Is Worship Really a Big Deal?

When I think about the the Habits of Grace, corporate worship is seemly the easiest one to neglect without it being a detriment to the formation of our soul. I mean, one writer titled her book (tongue in cheek) “A Royal Waste of Time.” Well, on the surface it is.I mean really, what does ‘going to church’ look like? Horror stories, that is what. I don’t know of anything we do that is attended with so much confusion. If there is ever a time of the week when marriages are tried, children are looking like walking,talking models of total depravity, and we are thinking to ourselves, “In my mental state, and after how hard I have worked this week, ‘Why am I doing this?’” - it is on Sunday morning when we are trying to get everyone to corporate worship.Years ago, an elder in this church summed it up best. I would see him come into worship with his bride and three girls looking like he was shell shocked. I would ask him, “Mike, how are you doing this morning?” I asked him this because he was the master of the cliche and had a saying for everything and what he said about Sunday mornings was about right. He would shake his head and say, “The devil's in the house, boys, the devil's in the house!”If it is so hard, we have worked so hard, and it is the only morning for many of us to sleep in, why should we make this a habit that we do? Or should we? Can’t we just read our Bible, be part of a community, and get to sleep in on Sunday? This Sunday. and the next, I will try to answer that question. I will start by giving you something to ponder before we talk on Sunday. I often hear people say this, “Well I went to church and I just didn’t get anything out of it?” Hmm, could this be the source of the problem for so many people who value worship so little? Do we really go to worship to get or to give? You think about that and Sunday we’ll talk. I am chomping at the bit…Blessings,James M. Holland