Just Get Your Butt To Church

I get it.

Life can be crazy.

There’s work. School. Sports. A day off for goodness sake. There are a million things competing for our time.

And then there’s the sucker punches of life.

The things that happen and our heart, our hopes or dreams, our expectations…are shattered. A spouse was unfaithful. A kid addicted. A wayward young adult. Something happened…now sin and shame permeate every waking thought.

Sometimes life can just be so busy and then other times it can be so painful. Either by accident or quite by anger and disappointment, we find ourselves straying from the Sunday morning ritual of worship. Fellowship. Breaking bread and warm hugs.

So let me just say right now–

Just get your butt to church.

The enemy may be wreaking havoc, or maybe the circumstances are a culmination of bad decisions. Maybe you’ve been on vacation and just fell out of the weekly habit…Or maybe your just a little more than angry over the difficulties and trials you are facing.

Just get your butt to church.

I’ve been guilty of every one of those reasons listed above. I’ve let my hurt and anger get the better of me, I’ve let the circumstances or the busyness of life keep me from church. And every time I walk back into praise and worship and wonder why on earth I had ever given myself an excuse.

Let nothing keep you from the fellowship of the body of believers. Let nothing come between you and a body of believers. If we get good at giving excuses for not coming to church, being good at excuses is just about all we’ll be good at.

*These girls are such awesome Jesus followers! This is my Sunday School class and we celebrated Passover last at my house! It’s been a joy to watch their faith grow and I am so thankful to be a part of what @gofamilychurch is doing in the lives of students in Palm Beach County!

We can’t live this life apart from the local body of brothers and sisters in the faith. We can’t go it alone without connecting spiritually in the body of believers. There’s no “lone wolf” approach to spirituality in which we actually come out in victory, so…

Just get your butt to church.

And feel the smile of your loving Heavenly Father, the strength of community, and the refreshing hope of grace.

“…not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:25

“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” Matthew 18:20

“Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” Romans 10:17