TV Church?

Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

God lays on my ever increasing introverted persona, the urgency of the church, the urgency of the failing American idea of worship. We have found ourselves sitting by our TV’s on Sundays watching false prophets proclaim prosperity and self-worth, while we check off the Sunday religions obligation. We also may have sought to be entertained, to have rock-star worship music and lead singer pastors. We have sought to be removed from all the worlds problems, by having our ears tickled with just enough truth to sound genuine, but all the while preaching the prosperity of the Christian faith, while removing the sufferings for Christ he proclaimed we shall endure. God lays on my heart truths that are not popular, but to be proclaimed, and popularity or even “likes” in social media is never my goal. The American church needs a biblical revival, revival begins with a work of God within the church, and always begins with prayer.

What was the writer of Hebrews proclaiming? He was proclaiming that we are to gather together, to encourage each other, to hear the word of God properly preached, and possibly the same writer of first Corinthians talked about how we are to use the gifts of God to help each other, to build up the body of Christ together. 1 Corinthians 12:4-7 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. 7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. (NIV) Do you proclaim Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? If you do, the gift of the Holy Spirit, his own Spirit, is living within you, and he has brought the power of God to you, and given you gifts from heaven above. You may even know, likely cannot properly explain, but something changed in your walk of faith. You may recognize your primary gift, and if so, pursue God’s intent and wisdom to and through it. Search him through prayer and his Word for the revelation and growth of what he has given you to use to draw glory to him. Every spiritual gift is to draw glory to God.

Does this Christmas season tug within yourself to draw closer to God? Do you realize even the lost understand the historical significance of this season? Do you realize you have the open invitation to invite someone to church for the next few weeks, all the while seemingly no pressure at all? Do you realize they might just come? You need to be open, to be willing to hear what their questions are, their hurts, and their struggles. You need to be willing to say, “I don’t know, but we will find out together.” You don’t have to have all the answers to invite someone to church, but they might not be comfortable in front of your TV on Sunday morning.