As a young boy, I heard an older minister proclaim, “Blessed is the man who can hear his alarm clock on Sunday as well as Monday.” These words have never left my heart. In the Bible, the Apostle Paul stressed the importance of being a regular attendee within the church fellowship. I have discovered over time that going to church has slipped drastically on many individual’s list of “Things to do.” This is until calamity strikes. Churches were packed from front to back the Sunday after 9/11. However, attendance soon returned to the norm as the fear and unsettling feelings faded. Sundays surrounding what many believed to be the date of the rapture saw a spike in attendance; then returned to the norm once discovered that May 21 had come and gone. I have often thanked God that He did not base His visits to my house on my visits to His. I have heard people proclaim that they do not go to church because there are too many hypocrites. I have often wondered if that stance was applied to every area of life or just church. I have wondered if I should stop going to the hospital because there are too many sick people. One would respond by pointing out that there is no better place for them to be. I have discovered that some people feel “too ashamed or bad” to come to church. Listen, no one is too bad to go to church – neither is anyone good enough to stay away. I often tell people that there is no such thing as a perfect church. If any of us ever found one, it would not be after we got there – lol. Going to church is not about networking, being seen, or the people. It is about our relationship with God. I have discovered that more time in God’s house will bring better times in ours. After we consider how good God has been to us – keeping us, covering us, protecting us in spite of us. After considering how he has looked beyond our faults and continued to meet our needs (not meet our wants, but meet our needs) – after considering how we have often been able to sustain a roof over our heads, a car to drive, and clothes to wear with little to no money, what do you say we go over to God’s house just to say “Thank You.”
For more information, please call 661-977-4100 or visit www.valenciachristiancenter.org.