Why Going to Church is Important
By Greg Laurie
The church exists for three purposes: The glorification of God, the edification of the saints, and the evangelization of the world.
The first purpose of the church is to exalt God (upward). God put us on this earth to know Him and to glorify Him, “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31 NLT).
Glorification Through Worship
This is why we worship the Lord in song. Worship is an important part of service. A worship leader/team is not there to perform for you. They “perform” for an audience of one: God! And they are not a warm-up act either. They are here to lead us in worship. They are leading us in prayer set to song. That is why we should never be late to church. When we are late, we miss out on glorifying God together.
One of the most powerful things I had ever seen when I first came to church was worship. Back in those days, the choruses and chords were very simple, but the worship was positively supernatural.
Did you know that your worship is a witness? The outside world marvels when a child of God can rejoice through praising God in hardship. They want to know what you have that they don’t; they want to experience the same peace.
Sitting next to you on any given Sunday may be a visitor or a nonbeliever. They are essentially sizing everything up by what they see. Not just what happens on the platform, but the people around them. During times of worship, do you sing out to the Lord? Or did you sit in silence? Worse yet, do you talk with the person next to you or spend the time texting? What message are you sending to those visitors? Can you not tune those things out and just glorify God?
Church Helps Us
When we glorify God in church with other believers, it gives us perspective. When we come to God in prayer and in worship, we see things correctly. This is why Jesus taught us to pray “Our Father in Heaven” (Mathew 6:9 NKJV). It causes me to remember, whatever I am facing, that the all-powerful, all-knowing God of the universe who loves me is listening to me right now. But when I isolate myself from other believers, I lose perspective. I can become fearful, confused, angry, and even bitter.
You recall Asaph grappling with the age-old question, “Why do the wicked prosper?” And then it dawned on him, “…I tried to understand why the wicked prosper. But what a difficult task it is! Then I went into your sanctuary, O God, and I finally understood the destiny of the wicked” (Psalm 73:16-17 NLT). Asaph is essentially saying, “I didn’t understand why things are the way that they are until I came into God’s presence to study His Word with His people. Then my questions came into a proper perspective.”
Why should believers go to church? To exalt God—to reach upward.
The above content was originally published at Greg Laurie’s Blog and shared at Think Eternity with permission.
Greg Laurie is the senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship with campuses in California and Hawaii. He began his pastoral ministry at the age of 19 by leading a Bible study of 30 people…
…In 2020 and in partnership with Kingdom Story Company, Laurie premiered his first-ever cinematic crusade, A Rush of Hope, viewed by over 2 million people in its opening weekend…
…In February 2023, Kingdom Story Company and Lionsgate released Jesus Revolution, which is the story of Greg and Cathe’s life and the Jesus Movement of the 1960s and ’70s. It stars Kelsey Grammer and Jonathan Roumie and is based on Greg’s book of the same title…
Read Laurie’s complete bio on the Harvest website here: About Greg Laurie (harvest.org)