Life Talk With God By Izabella GatesSample

Church: To go or not to go?

“None of my friends go to church. Surely it’s enough to pray on my own?”

Think of a bonfire, with red-hot coals glowing in the center. Picture yourself and your faith in God as one of those coals. While you’re surrounded by other burning coals (believers) it’s much easier for your faith to glow—but when you move away it’s a lot harder to keep your flame alive.

It’s a fact. Faith, like that coal fire, needs other “coals”. To keep your faith alight takes a great deal more effort when you practice your faith alone. Unless you have an iron will or a saintlike nature, the odds are good that at some point your faith will waver and wobble. When that happens, God could be flung aside while you go thundering off in pursuit of life’s pleasures (or while life’s challenges and pressures hunt you down).

Why is going to church important?

In addition to keeping your “faith coals” hot, there are many other reasons why going to a place of worship is important:

• Life’s pressures entice us away from the map God gave us. Going to church provides our moral compass.

• Jesus wants us to join other believers. He said, “Where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them” (Matt. 18:20, NIV). He attended places of worship too.

• Participating in the Lord’s Supper feeds your soul, and it’s what Jesus asked by saying, “. . . Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19, NLT).

• “Keep the Sabbath holy” is a commandment. It’s the day when God wants us to honor Him, and to rest from the week’s busyness.

• You can invite non-Christian friends and family to hear about God.

Prayer

Dear God, please:

- Remind me about the importance of going to church and belonging to a church community.

- Inspire those who are close to me to have a strong faith in You and to help my faith grow.

- Help me to be a positive role model for my friends.

Thank You for my life and for making it possible for me to freely attend a place of worship. Amen.