Thinking about skipping church? Read this first.

Thinking about skipping church? Read this first.

Are you thinking about skipping church today, or perhaps sometime soon? Are you wondering: Can I skip church? Is it ok to miss church? Is it a sin to miss church or skip church?

First of all, please let us get something out of the way: I am not here to condemn you for not going to church. Neither am I here to give you a pat on the back for going to church.

Going to church in and of itself will not get you into heaven or get you a special reward on earth or in heaven. Likewise, not going to church in and of itself will not get you into hell or make you go to hell faster – absolutely not!

Now, on to the thoughts I wanted to share with you today – I pray this post is a blessing and an encouragement to you, by God’s grace!

12/31/17
I woke up this morning thinking about a number of times that I chose to skip church specifically because I thought I could make more progress doing something else, rather than going to church.

I remember once in high school (I was in boarding school), I had an upcoming exam that I wasn’t ready for. Church was about 1.5 hours long, and I decided to stay in my dorm to put in some extra time to study for the exam. I skipped church that day and wrote the exam the following day. The grade I received on that exam was the worst grade I had ever received on a subject in high school, and I never received a grade that poor again.

Another time in my adult life, I skipped church to work on a project. Church was about 2 hours long, and I figured I would work on the project instead. It was laughable really, because I made NO progress on the project in those 2 hours, even though I gave it my all!

And one that finally hit home for me – I once skipped church to go over and renegotiate a contract. Don’t ask me why I had to skip church to do this, why I just couldn’t wait. Don’t ask me why I had agreed to a Sunday night deadline for the contract to be fully settled – why had I not asked for a Monday night deadline in the first place? But what’s done is done. Deadline for contract was Sunday night, I thought I was running out of time, and I decided to skip church to finish up the negotiation. We went through with the deal. Guess what? Worst deal I ever negotiated.

Did I receive a horrible grade in high school because God was punishing me for not going to church? Did I make zero progress on my project as a punishment for skipping church? Did I end up with a not so great deal on my hands as a punishment for skipping church? No, no, no, far from it. I’m pretty sure God was not “punishing” me for skipping church by sending bad things my way. After all, these are not the only 3 times in my life I have skipped church! And I can’t tell you I will never skip church again!

The important take away from these experiences was THE STATE OF MY HEART. It wasn’t really about going to church or not going to church. It was about the state of my heart! In the above 3 examples I gave you of me skipping church, I can tell you without a doubt that my heart was not right with God. I can tell you that during those 3 times, I put my trust in my abilities over my trust in God. I can tell you that during those three times, I thought what I was doing was more important than anything else, and I put God on the back burner for the time being.

Which reminds me of something. Looking back at my life so far, I have realized that whenever I have put God first in my life, my life has flowed MUCH better. Right from a young age. Whenever I put God first and trusted God with every detail of my life, everything would just come together and flow so much more smoothly! O Lord, help me to always remember this!!!

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Proverbs 3:5-10, MSG Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track. Don’t assume that you know it all. Run to God! Run from evil! Your body will glow with health, your very bones will vibrate with life! Honor God with everything you own; give him the first and the best. Your barns will burst, your wine vats will brim over.
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Dear Friends, whether or not you go to church is between you and God. Please, don’t be legalistic or superstitious about going to church or not going to church, that’s not what today’s encouragement is about! Something bad will not happen to you just because you skipped church, and you are not a better Christian than others because you have a perfect church attendance. In addition, going to church should not be about what others think, or about getting other people’s approval! That’s not what this is about, dear friends – This is a matter between you and God!

Life happens, and we will all probably need to skip church sometimes – be it to rest/recover because you are ill, or to take care of a sick child or spouse, or if something urgent comes up that you need to attend to, e.g having a roof suddenly start leaking on Sunday morning! These are not the situations we are discussing here.

What I ask of you, What I pray of you, What I plead with you is this. Whenever you are thinking about skipping church, please take a few minutes to examine the state of your heart, with God’s help. Please, ask yourself: Is my heart right with God?

And if you find that you feel like skipping church all the time, please explore the possible reasons behind this, again, with God’s help!
Is your heart right with God? Do you have your priorities right? Do you still trust God with all of your heart? Do you still enjoy spending time in God’s presence, praising and worshiping God? Do you still look forward to learning and growing in God? Do you feel safe at your church, or do you need to find a different church? Are you still sold out for Christ?

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Jeremiah 29:13, ESV You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
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Dear Friends, I hope you will find that this post really is not about going to church or not going to church – It’s about the state of your heart. Please make sure your heart is right with God, and listen for God’s voice in everything you do. The rest is between you and God! And please, never forget => God blesses our efforts to obey Him! 🙂

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Thanks for reading, Dear Friends!
Have a wonderfully blessed, stress-free, productive, and joyful day!
Much Love & Blessings,
Bomi Jolly ~ JollyNotes.com