June 1st 2025
If Jesus Felt The Need To Attend A Church Regularly, Do You Believe You Do Not Need To Work On Becoming More Christ-Like?
John 3:17 (NIV)
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
There is only one plan in this cursed world that will lead us to heaven when we die and leave this temporary place Jesus created for us. Many people are deceived by Satan into believing there are many ways we can choose to follow that will lead its followers to heaven. If we believe this then there is no reason to tell such people about Jesus Christ and point them to that narrow path that will lead them to heaven. As the selected verse says, God did send his Son into the world to save the world through him. Okay, I am guilty of paraphrasing what our Bible tells us that God said about our Savior!
The writer of Acts wrote about what believers are called to do in this world. We are to join in the competition of trying to spread the good news that may convince some human being to come to believe they need to follow Jesus for them to end up in heaven. Paul wrote about his belief that he should tell people the good news about God’s grace! However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. (Acts 20:24). Only God’s grace allows forgiveness of the sins we commit in this world, because of our sinful nature we inherited from the original sin.
Paul wrote about this act of Christ dying for your sins, while you are still a sinner to supply the grace of God to cover over your sins, even as you still may commit sins! You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8). This act of forgiveness is available to all human beings and is the ONLY Way for our sins to be forgiven and forgotten!
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:13-16). The writer of Hebrews describes the fact that God knows about every sin we commit! Yet, we can “approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
When I started writing this commentary, I did not intend to write about the importance of church attendance, but the Spirit it seems had a better idea for what He wanted me to write today! When God gave Moses the Ten Commandments God emphasized the requirement for mankind to rest on the day we set aside as our Sabbath day. God ended the four commands about honoring God with the fourth commandment! "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. (Exodus 20:8-11)
This seven-day period we refer to as a week was started by observance of the Biblical creation week, and the weekend of course is Saturday and Sunday. The idea of resting on the weekend came about because of the Fourth Commandment requirements. The writer of Hebrews wrote about this period being “a Sabbath-rest for the people of God.” There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no-one will fall by following their example of disobedience. (Hebrews 4:9-11). I was taught to observe the Sabbath day as a day to attend the church of your choice.
In fact, when I was young and attended a Catholic school and church, I was taught that missing attendance at church if you were not very ill was a sin of great importance, which could have resulted in me going to hell if I died before this sinful practice was forgiven! It makes me wonder if professing Christians held regular church attendance, as being so important to Jesus that extreme forgiveness would be required to forgive this SIN, would they still skip church attendance for any reason they may produce. Some such people only try to attend church at Easter, Christmas, and for funerals and weddings!
What about you, are you a professing Christian, yet you do not see any real importance in attending a church of your choice every Sunday? When Jesus walked this earth as the Son of man our Bible teaches, He attended the church of His choice on a regular basis. In Luke we read about this routine Jesus followed! Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. (Luke 4:14-16).
Jesus not only attended the church services, “he went into the synagogue, as was his custom.” Jesus also served as a teacher at the church of His choice. As we read in Luke’s Gospel, “He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.” If Jesus felt the need to attend a church regularly, do you believe you do not need to work on becoming more Christ-like? Professing Christians are supposed to be working on becoming more like Jesus, every day! This would seem to be especially important to emulate Jesus and what He did on the Sabbath day!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
John 3:17 (NIV)
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
There is only one plan in this cursed world that will lead us to heaven when we die and leave this temporary place Jesus created for us. Many people are deceived by Satan into believing there are many ways we can choose to follow that will lead its followers to heaven. If we believe this then there is no reason to tell such people about Jesus Christ and point them to that narrow path that will lead them to heaven. As the selected verse says, God did send his Son into the world to save the world through him. Okay, I am guilty of paraphrasing what our Bible tells us that God said about our Savior!
The writer of Acts wrote about what believers are called to do in this world. We are to join in the competition of trying to spread the good news that may convince some human being to come to believe they need to follow Jesus for them to end up in heaven. Paul wrote about his belief that he should tell people the good news about God’s grace! However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. (Acts 20:24). Only God’s grace allows forgiveness of the sins we commit in this world, because of our sinful nature we inherited from the original sin.
Paul wrote about this act of Christ dying for your sins, while you are still a sinner to supply the grace of God to cover over your sins, even as you still may commit sins! You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8). This act of forgiveness is available to all human beings and is the ONLY Way for our sins to be forgiven and forgotten!
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:13-16). The writer of Hebrews describes the fact that God knows about every sin we commit! Yet, we can “approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
When I started writing this commentary, I did not intend to write about the importance of church attendance, but the Spirit it seems had a better idea for what He wanted me to write today! When God gave Moses the Ten Commandments God emphasized the requirement for mankind to rest on the day we set aside as our Sabbath day. God ended the four commands about honoring God with the fourth commandment! "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. (Exodus 20:8-11)
This seven-day period we refer to as a week was started by observance of the Biblical creation week, and the weekend of course is Saturday and Sunday. The idea of resting on the weekend came about because of the Fourth Commandment requirements. The writer of Hebrews wrote about this period being “a Sabbath-rest for the people of God.” There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no-one will fall by following their example of disobedience. (Hebrews 4:9-11). I was taught to observe the Sabbath day as a day to attend the church of your choice.
In fact, when I was young and attended a Catholic school and church, I was taught that missing attendance at church if you were not very ill was a sin of great importance, which could have resulted in me going to hell if I died before this sinful practice was forgiven! It makes me wonder if professing Christians held regular church attendance, as being so important to Jesus that extreme forgiveness would be required to forgive this SIN, would they still skip church attendance for any reason they may produce. Some such people only try to attend church at Easter, Christmas, and for funerals and weddings!
What about you, are you a professing Christian, yet you do not see any real importance in attending a church of your choice every Sunday? When Jesus walked this earth as the Son of man our Bible teaches, He attended the church of His choice on a regular basis. In Luke we read about this routine Jesus followed! Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. (Luke 4:14-16).
Jesus not only attended the church services, “he went into the synagogue, as was his custom.” Jesus also served as a teacher at the church of His choice. As we read in Luke’s Gospel, “He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.” If Jesus felt the need to attend a church regularly, do you believe you do not need to work on becoming more Christ-like? Professing Christians are supposed to be working on becoming more like Jesus, every day! This would seem to be especially important to emulate Jesus and what He did on the Sabbath day!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
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