The Fellowship of the Believers (Lord of the Rings pun intended)

A while back (very long ago, seeing I haven't posted in almost 9 months!) I wrote an article about going to church. If you would like to read that post, you may do so here: http://ayouthpastorswife.blogspot.com/2013/09/back-to-basics-going-to-church.html. And here I am to post again on the same subject. It has been weighing heavy on my heart because here lately our church has seen pretty decent numbers on Sunday mornings, then less than 20 on Sunday night, and even our faithful members seem to find excuses to not come to Sunday School and Sunday Morning Worship. 

As usual, my husband and I (and now our cute little boy) were watching a pastor on one of our local channels that comes on, early Sunday morning. He was talking about the first church and used these verses:

Acts 2:41 Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all.

42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.

⁴³ A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. ⁴⁴ And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. ⁴⁵ They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. ⁴⁶ They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity— ⁴⁷ all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

This was a wonderful time for the early church. People were getting saved daily, and worshiping daily. Worshiping daily?! We can hardly stand to get together at the most 3 times a week! They met together, fellowshiped together, and had corporate worship in the Temple each day. They didn't mind worshiping in public even if that meant persecution.


I guess my question is, What reason did you not go to church today? I know there are reasons to stay home. Maybe you are a shut in, or sick (ain't nobody got time for a stomach bug!), etc. However, I think we are too easily tempted to make excuses for why we can't come to church. My favorite one right now is the 'I didn't get to bed until 'such and such' time in the morning, therefore, I needed my sleep.' As a new mom that is happy to get a solid 4-5 hours, this annoys me so much. Rant aside, I know it's easy to let other things become a priority: sleep, family coming over, work, school, but how shallow do those things sound when the early church was meeting together daily with the threat of persecution over their heads?


I don't say this to make myself look great. I am also tempted to put other things before church, Bible, prayer, but the sermon this morning, and scripture, remind me that I should count it a blessing to have fellowship with my fellow believers.