritual benefit (2 Timothy 4:2-4). Most of all it matters to God who commands Christians to assemble (Hebrews 10:25), and to the Lord whom we are to remember every Lord’s Day (1 Corinthians 11:23-29).

Let us examine ourselves as to where our priorities are? Paul points out to the Colossian Christians that being Christian involves higher priorities “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth” Colossians 3:1-2. Paul is saying that the heart be not set upon that which is “below” (the world) in the same way, and to the same extent, in which it is set upon things “above” (heaven). Where are your priorities? When Christians do not give spiritual matters priority in their lives, the only conclusion one can draw is that they are not truly committed to a life that is risen with Christ. One of the priorities of a life risen with Christ is that of assembling with other Christians.

Our attendance shows how important God is to us. “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him” John 4:23. If we truly reverence God, if we truly love God, we will assemble to worship Him.

Our attendance shows how important the church is to us. “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching Hebrews 10:25. Note please the vital connection of assembling together and exhorting (encouraging) one another. Such opportunities are missed when we absent ourselves from public worship assemblies.

Our attendance shows how important Christ death is to us. During the assembly on the first day of the week, Sunday, New Testament Christians remember the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ commanded regarding the Lord’s Supper “this do in remembrance of me” 1 Corinthians 11:24-25. This we cannot do if we miss the church when it comes together, 1 Corinthians 11:17, 18, 20, 33.

Our attendance shows how important God’s Word is to us. Luke reminds us, “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight Acts 20:7. Brother Kevin Rhodes said regarding this “These Christians wanted to hear the Gospel proclaimed. Indeed, they stayed late into the night listening to it. When we think that a Bible class or sermon is too long or too burdensome, so that we simply cannot fit it into our busy schedule, then we must not truly care about God’s will for our lives.” Building Blocks, Strengthening Our Faith, page 6.

Someday God will welcome home His children, those who wanted to be with Him, who wanted to learn of Him, who wanted to be like Him. God wants you in the assembly and Bible Study and He wants you to be in heaven. This is why attendance matters to God, and why your attendance should matter to you.                                                                       

-Jerry D. Sturgill

            Wisdom is found in Paul’s statement to the Christians in Galatia: “For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ. But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man” (Gal. 1:10-11). The consequence of pleasing men is that God is no longer the focus of what you do in your life. When people are pleased, the world is pleased. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus Christ did not please every person He came across! Several times, Jesus upset others because they were not pleasing God (John 2:13-22, 5:1-18, 8:48-59). Our Lord taught His disciples that the world would hate them for His name’s sake (John 15:18-19).

            Balaam is a great example of what can happen when a person decides to please men rather than God. Balak, king of the Moabites, sent messengers to Balaam requesting that he come and curse the children of Israel. God spoke to Balaam and told him not to go with these princes of Moab. Balaam sent the messengers away, but more returned and Balaam showed a desire to go with them. The Lord had already given Balaam His answer, but He gave Balaam the free-will to decide for himself what he would do (Num. 22:9-21). God was not pleased with Balaam’s decision. The angel of the Lord was sent to kill Balaam for his treachery against God (Num. 22:22-23). Balaam decided to please men rather than our Lord. When Saul decided to overstep his authority as king of Israel and sacrifice on behalf of his army, he was pleasing men. Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin; priests came from the tribe of Levi and were the only people who could make sacrifices on behalf of God’s people! Saul had a lapse in judgment when his desire to please men outweighed his desire to please God (1 Sam. 13:8-12). The punishment for such a transgression was the kingdom departed from Saul’s family (1 Sam. 13:13-14). When one recalls the punishment brought against Nadab and Abihu, which was similar to Saul’s sinful action (Lev. 10:1-2), God showed mercy to Saul that day! King Saul learned a lesson of the consequences of being a people-pleaser. We should learn from the mistakes of those who came before us so that we do not repeat them.

            The decision is simple for a Christian. One must serve God rather than man throughout the longevity of their lives (Acts 5:29)! The Lord requires complete service to Him and His kingdom; anything less in unacceptable. Three different men came to Jesus Christ and showed a desire to be in His service. All three times Jesus told them to count the cost of being His disciples (Luke 9:57-62). Matthew is the shining example of what one should do when Christ beckons someone into His service. He was called by Christ and Matthew immediately followed Him (Matt. 9:9). When one realizes that Christ suffered death on a cross for him, it should motivate him to serve Jesus with the remainder of his life (Gal. 2:20)!

            God has always asked man to love Him with all of his heart, soul, and mind (Deut. 6:5; Matt. 22:36-37). Many of the Jewish rulers believed Jesus to be the Christ, but because they loved the praise of men more; they rejected Him (John 12:35-43). Pleasing men will only last a short season, but pleasing God shall last for eternity.

-Brandon Foresha

Is Christianity a competition or a cooperation between Christians? Judaizing teachers troubled the early church by painting the Gentiles as second-rate Christians; they made them question their salvation if they were not circumcised and keeping the law of Moses (Acts 15:1) But Paul wrote in Galatians 5:14-15, “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!” The faith of Jesus Christ is the basis of our salvation, not fleshly accolades. Following the flesh leads to conceit and envy (Gal. 5:25). The flesh produces a carping attitude that pulls others down to prop up self, but following the Spirit leads to love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Gal. 5:19-23). If we follow the flesh, then, instead of helping one another go to heaven, we will bite, devour, and consume one another.

My brother has recently undertaken the venture of raising hens. We had no chickens growing up, so peculiarities he tells me about their nature have been revelatory to me whereas they might be commonplace to those accustomed to them. He had to separate one of the hens from the others because it had a sore. Evidently, if the red spot of a sore becomes visible to the other chickens, they will keep pecking at it until the injured fowl dies. Can we not see a parallel in human behavior? How does the church respond to someone whose spiritual sore becomes apparent? Are we critical? Do we tear them down or help them? Do we bite and peck at them behind their back? Or do we love them enough to work toward healing their spiritual injury? Galatians 6:1 goes on to command the spiritual to restore the brother overtaken in sin. The word “restore” in the original is the idea of setting a broken bone; careful action must be taken to set erring brothers and sisters straight, to help bear their burdens, all the while considering our own weaknesses (Gal. 6:1-2).

Paul described the church as a body, a living organism with each part cooperating to maintain the health of the whole being, writing, “And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it” (1 Cor. 12:26). If any part of our physical body is hurting, the other parts of the body rush to the aid. The church is the spiritual body of Christ. By one Spirit we have all been baptized into one body (1 Cor. 12:13). The Spirit teaches us in God’s word to, “Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits” (Rom. 12:15-16). To reach out and help those hurting in sin is the ultimate fulfillment of God’s will; Jesus came to earth, died, and rose again to save us from the terminal disease of sin (Rom. 6:23). Let Christ’s church be distinct from the world in the realm of loving others as ourselves.

-Mark Day

In the article this week I would like for us to examine Paul’s exhortation to Titus in Titus 2:7-8. Previous to our text, Paul had addressed Titus’ teaching regarding aged men (vs. 2), aged women (vs. 3), young women (vv. 4-5), and young men (vs. 6). Titus was not exempt from Paul’s admonition as Titus is to “⁷In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, ⁸Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.” While Titus was a preacher, he was first and foremost a Christian. What was written to him has application to all Christians.

In verse 7 we are taught, in all things (in every aspect of life) one must show themselves (practice what they teach and preach) to be a pattern (example) of good works. These good works would include works of obedience and benevolent works toward others, demonstrating the Christian’s character.

Christians are to show uncorruptness in doctrine (teaching). To be uncorrupt is to be free from taint, pure; it speaks to the soundness of our teaching. This statement requires all who would teach the Gospel to present the Gospel message in its pure state, without any mixing with of human philosophy or false teaching.

Christians in teaching are to show “gravity” (dignity and seriousness). This is referring to the consciousness of having the tremendous responsibility of being a teacher of God’s Word in a world where mankind, lost in sin, are in a desperate predicament. This is to be done in sincerity. This is likely indicating purity of motive.

Verse 8 says we are to use “sound speech that cannot be condemned”. The Christians speech is to be the kind of words that will help spiritually sick people get well. When people hear our words, their spiritual lives are not damaged or hurt.

If we use the pure word of God in our preaching and teaching, no one could properly find fault with our message. In doing so, the result will be that those opponents (those of the contrary part) who resist sound doctrine would be ashamed. Why will they be ashamed? Opponents would be ashamed when it is shown that their charges of wrongdoing against Christians were unfounded, since there is nothing either in the life or the teaching of the Christian which can be fairly criticized.

Christians do not punch a time clock; we are always on duty. Christians must be careful to practice what one preaches. The world is always watching. We must be the same person in the church building and out of it. Christians must strive to be the best example possible. The pure lives of New Testament Christians will put to shame opposition to the Lord.

Christ is an example for us (John 13:15); Timothy was to be an example of the believers (1 Timothy 4:12); Titus was to be a pattern of good works (Titus 2:7). Theory and practice were never to be separated by them. Brother Guy N. Woods has well said, “It is highly significant and worthy of our consideration that the apostle does not recognize the distinction between doctrine and practice often characteristic of us today. He made no attempt to separate theory from practice. We ought to be impressed with the fact that character and conduct are inseparable. Sound doctrine manifests itself in holy conduct.” (Quoted by Robert R. Taylor, Studies in First & Second Timothy, Titus, & Philemon, page 157.)

-Jerry D. Sturgill