Fruitful Living
10 reasons we should attend church
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. – Hebrews 10:24-25.
INTRODUCTION
We have a hope in Christ Jesus our Lord, which has been given to us by God the Father and by whose death we are united in Him and called God’s children. In order to hold onto this hope we need to support one another by spurring one another onto love and good deeds. We can do this more and more as we meet together as a fellowship in church. That is why going to church is not merely a meeting of believers. It is a meeting of support among believers – the strengthening of one another by our gifts.
Therefore, church is not just a place to go to but rather a living body where God fully participates in our lives for our good and for His glory.
Let us, therefore, consider these 10 why it is critical to attend church.
1. To hear the Preaching of the Word.
If the word of God is quick, powerful, and sharper than a sword (Hebrews 4:12), then hearing the preaching of Scripture is vital to our spiritual well-being. Without living in close fellowship with people, one can never really experience the help and hope Christ offers through faithful involvement in a local church.
COVID-19 has made it clear that if we are physically unable to attend church, watching it on television or online is a wonderful resource. This allows us to stay in communion with our church family, learning what they are learning, and growing as they grow.
2. To participate in corporate worship.
Worshipping God alone is wonderful, but nothing can replace the beauty of coming together corporately to worship Him with others who also have His Spirit in them through the redeeming work of salvation. Jesus says those who worship must worship in Spirit and in Truth – John 4:24.
Knowing God and His character as revealed in Scripture will stir in His children a heart of thankfulness that is expressed in worship that brings Him glory, rather than a self-serving emotional experience. The Holy Spirit causes true worshippers to long to come together with other believers to honour Christ.
3. To sharpen one another
As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. – Proverbs 27:17. When iron rubs against iron, not only does it become sharper, it causes sparks also! Meeting regularly with other believers is a source of encouragement and strength and a wonderful way to grow our love for God and for others. And it is also God’s way of showing us areas in our lives He wants to mature our walk with Christ. If we’ve stopped attending church because people hurt us, didn’t measure up to our expectations, or are hypocritical, know that the enemy has us right where he wants us. Satan’s tactic is to divide and conquer. Satan will use our lack of love for God’s people to quench our love for God.
4. To exercise our spiritual gifts
Everybody has a spiritual gift and in order for us to remain healthy as a living organism called church we all need to play our part. Can you imagine if our foot decides to go on strike, we will not even be able to walk to where our food is and as for our throat, if it decides to go on strike we won’t even be able to swallow anything. What if the heart decides not to work at all? So you see how important it is for us to be together because each of us is playing a different role but critical role to make the church alive and strong.
5. To encourage our pastor
Our pastors need encouragement because they are also saved by grace just like we are and need the daily presence and encouragement of God who is Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Pastors also have needs: material, physical, and spiritual. They are in a privileged but difficult position of taking care of us because they are the under shepherds of our great Shepherd the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to encourage, love, pray and care for them. If they miss their target, instead of just criticising we need to go to them and share with them what we think they didn’t do well and how we think they could have done better. We must do it with love because that is exactly what God does for us on a daily basis.
6. To find Godly mentors.
In church we discover many people who have walked the road ahead of us. Their wisdom, insights, and even vulnerability to teach us from their mistakes is one way God provides to help us grow. Titus chapter 2 is a great place to learn how much God values mentorship. It is His plan for the older men and women to come alongside younger men and women to train them in godliness, and guide them toward building a life of no regrets. And not only is the church a wonderful place to find amazing mentors, it is the place God wants to use us to mentor someone else.
7. To teach our children to love the church.
If we want our children to learn to love God’s people, they have to observe us loving God’s people. Do our children see us reading the word of God? Do they see us praying? Do they see us being charitable? Do they see us living in love? Do they see us being temperate in our language towards them and towards others? Luke 6:40 says the student will become like his teacher. Notice that Jesus didn’t say the student will become as the teacher teaches him to be, rather he will be like his teacher.
8. To be a light to the community in which we live.
We need to be the light to the community in which we live by showcasing good values, Godly values, and the greatest value we need to show is the value of loving one another. When we commit to loving God and others, the light shining from our Christ honouring love is what the Holy Spirit will use to draw others to know Jesus.
You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.Matthew 5:14-16.
9. To bear each other’s burdens.
When we grow into maturity, we become Christ-centred not self-centred. We do not only think about ourselves and what is convenient for us but when we are Christ-centred, we bear each other’s burdens so that we will fulfil the law of Christ which is love. Galatians 6:2 – “carry each other’s burdens and in this way you would fulfil the law of Christ’’. When life is going great we need to affirm one another and when life throws us into a sharp curve we need to be supportive of one another.
10. To go to church because God says so
God wants us to regularly attend church because it is for our good. He wants us His people to exalt one another especially since the world we live in is getting darker. Hebrews 10:25 – not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Let’s go to church and let us help one another to be who God says we should be, let’s change our country because our light is shining brightly and our salt is making the country Ghana better by creating an environment of righteousness and love.
Stay blessed!
For further inquiries please contact us on Tel Nos. 0302-772013 or 0268130615
Email: saltnlightministries@gmail.com
Website: saltandlightministriesgh.org
By Dr. Joyce Aryee, the author
“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; no one seeks God. But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ, to all who believe. For there is no difference.” — Rom. 3:10, 21–22 (NIV)
INTRODUCTION
We bring you this week the concluding part of “A Righteousness Revolution,” published last week. For ease of reference, we recap the last paragraph of last week’s article. Please enjoy and pass it on!
THE GOAL OF THIS TRANSFORMATION
What is the goal of this metamorphosis? Scripture states it in a number of different ways, which overlap and can be seen as different ways of expressing the same basic concept. Scripture often does this because our minds are inadequate to comprehend, and our language inadequate to express, the full scope of God’s revelation to us.
TO BECOME LIKE GOD IN CHARACTER
The whole concept can be summed up in the simple and astonishing statement that we are to become like God. Not like God in power; we can never aspire to that, although we can move in much greater power than many Christians have ever imagined. But like God in character.
We are to “put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” — Eph. 5:24; the “new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” — Col. 3:10. “We, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” — 2 Cor. 3:18. “When He appears we shall be like Him” — 1 John 3:2. We are to “participate in the divine nature” — 2 Pet. 1:4. We can have “the mind of Christ” — 1 Cor. 2:16; Phil. 2:5. (Emphasis added in each case.)
Adam and Eve were created in the image of God — Gen. 1:26. With Adam’s Fall, much of that image was lost. But with Christ’s sacrifice for us, those who accept Him as Lord and Saviour can be restored into God’s image.
“Just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man [the first Adam], so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven [the second Adam, Jesus Christ]” — 1 Cor. 15:49.
Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father” — John 14:12.
We think of this (if we dare think of it at all) as meaning that we can heal, cast out demons and even raise people from the dead. It does mean that, and people who have faith in Jesus Christ are doing that now. But does it not mean more?
Jesus said that He did only what He saw the Father doing and spoke only the words the Father gave Him. Can we, should we, expect to do the same? He said, “I and the Father are one.” Can we expect this for ourselves? He said, “Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father” — John 14:9. Can this be said of us?
Paul told the Corinthians that they were “clearly an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart” — 2 Cor. 3:3 (NKJV).
Is this not part of what it means to “be” His witness — Acts 1:8 — so that people can look at us and see Christ? We are to be witnesses by who we are, not just what we say. Jesus expects that there will be something different about us, that people will be able to look at us and know that we are His disciples — John 13:35.
He said of His disciples, “They are not of the world, even as I am not of it” — John 17:16.
His demands are to imitate and model Christ’s behaviour and to be clear reflections of the Lord — Matthew 5:16.
ESTABLISHING OUR ATTITUDE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
Writing from a prison cell in Rome, the apostle Paul wrote about the attitude a Christian should have: “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ” — Philippians 1:27.
He is telling us that no matter what unexpected disruptions, frustrations or difficulties come our way, we are to respond with a Christ-like attitude.
Paul later writes, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Jesus Christ” — Philippians 2:5. He also encourages us in Ephesians 5:1 to be “imitators of Christ as dearly beloved children.”
As children love to imitate what they see and repeat what they hear, we also are charged to imitate and model Christ’s behaviour and to be clear reflections of the Lord.
Jesus maintained a perfect attitude in every situation because He prayed about everything and worried about nothing. We, too, should seek God’s guidance about every aspect of our lives and allow Him to work out His perfect will without interference.
Jesus’ attitude was never to become defensive, discouraged or depressed because His goal was to please the Father rather than to achieve His own agenda.
In the midst of trials, He was patient. In the midst of suffering, He was hopeful. In the midst of blessing, He was humble. Even in the midst of ridicule, abuse and hostility, He “made no threats . . . and did not retaliate. Instead He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly” — 1 Peter 2:23.
MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS: LOVING MUHAMMAD MEANS FOLLOWING MUHAMMAD
We say: “We love the Prophet.”
Alhamdulillah.
But the real test of love is not how loudly we shout when someone insults him.
The real test is: Do we behave as he behaved?
Allah says: “Indeed, you are surely of outstanding character.” (Qur’an 68:4)
And Allah says: “Indeed, in the Messenger of Allah you have an excellent example.” (Qur’an 33:21)
Therefore, if we claim to defend Muhammad (pbuh) but abandon his patience, mercy, justice and wisdom, we must ask ourselves:
Are we really defending him or are we betraying his example?
AN INSULT DOES NOT MAKE A PRIVATE PERSON A JUDGE AND EXECUTIONER
This point must be understood clearly.
Islam has laws concerning crimes.
Islam has courts.
Islam has legitimate authority.
Islam does not turn every angry individual into judge, jury and executioner.
The Qur’an says: “O believers! Stand firm for justice.” (Qur’an 4:135)
And the Prophet gave severe warnings against unlawful killing.
He said: “Whoever kills a person under covenant will not smell the fragrance of Paradise.”
(Sahih al-Bukhari, 3166)
Therefore, no Muslim should stand in a mosque and mobilize ordinary people to kill another person because of an insult.
That is not prophetic leadership.
That is not emotional courage.
That is not the Sunnah.
And it is certainly not a license for vigilantism.
If an offence has been committed, report it.
If a crime has been committed, let the competent authorities investigate it.
If punishment is legally warranted, let lawful judicial institutions determine it.
The Ghana Police Service has itself reminded religious leaders and the public that freedom of religion or expression cannot be used to justify inciting violence or encouraging people to harm others.
For Muslims, this is not merely a question of Ghanaian law.
It is also a question of taqwā (fear of Allah).
THE PROPHET TAUGHT US HOW TO SPEAK
Allah says: “Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction, and argue with them in the best manner.” (Qur’an 16:125)
This is the Islamic methodology of da’wah:
Wisdom.
Good counsel.
Best argument.
Not abuse.
Not threats.
Not mob action.
Not revenge.
WHAT SHOULD WE DO WHEN SOMEONE INSULTS THE PROPHET MOHAMMED (PBUH)?
Servants of Allah, remember these SEVEN STEPS.
1. PAUSE
Do not react while you are angry.
Allah praises those: “Those who restrain anger and pardon people.” (Qur’an 3:134)
2. VERIFY
Do not forward every video.
Do not believe every audio.
Do not react to an edited clip without knowing the context.
10 | P a g e
Allah says: “Then verify.” (Qur’an 49:6)
3. DO NOT RETALIATE WITH AN INSULT
Remember Qur’an 6:108.
We do not insult Jesus (Peace be upon him).
We do not insult Christianity.
We do not insult churches.
We do not insult the Bible.
We can disagree theologically while remaining respectful.
The author is the chief Imam of katamanso Municipal and Certified Counsellor and Governance Exper
