There truly is no greater blessing than being able to gather with His saints on a Sunday morning. Communion perhaps, communion is so wonderful it often makes me cry, like one might cry at weddings, tears of sorrow, but tears of joy, too.
I really like this billboard, See you Sunday, but of course God does not just see us on Sundays and He does not just see us in church. He sees us all the time, at our worst, at our best, in church or not.
One should never wait for Sunday to praise Him, to read His word, to build intimacy with Him, to pray. God is with us always and He desires a relationship with us, one that takes some effort, like any other relationship. It can’t just be done on Sundays.
I may well be more keenly aware of what a blessing being able to gather together with others and worship really is. For some reason I have really had to struggle with that in my life. The first 18 years were spent with some pretty militant atheists, so worship in a church was out of the question. I did defy them a couple of times and sneak into a church where I was absolutely bedazzled. None of this slipping off to children’s church or coloring on the bulletin or something, I was absolutely enthralled as a child. God is real and other people know Him. It absolutely astounded me. It still does sometimes.
That suffering was a real blessing. I’ve never really understood, but to not know something, to have been deprived of it, really does make the heart grow fonder. I’ve never taken the ability to worship with others for granted, I never forget how blessed we truly are in the Western world.
And I never stop fearing the potential loss, not totally. I’ve seen too many churches fall apart, shut down. Also my mother lives with us now, so should I ever grow complacent about going to church, I always have her perpetual disapproval running in the background, reminding me of how much I’ve had to fight.
One of my fondest memories was being 13. I’d been sent to live with my dad and immediately joined a church, was baptized, went to youth group, sung in the choir. It was such a short time however, mere months really, but an experience that just left me longing for more.
Hubby and I met and married in a church, a church we attended, although he always less frequent. I taught Sunday school and vacation bible school, a couple of my kids went to pre-school there. Eventually the Pastor left, things changed and hubby slipped out the back door… and I soon followed. I’ve never been able to entice him back. He’s never completely left God though, not really.
I’m a floater, not a church shopper. I often visit churches, bible studies, other believers, as much as possible, perhaps to reassure myself that there are other Christians in the world, perhaps to create a back up plan. Perhaps just because I like people.
It’s been rough, I’ve quietly slipped out the back of a few other churches in my lifetime, for good reasons, and I’ve also faced a lot of family challenges, work challenges, community challenges. This area I live in has the second highest number of non believers in the country. Maybe that will change someday, but it’s not always so easy in these parts right now.
Once I worked 3 years of straight Sundays and had to duct tape my worship together, mostly alone. One year my husband was so fed up, he decided no one should go to church ever again, and I was discouraged by his discouragement and just let it go. 12 long months. God is faithful however. Just last week, hubby actually called me 6 times to remind me to go to church. Very cute, Lord. I was almost getting annoyed by the 3rd phone call until I remembered those old prayers and saw the sweetness hidden there.
As a good friend of mine just said, “Be blessed as you gather with other saints and worship His Majesty.” Amen! Wherever you are, wherever you worship, be blessed.
And trust in Him fully! Just like they say in the army, He leaves no man behind.
Wally Fry said:
Gosh IB, that seriously was the most encouraging thing I have read in a really, really long time. Thanks for that on this Sunday morning.
And, prayers for your Husband.
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insanitybytes22 said:
Thanks,Wally. Happy Lord’s Day! 🙂
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Wally Fry said:
You too IB!
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Debbie L said:
We’ve done marriage both ways: with and without church. For us, it’s the glue we need!
We’ve now been members of three churches, because we moved three times. The first church set the bar and we’ve never found one that fit so perfectly. Second one we endured-lived the people and found a niche where we could help younger couples. The third one was a struggle to stay in. We started off strong, in a great visitation and helping the elderly and disenfranchised. But the Pastor had real issues. He was a great preacher but he couldn’t do one on one very well. The first time we stepped back in church after our reconciliation, we started in Sunday School. The Pastor was teaching. It was a challenging lesson: “What kind of Christian are you?” He explained the types, baby who only wants milk, grasshopper whose always hopping around, etc. I don’t remember the others because those two spoke to me (and hubby). We loved him and his style. We were welcomed with open arms….and we vowed once we found a church (we knew we’d be moving), we’d stick with it. And do what we thought the Lord wanted us to do to make it better.
I never thought we could travel full time because I loved my Sunday’s with my spiritual family so much-maybe too much? Anyway, the pastor finally quit and confessed he went really a believer (the way our denomination said anyway) and that released us….a year later we sold all and went full time RVing. BUT we agreed, we’d be in church every Sunday. I never thought it would work, but it is for this season. We’re now seeing how so many churches are doing it right (thank You Lord for guiding us weekly). We know when the time comes to settle down again, we’ll find that perfect fit again!
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Debbie L said:
Ps. I can’t imagine living in the 9th Circuit of hell….
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insanitybytes22 said:
Such adventures you’ve had! I enjoy reading about your marriage and your travels. Your RV-ing reminds me of how there used to be church services held in campgrounds. There may still be in some places, but not here anymore. I have fond memories of gathering with fellow campers, strangers really, around a fire, all sticky with marshmellows, and simply worshipping God right where we were at.
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Debbie L said:
Oh there are still church services on many campgrounds. We have attended a few and they really appear to be driven by the power of the Holy Spirit! We only had one bad experience when we did make a donation to the collection plate, but after we saw the money went straight to the campground, we stopped going to that one. It is a campground we frequent. So we just found a sweet local church not far away. In fact we are truly loving the sweet local services we have been finding in small-town, America!
One campground in fact said exactly where the money goes, which we really appreciated. The pastor is retired and everything is provided by the campground for free. They found several ministries in the small role county that the donations go to. That was very exciting. We do want to continue to tithe regularly to the work of the Lord.
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insanitybytes22 said:
I’m so pleased to know they still have worship services in some campgrounds! I’ve always wanted to travel across the US and visit different churches, so keep those stories coming, I need a virtual vacation! 🙂
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Debbie L said:
Will do! Just need more time. I don’t know how you write so much, and work, have kids, mom and hubby!!! I write a post in my head everyday but only get one out a week if I can. 😞
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Andrew said:
Excellent post IB – I can relate to many aspects of your background and experience as a believer.
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Vincent S Artale Jr said:
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
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insanitybytes22 said:
Thank you for the reblog, much appreciated 🙂
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Vincent S Artale Jr said:
You’re very welcome! Lord bless you!
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SandySays1 said:
Or woman-
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Eavan said:
I’m starting to suspect I live in the same part of the country as you. These are lovely reflections.
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~Michelle Cook said:
I hear you loud and clear…. 😉
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Fromscratchmom said:
Amen!
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