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The Church is a Gift

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When I was growing up, there were very few extracurricular activities on Sunday. There were no soccer or basketball games, swim meets, robotics tournaments, dance recitals, and track events. Now, it’s a common occurrence. Just two weeks ago, one of our families at church had to be at a track event at seven am. After that, they came to church. As soon as church was done, they had to get going for a swim meet that afternoon.

Changing Times

Things have changed so much over the years. There are so many things vying for our attention on Sundays; it feels almost impossible to make church a priority. And yet, that’s what the writer of Hebrews encourages us to do.

And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

Hebrews 10:25

A Front Row Seat

Ministering in the greater Philadelphia area for the last fifteen years has given us a front row seat to watching families come and go. We’ve had the privilige of ministering to a lot of different people in different stages of life and from different walks of life. One of the things that hasn’t changed over the years is that we can really train wreck our lives when we’re not plugged into a local church and a small group of people we can do life with. Are people in church perfect? Absolutely not. Do we hurt each other sometimes? Yes. The people in our church are no different. Yet God told us that this was how He wanted us to do life–together. The best way to do life together is to be involved in a church that you can attend every week, encourage and be encouraged by other believers, hear Biblical preaching, join in worship, and find your place to serve. Joining a small group of people that meet together every week outside of the church service for fellowship and a Bible study is the icing on the cake.

Not Doing LIfe

None of us are perfect; that’s for sure. But when a group of people consistently meet together to encourage each other in our walk with God, really good things happen. Is it a guarantee for no hard times, an easy marriage, and no problems? No. But when those hard times come, there are people to walk through those waters with us. None of us can do life alone.

I’m currently working my way through my Hebrews study from Daily Grace Co. I was reading in Hebrews 10 this week and read this very passage. I read these words, and they were such a good reminder.

In light of this, the author of Hebrews tells us not to neglect gathering together. Skipping Sunday gatherings, a small group meeting, or a Bible study can seem like a small thing until it starts to become a habit. When we separate ourselves from the accountability of the church, we become prone to sin more easily. We need our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to spur us on in our walk with christ. The church is a gift, and it is one we should never neglect.

A Gift

Those words at the end stood out to me. The church is a gift, and it is one we should never neglect. I grew up in the church; my dad was a pastor. I served with my then boyfriend (now husband) in church during college, and then my husband and I started a church. I’ve been in church my entire life. Of course, everything over all those years has not been positive. Have I been hurt by people in the church? Of course. Have we hurt others? I’m not naive enough to think we haven’t. But I’ve also seen people do life without God, the church, and a small group. Here’s what I’ve seen: it doesn’t work.

We’ve gotten a lot of things wrong over the years, but I will never regret being raised in church and now raising my family in church. Do I feel that way every Sunday morning before we get to church? No. And do I always want to go to group on Tuesday nights? No. But I’ve seen God work in amazing ways in my heart and life and the hearts and lives of others simply by showing up week after week.

Examples of God Working Through the Church

Here’s a quick example of God working through the church. One of our neighbors comes to church every week and sits with her smiling adult daughter. Just over a year ago, that same daughter was high on drugs and living on the streets. Now, she’s been sober over a year and brings other women who are recovering with her to church every single week. They’ve even started their own women’s meeting at church for those with addictions on Thursday nights.

There is a something special about being a part of a group of believers that meet together every week. It helps us remember that we’re not alone in this world. There is more to this life than what the media or social media present to us. We can encourage each other, challenge each other, and hold each other up during our hardest moments.

God’s Love for the Church

As a pastor’s wife, I’m probably more passionate about church than most people; but that’s because I believe in the church. I believe when Paul told men that they were to love their wives as much as God loves the church, he was using the most powerful source of love he knew–God’s love for the church.

If you’re not involved in a church, I encourage you to find one. If you aren’t plugged into a small group, join one. Find a group of people that love God and are going in the same direction as you and join in.

More Encouragement

For more encouragement, read the post, Faith Grows in Community.

Faith Grows in Community

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What is your first memory of church? Who taught you your earliest Bible stories? When you think back, what picture forms in your mind when you hear the word faith?

My Earliest Memories of Faith

My first memory goes back to around age five. The church sat just beyond our backyard, across a cornfield on the edge of Phoenixville. It was a long building with a wide parking lot, a front sanctuary, and a lobby that smelled faintly of coffee and hymnals. Off to one side was a reception hall that doubled as the children’s choir room. Down the hallway were classrooms, restrooms, and a small chapel used by the Shepherd’s Ministry for people with disabilities.

Every Sunday morning, my dad and I crossed the field early and climbed into a forest-green twelve-passenger van. No booster seats. No back row. I rode shotgun, carrying a box of Dunkin’ Donuts and setting out the wooden step stool so our Shepherds could climb aboard. They would pat me on the head and call me Matt…or Matthew…or Michael (my older brother). Sometimes just, “Hey you.”

That was my introduction to faith.

More Complex Faith

Faith looked like a green van, powdered donuts, and the smiles of people who returned every small act of kindness with a hug and joy.

As I grew older, faith became more complex. There were verses to memorize, doctrines to learn, practices to follow, and temptations to resist. Somewhere along the way, I began to believe—quietly and incorrectly—that faith was a system. If I showed up, served faithfully, and did the right things, God would keep life from getting too hard.

But faith doesn’t come with immunity.

Hard Seasons

Hard seasons came. Doubts replaced confidence. Questions grew louder. And in those moments, I realized something essential: I wasn’t standing alone. I had a community.

Sunday School teachers. Youth pastors. Coaches. Professors. Mentors. Friends’ parents. Pastors. My family.

There were conversations—at diners, in classrooms, in parked cars, after funerals—that carried me more than I realized at the time. Faith, like a shared meal, was passed from one life to another.

Roman Shields

Paul didn’t need to explain this metaphor to the Ephesians. Roman shields were never meant to be used in isolation. Soldiers locked them together, forming a wall of protection. One shield could deflect an arrow. Many shields could stop an attack.

Faith works the same way.

“Christian faith is not a solo performance,” Eugene Peterson writes. “It is a long obedience in the same direction, lived out among others.”

Dallas Willard echoes this truth: “The greatest strength of the Christian life is not willpower, but companionship in the way of Jesus.”

And Mark Batterson reminds us, “Faith grows best in proximity—when stories are shared, prayers are spoken, and hope is borrowed when needed.”

Shared Faith

Revelation 12:11 tells us that God’s people overcome by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. What Christ has done—and what we tell one another about His faithfulness—becomes our defense.

Faith in isolation has limits.
Faith in community has endurance.

Sometimes all it takes is someone else’s steady faith to help us raise our shield again. Shoulder to shoulder. Side by side.

Faith grows when it is shared.

*This is an excerpt from Matt’s newest devotional Unhurried strength: Understanding the Power and Purpose of the Armor of God. Be sure to check it out on Amazon.

More Encouragement

For more encouragement, check out my post, Friends Wanted: How to Cultivate Friendships in a Lonely World.