Will you go to church this Sunday?

Why will you go?  Is it because you have done it all your life and it is what your parents taught you to do? When we look at the early Christians in the New Testament, they didn't have big buildings to meet in.  They met in small groups and learnt from the scriptures together.  These scriptures included the letters of Paul.  From these we learn that they had elders to teach those who had gathered.  They did not have one man who did all the teaching and was revered and honoured above the rest. They were all part of the body of Christ and all played a part in keeping close to the teachings of Jesus and His apostles. Jesus said, "Where two or three are gathered in my name there am I in the midst." Each brother (and that includes the women) has a part to play.  We are meant to come together and discuss together the wonderfulness of salvation. If you are in a group of more than about twenty it is more than likely you will grow lazy and blend into the background and let other people do the work.  For church to be any good you have to all play your part.  So why are you going to church this week?  Is it some sense of duty that takes you there?  Is it a place where you can rub shoulders with influential people? You might say that you go to church to worship God, but your whole life should be made up of worshipping God. Worship is not something you can switch on and off. Perhaps you think you can get the worshipping over for another week by going to church.  This is not so. We should be full of praise all the time when we contemplate what a wonderful Redeemer we have.