Over the recent past, church attendance in all denominations has taken a dive. For some reason, sanctuaries which used to be filled with expectant worshippers are now only partially filled. In fact, statistics tell us that the average church has only about forty percent of its members in worship on Sunday Morning. An even smaller percentage attend Sunday evening services if they are offered and this generally extends over denominational lines. Many, if not most churches have ceased having Sunday evening services. I will refer to Baptist Churches in this article because I am the former Pastor of Abilene Baptist which is a Southern Baptist Church.
The more secular our society becomes, the fewer the people who understand that worshipping God is not an option for a happy life personally and a stable and happy society corporately. But in a secular country, many of the people do not believe in God or they believe He is far removed from our lives. He is off, way up there in heaven somewhere and isn’t occupied with the daily lives of people and countries. Nothing could be farther from the truth. God is everywhere superintending the things of our lives. He loves us and is desirous of our love for Him and our loyalty to him. He directs our lives in the proper path if we listen to His Word.
God’s design for delivering His Word to us which instructs us on Godly Living, is through a preacher He has called to the task of preaching and leading His People in the proper way. Listen to the words of Romans 10:14-15: “How, then, shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!’” IF a man has received God’s CALL and IF he is SENT by God to perform the task and ministry of preaching, then people should be eager to go hear what God is saying through His Man. The Lord also tells us that anytime God’s word goes out, it will not return void. You may not like the preacher but that is not the issue. Any time the Word is preached by God’s designated man, the word will not return void. It WILL accomplish the task that God intended. Of course, one must understand that I am referring to the dedicated, serious preaching of the Biblical text which is inspired by God and filled with His Spirit. I am not referring to the “performances” which are happening in many churches today. Human nature loves a performance but it will automatically reject the true worship of God. Worship which honors God cannot be conjured up and performed. It does not come from the promotional minds of men but from God. It’s different from what men can produce trying to achieve their personal goals. True worship is a heavenly thing. It is not of this earth but inspired from heaven by God’s Spirit.
One thing that is wrong in our churches today is that fewer people attend worship actually EXPECTING anything to come from it where they are concerned. They are “checking the box” with few expectations. The truth is that they don’t really put value on the fact that God has promised that His Word will NOT return void! So, if that is true, every person should be looking for what the Lord desires to impart to them through the preached Word. What is He going to say to ME today? How will He direct my paths today? Think about this: Are you intellectually involved and intentional in what you are doing or are you just “here”and in neutral, simply drifting through the hour as if it were any other activity? There is a vast difference in “going to church” and true worship. The difference is in the FOCUS. “Going to church” can be, and usually is, focusing on man. True worship focuses on God.
Every person needs help in this world both physically and spiritually and the place to find that help is from the One who sets the rules and judges everyone: God. And, when one is in worship, expecting to get some instructions especially for themselves, then they should not be snoozing or daydreaming but listening intently for Gods’ message for them personally. He wants to tell us something that will grow us and help us live properly in this evil world. You might waste your time daydreaming, playing on your phone or simply “zoning out” because you have “checked the church box” but God’s intention is to help you live as He desires. He understands humans and He knows we must have the spiritual information we need imparted to us. But, we, being human beings, think we already know it all and don’t partake of the “food” God has for us. His message is designed for you personally. It will help others also but there is something being said in good, God-inspired preaching that is just for you. Don’t cheat yourself out of it and then complain about the direction life has taken for you. One finds themselves starving because they didn’t eat the meal God placed before them when His Word was preached by His designated preacher. Remember….His Word will not return void. Satan wants you to forget about that.
I have heard many people say something like this: “I didn’t get a thing out what that preacher said today.” If that preacher is a CALLED man of God who is preaching the Word of God, then God has something for you in the message you said you didn’t get a thing out of. It’s as simple as that.
This is what I suggest: Spend you time listening to a sermon and looking for what God placed there for you in particular. Actually, get involved in the process of proclaiming the Word of God. You can do this by listening intently and taking some notes when God places something in your mind. He will not let you leave the preaching service feeling you wasted your time. Listen intently. Follow along in your Bible. Make those notes when you see something that will help you. Stay “with” the preacher and don’t let negative thoughts about other things invade your mind. Make room, during worship, for nothing but hearing God’s Word and applying it to your life. Don’t sit in the service making excuses for your behavior in your everyday life. Listen to what God is trying to get over to you. Before you arose that Sunday morning, God knew you were going to be in worship even though you were still asleep. You did not find yourself in worship by accident. God brought you to the place where you could hear His Word and He has something for you to internalize and put into practice in your life. The most valuable time you spend in a week is when you are worshipping Almighty God who controls your movements, thoughts and direction. Scripture says that “the steps of a righteous man are ordered by God.” So, if you listen to Him and live a righteous life by His direction then you will never find yourself in a place abandoned by God. Hard times and disappointing situations will happen in this human life we have, but God will guide you and protect you if you are in a right relationship with Him. And, you can discover the way to live that Godly life when you listen to and apply His Word which you acquired through God’s called preacher during the act of worship.
Our old enemy, satan, does not want you to worship God. He will do anything to keep a person from attending the corporate worship hour. You will be made to think that just about anything that comes into your mind on Sunday morning is more important that worshipping God. Satan will magnify the most incidental things into something that you simply cannot avoid. One thinks they just HAVE to do what he places in your mind as being more important than attending worship and hearing the Word preached. He can turn a sinus drainage into a threat of the flu if you get out among people in church. But, he can also make a man with the flu make plans to attend a college football game in the rain. It’s amazing isn’t it?
So, be sure that you don’t minimize the worship of God and the preaching of His Word. It should be the first thing we do in the week; not something that we think we must tag on at the end of those seven days. Remember, Sunday is the first day of the week; not the last. He wants to equip us to live the next seven days in a victorious and God-honoring way. The Lord wants to refresh us at the beginning of the week so it will be far more productive than we could ever imagine.
In 1 Corinthians 2:9, the Apostle Paul tell us this: “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, no ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” By worshipping God because you love Him and learning to live a life pleasing to Him by embracing what He teaches you in worship, you open up the possibility that this wonderful statement by Paul will be applied to you by the only one who can accomplish it: Our great all-powerful God in Heaven. There is nothing more important to living a Godly life than the act of Attending Worship.
WFH…3-21-2025
