Quote of the Week

Church attendance is as vital to a disciple as a transfusion of rich, healthy blood to a sick man. --Dwight L. Moody

I have been traveling for the last 2 weeks. On the weekend of the 14/15 I was out of state at a Rotary conference, and this last weekend (the 21/22) I was visit my family out of state while my husband was on the East Coast. This coming weekend I have my 2 nephews from my side of the family coming to stay for 5 days.

AH! Summer is never a very restful time. I know I am not the only one who feels this way. As much as I love summer (and I do LOVE it), I sometimes find myself wishing for those lazy winter days huddled up inside with a book with nowhere to go and nothing to do. Doesn’t that just sound heavenly right now?

Inevitably, there was some weekends where I don’t make it to church when life gets this chaotic. If I end up spending my Sundays in the car traveling like I did yesterday and the Sunday before, I often turn on Christian radio stations to try to get some encouragement. While visiting my family I love that I have access to Moody Radio (After D.L. Moody), which I find it so uplifting and wonderful.

But when it comes down to it, I miss what church brings to my life when I don’t get there every week. Church is not just a place to go to listen to the pastor talk. It is a place of fellowship and relationship building. It is a place to remind yourself that you are a member of the body of Christ and you need to be active in it.

Growing up, my family went to church regularly but I felt like we were never actively involved in the church. We were those people who came, sat, and then left. Now I have forced myself not to leave church right away when it is finished. I had to put myself out there to build relationships with other believers, and now I am truly reaping the benefits.

Now I have found the joy in being an active member of the body of Christ as God intended, and it is that which I miss the most when I don’t make it there at least weekly. I begin to feel disconnected and distant both from God and from my Christian community. It doesn’t matter how close I am to Christ or how much time I make for him in my day, I also need to feel connected to the Christians around me. 

I encourage you to get involved with a church near you. I once heard a quote “there is no such thing as a solitary Christian”. God created us to be part of his body, and I hope you will seek to be rejuvenated by a church as a sick man is rejuvenated by fresh blood.