Why not miss Chruch on Sunday morning?
Recently, I answered this question by answering that Sunday worship is one of the most vital hours in the week of a Christian
Today, I’d like to offer three more reasons.
Every Sunday I gather with our church family I find myself recentered, realigned, and reignited. Three vitally important things that I’d like to flesh out now.
On Sunday I’m Recentered
“The essence of the donut is the hole—it’s the thing that, without which, it ceases to be.”
I’ll never forget this funny and surprisingly profound lesson from one of my high school counselors, Brother Ryan.
Brother Ryan insisted that the essence of something is that thing which, if missing, would mean it ceases to exist. It marks the very central and most essential part of something.
No hole—no donut.
No Jesus—no life.
This is what Sundays are for.
They remind me of what the center—the essence—of my life is. That without which, I am not.
The center of my life is Jesus of Nazareth and fellowship with him. I can easily confuse this center with my job, my family, or my ideas but Sunday mornings keep me coming back to my real center.
No hole—no donut.
No Jesus—no life.
On Sunday I’m Realigned
A second thing that happens each Sunday is a realignment.
By recovering my center, everything else is pushed to its’ proper place.
Friends, family, work, money, Netflix. All of these aspects of my daily life can get out of order.
Money can get in the driver’s seat where Jesus is supposed to be. Netflix can distract me so that I’m not present to my wife. Work can crowd out not just my calendar but my mental capacities so that I don’t have room for encountering my neighbor—much less the Holy Spirit.
But when Jesus is put back at the center, everything else soon falls in line.
I’m back in alignment.
No longer disjointed and fractured.
When I’m realigned I’m nimble, mentally present, and spiritually alive in every sphere of my life.
On Sunday I’m Reignited
Finally, Sundays stir up a “small” revival.
In the divine dance of Sunday mornings, my faith is reignited by an encounter with the living God within the midst of the people of God.
I say “small” because it can appear normal, insignificant, and minimal. But there’s nothing small about it. This little, weekly, revival is the subtle fruit of an eternity's work.
It’s the fruit of God’s work of redemption that’s been at play since Genesis 3, was accomplished on the cross in Jesus Christ centuries ago, and has been weaving through history since the Resurrection up until now and is leading to the renewal of all things—soon.
On Sundays, I’m reignited to participate with God in this new creation, reconciliation work.
To enter into the mission of God’s kingdom in every sphere of my life which has been realigned once more.
Like the disciples at Pentecost, the Spirit is poured out again and I’m commissioned once more to proclaim the goodness of God “in the land of the living.”
But it’s not just me.
We all are.