We know that in the last days evil will wax worse and worse. People will not want to hear the truth. They will not think that church attendance is necessary. Is it our fault? Are we not making the church attractive enough? Are we supposed to entertain people?
We have several problems to blame for our church attendance problems. One is an authority problem. We believe in God. We claim that Jesus is our Savior, but we have not made Jesus Christ the authority of our lives.
What does this have to do with church attendance?
You see if we believe the gospel but don’t believe Genesis chapters 1-11, then we don’t believe in the authority of God and we don’t really trust in the Bible. If we don’t trust in God’s word and His authority then we have lost the real purpose for going to church, which is to worship this God. If we do not accept God’s authority, His rulership over our lives how can we in our hearts want to worship Him?
Another problem is that we are too busy. We have more modern conveniences than we could ever have imagined 100 years ago. But instead of making life easier we are slaves to them. Look at video games, cell phones and social media. We have created more leisure time but have become a slave to leisurely activities.
Another problem is that we are spiritually blind and deaf. We don’t read our Bibles; therefore we cannot hear God speaking to us. If people don’t read the Bible they are not likely to attend church.
Another problem is that we are people who are not committed to anything. Americans are the laziest workers in the world. We miss more work and call in sick more than any other nation. Americans are the laziest college students. Only 30% of college freshmen graduate. Americans have more single-parent families than almost every industrialized nation in the world. We quit on our families and our marriages.
Americans spend more on exercise equipment and diet plans and still we are the fattest industrialized nation in the world.
We seem to quit on everything. The word commitment is not in our vocabulary anymore. Instead we live by this motto: “Make yourself happy,” and we find out that nothing makes us happy apart from Jesus Christ.
The Bible urges us to be faithful. Hebrews 12:1: “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” Ephesians 3:13-14: “But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
Analysts always tell you to invest your money. Give your time to something that is proven and tried and backed up by a strong support system that will pay off in the long run. That is exactly what the church is. The church is the people of God, and it is proven to be the place where God is working. Therefore God is backing the church.
The church originated in Jesus Christ and is built and supported by Him and will be rewarded by Him so it will definitely pay off in the long run. Wouldn’t it make sense to make the church and service to the Lord Jesus Christ the most important part of your life?
Listen to Pastor Jack’s sermons on the way to church every Sunday at 10:30 a.m. on 98.9 WSIP FM. To read more of Pastor Jack Ward’s articles and hear his sermons at Tomahawk Missionary Baptist Church go to tomahawkmbc.com. Watch his sermons on his Facebook page. Find him on Rumble, Bitchute and Brighteon video platforms.