Members Of His body

Colossians 1:18a "And He is the head of the body, the church:

There are a good number of professing Christians who either shy away from church membership or avoid church attendance altogether. There are a number of excuses that such professing believers give for their lack of church involvement. But much like Noah and the ark, it was full of mess with all of those animals locked up together. But it was better to be in the ark with the mess, than out side the ark without it. Stay in the ark.

They use a number of excuses as to why they don't come, such as " I've been hurt by a previous church, or church leader". Sadly, this reason is often grounded in reality. Many people have been emotionally torn up by the actions of other people. But someone’s sin against you is not a good excuse for you to sin against God by ignoring his plan for this dispensation which is for his people to identify with a local church. Yes the church does contain people who live hypocritically. To some extent, every person that confesses the lordship of Christ but continues to sin is acting hypocritically. This was a problem in the first century, and it remains a problem in the twenty-first as well. But this to isn’t a good reason for avoiding the church. After all what did Jesus do to you?

Even though some feel they can worship the Lord better on their own, without the church, they are living a myth. Some feel that because they can approach God directly through Christ, they do not need to be connected to a local church, but feelings cannot override commands. One cannot worship God better by ignoring his instructions and the model that is pretty clearly laid out in His word. We must worship Him in spirit and in truth.
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