Church is Good for Your Soul
I recently reflected on the fact that Church (services) are a supernatural experience. A time we gather to meet with the living God. We praise Him, hear from Him, and respond in faith. How exciting! Church is also a time where pastoral care occurs in the midst of worship. In a worship service, people are being put back together. George Robertson writes that something real happens when God’s people are gathered to worship. His article (Corporate Worship Provides Care for Your Soul), reminds us that we do not come to worship just for ourselves; we come for each other.
As you plan your weekend, prioritise Church. There are many Biblical reasons why we meet together each week. This week I encourage us to remember that Church is good for our soul. We bless one another as we gather together.
Robertson unpacks these three ways Church cares for our souls:
- Worship Is an Experience of God’s Beauty
Worship should be the experience of God’s beauty in contrast to a world made ugly by selfish attitudes, violence, and pain. Every reasonable effort should be given to make any place God’s people gather for worship beautiful. We are embodied souls, so our physical environment shapes the way we think and feel. We gather in worship to gaze on the “fair beauty of the Lord” (v. 4) with spiritual eyes, but, as C. S. Lewis noted, our physical senses will be either aided in that pursuit or distracted by our setting.
- Worship Reminds Us We’re Not Alone
We also recognize in corporate worship that we are not alone. There is safety in numbers. Elijah was distressed until God told him there were 7,000 in Israel who still worshiped Him (cf. 1 Kings 19:3-9; Romans 11:2-5). In Psalm 22:22, David finally finds shelter “in the midst of the congregation.”
Scripture reminds us that we do not come to worship just for ourselves; we come for each other.
When you come together with other believers on Sunday morning, you have a shelter that others wish they had. It’s painful to watch those who don’t know God and don’t worship with His people grieve a tragedy all by themselves, welcome a new baby alone, endure a physical trauma without the prayers of the saints, or worry because their kids don’t have good friends. There is safety in God’s house. Among God’s people, we can experience “joy” (v. 6).
- Worship Realigns Our Perspective
You will find little reason to rejoice if television, social media, or the daily news are your primary diet. But in corporate worship, your perspective is realigned.
After a week of news about terrorist attacks, it is in worship that you joyfully remember this world isn’t your home. After a week of feeling like you’re the only Christian in your school, it is in worship that you joyfully realise you aren’t alone. After a week of criticism from a relative, it is in worship that you can joyfully hear God’s sweet words of grace to you. After a week of confusion over the future, it is in worship that you can joyfully refocus on the God who is sovereign over your life.
Through the gift of corporate worship, God will enable you to “sacrifice with shouts of joy” and to “sing and make music to the LORD” (Psalm 27:6).
