We should all encourage others to worship with us
n By Ol’ jim cathey
On The Back Porch
Pastor Judd has been doing a lot of preaching about why each of us should not only be in church on Sunday, but that we should be encouraging others to come to church also. He said that there are ways to make the most out of Sunday worship.
These include, invite folks and bring a friend, come early for fellowship, sit close, sing loudly, (after all, the Bible says to make a joyful noise unto the Lord. Psalm 100: 1-5 1 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. 2 Serve the LORD with gladness: come before His presence with singing. 3 Know ye that the LORD is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. 4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. 5 For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations.), pray earnestly, bring your Bible, and expect great things from God!
My young bride Stella and I have had a serious struggle with COVID, but we have stomped it back into its lair. As a result, we have been out of church for a spell, but now we are back. One of our favorite Bible verses comes from Psalms. (Psalm 118:24, This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.) We had a wedding to attend, and the doctor had said if we felt like it, we could safely go.
So, on the seventeenth day of COVID, we declared ourselves well and made a two plus hour trip to attend our granddaughter Rachel’s wedding. This was a Thursday/Friday celebration. Rachel is one of Jimmy and Carol’s triplets and she wed Drew Maumus in a beautiful wedding. After the honeymoon, they will be living in Midlothian and working in the Dallas area. Then on Sunday/Monday, we traveled to Waxahachie for the visitation and funeral for Stella’s aunt. Aunt Gayle was the last one of the King family from that generation. It’s a bit awesome that my young bride Stella and I are now the elders in both the King and the Cathey families. It has been a tough few weeks, now we can get back to church!
Statistics show that church attendance for the most part is declining throughout America. I think this is true, because my church has definitely seen a decline in attendance just in a short period of time.
What is the cause of this? I recently read about a man that sent a letter to the editor of a newspaper complaining about the fact that it made no sense at all to be in church every Sunday. He wrote, “I’ve gone to church some thirty years and have probably heard over 3,000 sermons, but for the life of me, I can’t remember a single one of them. I’m thinking that I have wasted a lot of time and the preachers have wasted their time also.”
Eventually, there was a reply to this letter. A gentleman wrote, “I’ve been married for almost 30 years and during that time, my wife has cooked some 32,000 plus meals. And you know, I do not recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this: They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for spiritual nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!”
When you are DOWN to nothing, God is UP to something! Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible & receives the impossible! Thank God for our physical and our spiritual nourishment!” Here we have two different views, one negative and one positive. I expect that the devil wants us to be negative, but God’s promise is positive, and we should strive to have a positive outlook. In my opinion, Covid, social media I hope you consider going back to church if you are not already back.
God’s Plan
The old cowboy sat horseback on the hill,
Gazing down to a little church,
This idyllic picture was quiet and still,
An’ he smiled there on his perch.
You see, this cowboy had rode most of the night,
To be here for the preachin,’
To hear the preacher try with all of his might,
An’ to see the devils impeachin.’
The old cowboy had left his herd to make this trip,
Knowin’ they would be okay,
After the preachin,’ he’d give the crowd the slip,
An’ be back home by break-o-day.
Now this long horseback trip took a lot of grit,
But this old gent chose to do so,
Because he knew that God would never quit,
An’ he would be blessed if he would go.
We each should learn a lesson from this old gent,
As he sets a pattern for us,
To worship with other folks is His intent,
An’ we should each do this without a fuss.
You see, God sent His Son to forgive our sin,
An’ gave us the choice to make,
To live our life like sweet music from a violin,
Or eternity to forsake.
We should follow the Lord’s plan all of our days,
This keeps us from being distressed,
And you will discover that faith in God pays,
An’ live a life that is blessed.
Now this feller did what all Christians should do,
We should all make this our story,
Make an effort to be in church, faith to renew,
An’ give God all the glory.
Ol’ Jim Cathey
Join us at First Baptist Marlin at 11:00 Sunday morning.
God bless each of you and God Bless America!