Page 7 - Is Church an Option?

Why should you go to church? The writer of Hebrews takes another approach to give us some idea of the amazingly rich inheritance that is ours in the church. In chapter 12, verses 18-25, he begins by telling us that when we come to fellowship, it is not like the days of old before God sent Christ. We do have to come trembling with fear and scared nearly half to death by the voice of thunder and the dark cloud of gloom that surrounded Mount Sinai. That had its day, but it is finished and gone. The writer says, “You have come...” (v.22) -- meaning this is actually what happens every time you meet for worship. This is the fellowship you enter. In verses 22- 24, he reveals five things to us about our fellowship of Christian worship in the church:
1. It is spiritual fellowship— “You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem...” When believers worship, we have direct contact with the invisible spiritual world. This does not mean that the spiritual world is somehow disconnected from the world of the ordinary and the mundane; we can worship God in the car or the family room as well as in the church. However, we can agree with William Temple, who said, “All life ought to be worship, but we know quite well there is no chance it will be worship unless we have times when we have worship and nothing else.” (The Wind of the Spirit, p.126) When we join together in corporate worship, it is there, like no other time, when eternity stirs within our hearts because we come into His courts where spiritual fellowship is granted.
2. It is universal fellowship—“You have come to...the...church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven.” The writer here is not thinking of the church triumphant in glory, but the church militant on earth. He is thinking of the community of Christ here and now -- which means that if you are a part of the church, you are no longer isolated and alone. You are a part of the greatest fellowship on earth! Local fellowship is important for growth and service, but our inheritance is a great one and we must never forget it.
3. It is an immortal fellowship— “You have come...to myriads of angels, to the general assembly...and to the spirits of the righteous made
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