This is something I am working on for a communion meditation. I'm having trouble paring it down. it keeps developing into a mini-sermon. I've changed it a bit for use here, and may use a variation for my monthly turn at a daily devotional for the www.ChristianChurchToday.com forums the 23rd of each month (http://www.christianchurchtoday.com/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=29).
Why are you here ?
No, I don't mean why are you reading this. And I'm not asking some deep philosophical question...well, maybe I am. It is actually a question to ask yourself the next time you are at church. When you are in your church building, ask yourself "Why am I in this building right now? " Maybe a better way of asking is to ask what is our purpose in meeting together ?
The stock answer is
That's true, but a lousy description of what we should be doing.
This is where the family gets together. We need to be sharing our lives with each other. How are we going to work as the body the Bible describes us as, if we don't know what is going on with our other members?
Now, there are considerations. Some folks don't get around too well, some can't stand too long, and some once they get set down have trouble getting up. But as a rule of thumb, if you come in the door, head for a seat and plop there until service time, you are missing your opportunities to minister to others and be ministered to.
But back to my question, what is our purpose in meeting together ?
We meet together to worship God and to learn how to put God's truths to work in our lives. Part of that is through communion, something we do as an act of remembrance. But something else we do is offer what we call an invitation.
This is a time when we give people the opportunity to publicly proclaim their belief, to publicly accept Jesus as their savior and be obedient to the Word of God by being publicly immersed.
It doesn't matter if you have attended church for years or if this is your first time through the doors. Coming through the doors won't do a thing for you. The Word of God tells us we must own up to the fact we can't save ourself. Our only hope is accepting Jesus as our Lord and as our Savior.
We are to publicly admit to our sins (which by the way doesn't mean you need to list each and every one. God already knows them), repent of them, accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and then, as it says in Acts 2:38, be totally immersed for the forgiveness of our sins and to receive the Holy Spirit.
So the question is, right here, right now, in front of these people who want you as a part of their family, who want you to join them as a body of believers, is "Are you ready to do that?"
