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One of the most significant passages of Scripture is one in which Luke calls attention to a habitual practice of Jesus. Luke says that when our Lord came to Nazareth, His hometown, He went to the synagogue, “as His custom was, on the Sabbath day” (Luke 4:16). It’s difficult to diminish the critical importance of attending corporate public worship when we understand that Christ made a habit of it. Regular church attendance is something that should characterize the life of everyone who identifies as a Christ-follower.
In one of the great exhortations of Scripture, Christians are told, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25).
It was quite disturbing to recently read a report from Barna Research which stated, “One-third of all practicing Christians haven’t been watching either their church online or another church’s streaming worship services since the state lockdowns in response to the coronavirus…”
The report also noted that half of practicing Christian millennials had not attended church in the past four weeks, and thirty-five percent of Gen X Christians and twenty-six percent of Baby Boomer Christians had foregone digital church attendance.
The report said these trends highlighted “the importance of churches continuing to reach out and disciple the next generation, especially those who are seemingly falling away during the pandemic.”
The Barna report comes at the same time a megachurch with a pastor, who has a high national profile, just announced that his church is suspending in-person services until 2021. The pastor said the reason was that the leadership couldn’t guarantee their congregants’ safety.
I can’t help wondering, which safety is the pastor talking about, his parishioner’s physical or spiritual health? It appears he was talking about being unable to protect them from COVID-19, but is the spiritual somehow less vital than the physical?
Click here to read more.
SOURCE: Christian Post, Rev. Mark H. Creech
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