Church is wonderful. Church is important.
Church is meant to remind us of the miserable condition in which sin left us and our world, and of the glorious rescue of redeeming grace.
The songs we sing, the Scriptures we read, the sermons we listen to, and the prayers we engage in are all designed to keep us from ever taking the person and work of Jesus Christ for granted.
Despite all of this, there are some Sundays when I don't attend church with a good attitude.
I know you are more like me than unlike me.
While there are many Sundays that we are excited for church, there are those "other Sundays" when you just don't want to be there.
On more Sundays than I wish to admit, I grumble my way into the worship service. There are some weeks when I'm just running through the motions, going to church because I'm supposed to.
(Sometimes I go because my wife makes me! But I know that has never happened to any of you...)
But on these Sundays, something happens: the glory of God confronts my fickle heart.
God ordained for us to gather for worship because he knows us and the weaknesses of our grumbling and easily distracted hearts. He knows how soon we forget the depth of our need as sinners and the expansiveness of his provisions in Jesus Christ.
He knows that little lies can deceive us and little obstacles can discourage us. He knows that self-righteousness still has the power to delude us.
So in grace, he calls us to gather and consider glory once again, to be excited once again, and to be rescued once again.
It’s not only that these worship services remind us of God’s grace; these worship services are themselves a gift of grace.
Going to church is designed to confront you with the glory of the grace of Jesus so you won’t look for life, help, and hope elsewhere.
Are you allowing yourself to be confronted?
God bless
Paul Tripp
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