Every Sunday - Row H - Seat 8!

 Every Sunday, it's Row H Seat 8! 

Most regular church attenders have a favored seat location at church. I don't know anyone who moves around from week to week. That section of the church is our little neighborhood. I attend a rather large church, but the little area surrounding our usual seats is like a small community of believers. You get to know the people in your section and surrounding rows. There is great comfort in your little church family. 

This week while we are in Florida on Spring Break, we don't get to be with our church community. I miss it. Sure, I watch online, but it is not the same. Yes, I still get the great word of God and the wonderful praise music, but nothing matches the experience of being there and sitting in our little neighborhood.

I was reading about Hezekiah today in 2 Chronicles, and it reminded me of my church home. When Hezekiah came to power at 25 years of age, he got right to work in restoring the Temple:

"In the very first month of the first year of his reign, Hezekiah reopened the doors of the Temple of the Lord and repaired them. He summoned the priests and Levites to meet him at the courtyard east of the Temple. He said to them, 'Listen to me, you Levites! Purify yourselves, and purify the Temple of the Lord, the God of your ancestors. Remove all the defiled things from the sanctuary. Our ancestors were unfaithful and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord our God. They abandoned the Lord and his dwelling place; they turned their backs on him." (2 Chronicles 29:3-6)

We go on to find out that when Judah abandoned the Temple, they abandoned the Lord, and when they did this, they lost God's favor. Hezekiah changed all of that. 

The Temple was such a large part of worshipping the Lord. My church is a large part of my faith also! Today in the Western world, attending church is on the decline. In 1937, nearly 73% of Americans attended a House of Worship. As of 2021, less than 50% say they belong to a church. When we are traveling, and I do not get to seek out row H, seat 8, I greatly miss it. I miss my "church neighborhood." 

There is nothing like praising and worshipping the Lord in a community of faith. Easter is this weekend. We are leaving Florida on Friday morning so we can be back in time for Sunday worship at our church. You will find me in my usual spot proclaiming the joy of the Risen Lord. 

Find a strong Bible-believing house of worship. Join a community of believers and experience the Joy of Salvation.

"Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day o his return is drawing near." (Hebrews 10:25)

We need each other. We need our little faith communities to be able to endure to the end. We need to worship together, motivating each other to continue to serve and invest in one another. Don't abandon meeting together!