Tomorrow will be the first Sunday of the new year. I have noticed that church attendance is high on the first Sunday of the year. Then, just as other New Year’s resolutions fade away, so does the resolve to continue participating in the Body of Christ. Week by week, the attendance numbers decrease, eventually leaving just the regulars. I wonder what the deterrent was in missing the opportunity to worship and be with God and His people. The importance of Sunday morning worship has changed in the American church since the time I first gave my life to follow Christ 33 years ago. Sunday mornings in America during that time began with the family worshipping together, then gathering again for family dinner, and back to church for the Sunday evening service.  We did not have the entertainment centers that exist now that pose as worship centers.  Even with all of the mega churches with their bells and whistles, church attendance and the meaning of the Sunday gathering no longer seem to be the centerpiece they used to be in the American family.

I have seen churches dwindle over and over again, and usually it’s the same thing. A new visitor comes, checks out the service, assesses the facility and the programs, and if it suits their list of church expectations, they stay a while. That’s until something in the church upsets their expectations and they venture on to the next church, trying to find their perfect setting. This was never what God intended for the Body of Christ. God never intended for those who would decide to follow Christ to worship the denomination, pastor, church building, or aesthetics.  We must accept that we are brought by the blood of Christ and He has taken ownership of us.  In 1 Corinthians 6:18-20, Paul teaches us this. “Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body.  Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.“

When we exchange our sinful lives for the forgiveness of our sins, a spiritual miracle takes place. Our spirits, which were once dead, became activated by the indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit. We were then born into a new spiritual person. We did not lose our old selves, but our spirits were made alive, and we were able to understand spiritual things and comprehend the message of love written in the Bible through men, inspired by God. This would be our guide to the life of sanctification.  We also entered a new family, a spiritual kingdom, an eternal relationship with God, through our faith in Christ and submission to His Spirit. 2 Corinthians 5:17 describes this transformation of our spirit.  “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” We were changed at that instance of repentance.

Now we have a new life. A new life where we entered the Body of Christ. Those who receive His grace now become a part of Him. We do not enter a denomination; we enter a body of those who, like ourselves, exchanged our old lives to now live together in God’s bond of love. The problem is that God is no longer the central focus of the Sunday morning church experience. When I became a Christian, the focus was on turning from sin and changing one’s ways. The church I attended had a discipleship program, where a person would be assigned to me for six months. Her name was Brenda, and she was an excellent discipler. I also had an amazing group of sisters and brothers who nurtured me spiritually and walked with me, and modeled their commitment to the faith. Today, I am still in communication with several women from this church.

Christ died to welcome us into God’s family, where we have an amazing inheritance. A great part of our inheritance is experiencing the love of God through His family. However, the devil will always try to defile everything God intends for our good. It was not until about two years ago that I was able to see his scheme in breaking down this beautiful experience of being part of the body of Christ. The devil is skilled at directing our attention to the wrong thing. He loves to keep us distracted and focused on what we expect, instead of being focused on worshiping God. Each Sunday morning, God has been gracious enough to call men to shepherd His saints. They were to be servants within the body of Christ to equip us for the task that God had for us. In 2 Corinthians 12:14-18, Paul shares God’s work in building up His Body.  “For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?  But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.“

Paul even warned us about the dangers of becoming fractured and dividing ourselves into sects or what we call today, “denominations”.  The church was to be a gathering place for the Body of Christ to assemble to worship and learn about God. However, the enemy has deceived men into making this gathering place, into a place of self-worship instead of a place to worship God. But it is never too late to come back to a heart of worship, and God will never turn us away. God has designed a division of labor within the church structure to bring order, but not to take ownership of His body. Those whom He has called to that role will be held in strict judgment by Him. The Scriptures tell us over and over about the judgment that awaits false teachers and those who lead the people of God astray. God has them under His watchful eye. For those in the Body who were not called to shepherd the folk, our focus should be centered on worshipping our Father, our Lord and Savior, and the Holy Spirit.

When we return to the heart of worship, we will enter our gathering place with a heart filled with thanksgiving for all that God has done for us. We will tune out everyone around us, our spouses, our friends, our children, our surroundings, and enjoy an audience of One. Then we will wait in joyful anticipation of hearing His Word. God’s Word is our tutor, teaching us how to abide in Him as we journey on this earth. We cherish and treasure God’s Word because His Word teaches us about Him and how we are to relate to Him. I wrote the “Work It Out” discipleship guide because someone taught me how to embrace the faith and have a personal relationship with Christ, and we all must be equipped to walk a bold and deep-rooted life of faith. Knowing the Word of God is essential to our progress of sanctification and understanding the work God has done through the ages. After we have received the blessing of God’s Word, we get to have fellowship with His people. People who encourage us, pray for us, and also need our encouragement and prayers.  We may also serve within the gathering place God has placed us in, using the gifts He has given us to minister. But our service does not end there. Not everyone has been called to minister within the church. You may be called to minister in your child’s school, or to your neighbors, or at your work.

Our Sunday morning experience in the Body of Christ should be driven by a heart to worship and to listen to God’s Word and to minister to our brothers and sisters in Christ through fellowship or ministry. Then we leave equipped to be the light God has called us to be, and we take this into our homes, communities, and places of employment. This is how God would want us to experience life in the Body of Christ. The devil prevents this experience by causing members to focus on the wrong things.  Members spend too much time policing church leaders or building aesthetics, or how the music sounds or doesn’t sound, or church organization. They pay attention to the behaviors of others, instead of working out their own salvation with fear and trembling. They compare one church to another. This is how members become offended and leave the Body, and the enemy deploys this playbook repeatedly. If you have experienced this, or you are wondering if you are in the right place, this is my challenge to you. Enter God’s gathering place, focused only on Him, listening to His Word, ministering in His calling, and loving with His love, choosing to be content with being with the Body of believers He has placed you with to grow in Him. Then you will return to a heart of worship, and all things of the devil’s schemes will grow dim, and each Sunday will be a time of refreshing in the body of Christ. Be blessed!