1. If each member attended as many services as I do, how often would the building be closed?
2. If each member reached the building the same time as I do, how many would be late for services?
3. If each one attended Bible study as I do, how many would be there?
4. If each one studied the Bible as I do, how much study would there be?
5. If each one prayed as I do, how much praying would there be?
6. If each member tried to sing as hard as I do, what kind of singing would there be?
7. If each member gave as I do, how much would the contribution be?
8. If each member sacrificed as much as I do, how much sacrificing would there be?
9. If each person visited the sick as I do, how many of the sick would be visited?
10. If each one ministered to orphans as I do, how many orphans would be cared for?
11. If each member invited others to the services like I do, how many guests would attend worship?
12. If each person stayed at home with company like I do, how many would attend the worship?
13. If each member tried to lead lost souls to Christ as hard as I do, how many would be reached?
14. If each member complained as much as I do, how much complaining would there be?
15. If each person worked as I do, how much work would be done?
16. If each person gave as many excuses as I do, who would do the Lord’s work?
17. If each person loved unity as I do, how much division would there be?
18. If each member put the kingdom of God first just like I do, what would be the condition of the church?
Are you putting the kingdom of God first? Would the church be stronger or weaker if each member acted just like you do all the time? What will your answer be?
An elderly lady, dreadfully crippled with arthritis, would hobble painfully to church on two crutches. It was an agonizing ordeal for her, and someone asked her how she managed to be at every service. Her answer was, “My heart gets there first, and my legs just follow after.” Can it be that we really do not have an attendance problem, so much as we have a heart problem? Consider these good reasons to attend every service:
* To have the Scriptures opened to us (Luke 24:25).
* To receive the comfort and encouragement which is found in Christian fellowship (Hebrews 10:24).
* To feed and exercise our faith (Romans 10:17).
* To maintain our spiritual fervor (Matthew 24:12). A coal of fire alone on the hearth will die; so we, by ourselves, will grow cold and lifeless.
* To set a good example for others to follow (Matthew 5:13-16).
* To seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33).
* To prevent backsliding (1 Corinthians 11:20-30). Absenteeism is invariably one of the first warning signs of apostasy.
* To obey God’s command not to forsake the assembling of His saints (Hebrews 10:25).
* To cast your vote for righteousness and godliness, and against the closing of the church building (Matthew 12:30).
Many of us feel fiercely independent, as though we don’t need anyone or anything but ourselves. Quite frankly, any who feel like that is simply wrong - everyone needs Jesus Christ: Let me tell you why:
In the first place, man needs Jesus because he is a man. The first chapter of the Bible reveals that God created the world and everything in it. Of all God’s creations, only man was created as a spiritual being with the ability to glorify God. While animals act by instinct to fulfill their natural desires, God enabled man to overcome his natural desires and seek his spiritual welfare. “This is the end of the matter; all hath been heard: fear God and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Furthermore, man is not God.
We have needs that we cannot supply, namely guidance. We need God’s guidance to help us make decisions about our lives. “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man; but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Proverbs 14:12). If we are to please God, we must seek his will.
In the second place, man needs Jesus because he is a sinner. From the time of Adam and Eve until now, the history of man shows clearly that he is a sinner. The Great Flood in the time of Noah was brought on because “the wickedness of man was great in the earth” (Genesis 6:5). Romans 3:23 tells us that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Because of sin separating us from God (Isaiah 59:1,2), we need a Savior.
Next, man needs Jesus because he needs help. As noted in Jeremiah 10:23, “It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” We cannot guide ourselves in the spiritual realm, without help, and most of us learn faster with an example to follow. Christ is that example: “For hereunto were ye called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that ye should follow his steps.” (1 Peter 2:21). We are exhorted to be “imitators of Christ” in 1 Corinthians 1:11.
Regardless of the situation we face or conditions around us, Jesus has shown by His life how we can deal with it.
Finally, man must spend eternity somewhere. “It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). Jesus shows only two destinies, and we choose by how we live here in this life. The wicked and righteous are separated to the left and right. He then says of the wicked, “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matthew 25:46). In spite of our sins, God “wants all men to be saved.” (1 Timothy 2:4). The strongest proof of this is found in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Dear friend, whether you realize it or not, you need Jesus Christ in your life. Make Him a part of it – build your life around Him - before it’s eternally too late. “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Phillipians 4:13).