Top of this Monday Morning, and best wishes from Pilgrim Presbyterian Church in Vinita, Oklahoma.
I've been thinking about many who were brought up in the church, who attended Sunday School and Youth Fellowship and sang in the choir, and who now are drifting away from the church altogether. Oh, I know most of the reasons why...sermons are long and dull...hymns are ancient, and often drag...and it's just comfortable staying home to enjoy a relaxing Sunday morning, or to catch up on household chores.
Nevertheless, I'm old fashioned enough to believe that worship, within a community of faith, provides an experience of joy that comes from a personal fellowship with God and from meeting friends who share that fellowship with you.
Worship is a rich privilege! If you don't believe that consider the plight of Christians living in a place where they are forbidden to gather for worship. They risk their lives by worshipping in what we call "underground churches".
Worship offers an opportunity to withdraw from the haste and speed of our modern world and to be enriched by God's Spirit. From that experience flows a renewed desire to serve the wants and needs of the neighborhood and world.
To give up on worship means, in the long run, the loss of a priceless gem of the soul.
Richard
PS: I'm glad to say that about 70% of the resident members of Pilgrim Church regularly find their way to Sunday worship!
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