"If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD's holy day honourable, and if you honour it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob." The mouth of the LORD has spoken. (Isaiah 58:13-14)

Just as the Saturday was (and still is) the special day for the Jews, so the Sunday has been the Christians’ special day ever since Jesus rose from the death on the first day of the week. Throughout church history Sunday has been the day when believers would come together to worship their Lord. It is also be right to say that throughout history the practice of meeting together has been under attack, as the enemy knows that there is such special power and blessing in the gathering of the people of God.

Today is a day when it seems to be increasingly difficult to get believers to be consistent in their church attendance. Family commitments, Sunday sport, the opening of shops and the pressure of jobs all contribute to this decline. To me, the worrying thing is, that these pressures are accompanied by a more relaxed and laidback attitude towards what believers should or shouldn’t do general, and on Sundays in particular.

Is going to church really that important? Does it make such a difference whether you are there or not? Listen to what God says.

In Hebrews 10:23-25 we read: “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

What God says here doesn’t leave any room for doubt:  “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing…’ But why is meeting together so important?

There are at least four good reasons:

There are things God has to say to us

Yes, of course we can read our Bibles at home, and we should, but we all need to be taught. In Acts we read how the early believers “devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." For that purpose they came together as often as possible. I have never met a believer yet, who has been sloppy in attending church, while at the same time has been growing in the Lord.

There are things God would like to do in us

God is keen to see us grow in humility, in love, in grace, in forgiveness, in joy, in gentleness, in kindness, in patience, in perseverance, in self-control. Many of these qualities cannot be learned in isolation, we need to rub shoulders with other believers. Yes, I know, ‘rubbing shoulders’ can be a painful exercise, but how else will we learn about love, forgiveness and being merciful? (Read Colossians 3:12-17)

There are things God would like to do through us

If I as a pastor suddenly decided one Sunday morning not to go to church, because I didn’t feel like going, there would be uproar! Likewise there would be great panic if the deacon responsible for setting up didn’t turn up, or a musician, or a Sunday school teacher. What we all need to take on board is this: Anyone belonging to Tyndale who is regularly absent, will be really missed. There will be an empty seat that no one else can fill, because we are all unique and we are all necessary for the good functioning of the body. (Study 1 Corinthians 12:12-27)

In Hebrews 10:24 we are told to consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds in other words we are all responsible for each other. Not only am I responsible before God to spur you on, but you are responsible before Him to do the same for me!

There are things God would like to protect us from

The Book of Hebrews was most likely written to converted Jews who were under so much pressure that they wanted to give up. That desire to give up is at times present in all of us! And we desperately need each other to keep going, to persevere, to hold on. We all need to encourage and to be encouraged.

"Let us not give up meeting together..." It is the Lord's command.

Pastor Bert