One of the biggest comments I've gotten this year from church goers is this, "we're kind of enjoying the time away from church." Covid has thrown a wrench in everyones plans and made it possible to spend your Sunday's doing something else. And I'll be honest, I totally agree that there are some much funner things to be doing than church. However, the problem with that statement is that it implies that we go to church because it's fun. I hope your church and our church is fun, sometimes, but I also hope that it is so much more than that.
We believe that church is to be so much more than an entertainment piece. The church in scripture is any gathering of believers where you worship, serve one another, get fed from the Word, encourage, rebuke, challenge, teach, have fun, disagree, fight sometimes, gossip, and wait, what? Yeah, that's right, you heard me! Anytime you get together with other humans those things are going to happen, we try to avoid them and correct them the best we can but as the saying goes "If you find a perfect church, don't go in, because then it won't be perfect anymore." Scripture says that Christ is the head of the church and WE are the body. He needs his church to operate in unity and power.
There are a lot of amazing places to be and lots of amazing adventures to have. But to have them at the expense of church we think is a huge mistake. We believe the Church is the avenue God chose to spread his Light and to push back darkness, set people free from addictions and to speak truth in Love, study His word, worship God together, and serve others. Ephesian 4:12 talks about the gifts God gave to build His church. If your church doesn't do those things than maybe its not really church?! Or maybe it is and it's not functioning how it was made.
So, by all means, go, do fun things, do awesome things, adventurous and good things but don't miss the best thing, the most important thing, Jesus. And know that he wants to accomplish awesome things through His church.
Ephesian 4.12, Colossians 1.18