I Don’t Need Church to Worship God! [Part 1]

I Don’t Need Church to Worship God! [Part 1]

Too many hypocrites… all about money… service is too long… I’m spiritual, not religious… My walk with God is personal. Have you heard one of these reasons people don’t need church? Have you used one?

The Bible, however, often aligns our vertical relationship with God with our horizontal relationships with others. For instance,    1 John 1:7 says

“But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.”

Notice that John directly aligns our “walking in the light” with our “fellowship with one another.” This type of “fellowship” only happened in the New Testament within a local church. Today, the primary way to have this “fellowship” is in connection with other believers through a local church.

Check out the fire in the image above. Imagine one of the pieces of charcoal was taken off the fire and placed by itself. That charcoal would burn for a while… but before long, it would burn out because it was not connected to the other pieces. Away from the group, it loses its light, warmth, and purpose.

The same is true with us. We can only burn for so long by ourselves before long our light, warmth and purpose is overwhelmed by the elements of the world. No, I don’t have to be connected to a church to be a Christian… but I must be connected to a church to be a STRONG Christian!

What have you allowed to be a replacement for true fellowship? Online church? TV church? Anonymous pew warming? What excuses have you given yourself not to be connected and involved? Are you disconnected from church? What is your experience?