Why the Failure of Worship

Causes a Failure to Contend for the Faith

            On Sundays people come to church for various reasons:

1.      Some people come as a matter of habit - this is what they have always done.

2.      Some people come because they are expected to come – they feel they are being watched and must set a good example.

3.      Some people come because they have a job or position in the church and are expected to be faithful – some even like the feeling of authority they have with such a position.

4.      Some people come to see what other people look like or to be seen of other people – I am almost sad that there are fewer of these than once. We have a growing disrespect for the privilege of going to church, and for ourselves as Christians.

5.      Not to many people come anymore because they consider it good for business – Unfortunately Christians no longer seem to care whether the person they are doing business with identify with Christianity or not.

6.      Some people come to church because they like the music, the preacher, or the Sunday School teacher.

7.      Some people come because they have suffered some sort of heartache or loss in their lives and they are seeking to find comfort.

8.      Some people, especially teenagers, are coming to church because they are meeting someone there.

9.      Some people come to church because they have a need or a hunger inside and they are hoping to find something in church to meet that need.

10.  Some people come to church to worship God with the community of believers – Of those who come these are probably the least in number in most churches, but they are what church is all about.

Of those who come to the church and really worship you will find people meeting God in every degree of spiritual development:

1.      Some people will worship God simply because they are grateful for having been saved from an eternal hell where the worm dieth not. – They have not yet grown beyond the place where they worship God as a new convert to the faith might.

2.      Some people come to worship God and they are filled with gratitude for His blessings upon their lives. – Some of the people will be more keenly aware of the loving care of God than others; taking note of even the smallest things most of us are apt to overlook all the frequently.

3.      Some people will worship God in the joy of the intimate relationship they feel in their busom because they have felt his presence in a thousand situations they have encountered in life. – Perhaps they have even experienced His presence in the heat  of being persecuted for their faith.

4.      Others will worship God because they have come to the place in life where they have begun to discern the awesomeness of God.

1. He is the One who is eternal, without beginning or ending; the one who made time for man because He does not need it. – He inhabits eternity.
2. He is the One who can be anywhere and everywhere He wants to be at the same moment simply because He is God.
3. He is the One who created everything for His own good pleasure and by whose spoken word  all things continue to exist and hold together.
4. He is the One who created the universes without end; who hung the stars in space upon nothing, yet created the single atom so complex it is literally universes within universes itself. Yet, He is the One with love so great He is concerned for the sparrow that falls and numbers the very hairs upon our heads.
5. He is the One who was getting along very well without us, yet He chose to make us so that we could spend an eternity with Him.

When we say He is God we have said it all, for no mortal tongue could ever encompass enough word to describe Him adequately. When we contemplate God we consider Him and understand less of His Holy Person than my foolish dog does as she watches my every movement.

The truth is that most people who come to church never get so far along that they really understand what it is to worship.

Because it is the chief end of man to worship God in this life and the next, and we fail in this, we are unprepared to fight the good fight of service and win souls in our day to  day lives.

Some people have excuses for why they cannot worship.

1.      Presence of lost people – Lost people do not hinder worship – saved people who refuse to get right with God do. – Lost people are supposed to be present when real worship is taking place. It helps them to come to Christ.

2.      Presence of someone in the congregation – The Bible teaches that if we have ought with a brother we who are the more spiritual are supposed to reach out to make it right. – If you wont make the first move to settle a problem, you have another problem; there is a lack of real spirituality in your life.

3.      Something is on your mind or distracting you. – Two things are readily apparent when that happens.

(1)   You have not been trusting the Lord with your problems and you also have a prayer problem.

(2)   You did not prepare yourself for the gathering to worship before you got here, and you probably are not spending time in private worship during the week.

Worship is the thing every believer needs. He needs times of private worship and he needs times of public worship. He needs time to adore God for who He is at whatever place the believer is at in his Christian walk. He needs the preaching of the word to stir his heart toward heaven even more than he needs the singing of the songs of Zion.

But men and women alike need the moments when their hearts become full and lifted up and they have room for nothing else but loving and being awed by the God who first loved us.