| For where two or three come together … |
| —from Matthew 18:20 |
One of the greatest frustrations I must deal with in my life comes from the fact that very few of my fellow “Christ’s-ones” feel the same strong compulsion that I do to faithfully attend church services every week. I realize that my circumstances are somewhat unique: I have no children or grandchildren, I do not own a vacation home, I do not travel for business or pleasure, I have nothing else on Sundays that draws my attention away from church attendance, and I grew up in a household where my father absolutely insisted that we always, without fail, attend church on Sundays.
Nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, prevented us, as a family, from attending services whenever the doors of the church were open. This meant that we attended Sunday school, Sunday morning Worship, Sunday evening Worship, and Wednesday night Prayer Meeting. As a teenager, I also attended weekly youth group meetings, as well as the early morning weekly prayer times and Saturday night rallies of Youth for Christ International. I feel that, growing up, the discipline of always attending church services was an important part of my spiritual journey of Christian spiritual formation.
Some would say that I am an annoying nag about the matter of weekly church attendance. They would say that just because I feel so strongly about this subject does not make me correct in my insistance that everyone attend his or her home church faithfully each Sunday. And yet, I truly believe that one of the greatest joys for a person, who follows the Lord Jesus Christ, is that time when he or she gathers with fellow believers for worship, praise, prayer, thanksgiving, the teaching of God’s written Word, and the fellowship with like-minded individuals. Part of the blessing of such times is the promise that Jesus gives us, found in Matthew 18:20:
For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.
When we believers gather together, Jesus is present with us. The Holy Spirit, who dwells in the hearts and minds of each believer, fills the space with God’s glory. Christ comes and fellowships with us, even as we fellowship with each other. That’s the reason why spending time together becomes so important to followers of Jesus. We must not choose other activities, or choose other allegiances, that will take the place of the time we spend together as believers in our home churches.
When you next have such an opportunity to fellowship with your brothers and sisters in Christ, make the right choice. Consciously and purposefully choose to take the opportunity to meet with your fellow believers. If you do so, you will reap an enormous reward.
