Pastor Mike: God doesn't skip church- why should you?

Greetings Everyone, This has been a busy time with so many activities taking place. If you like hot weather then last week was ideal.

If you are like me and not a fan of extremely hot temps, then this week is much better. If you enjoy cold weather, well, your out of luck for now.

In addition to the weather, how about some football?

Also, kids (and teachers) are starting school. One other thing has been the gardeners in our midst. Lawns and gardens alike have been growing this summer. Busy, busy, busy.

Tis the season. The other day I was thinking about the lives and activities when the world around us is rushing by. There are so many things going on that sometimes we forget about God. Summer is a traditionally slow time for church attendance.

Many people are just “too busy” to fit a worship service into their hectic lives.

After all, the kids can’t miss a ballgame, or we need to get some work done in the outdoors around our homes. Maybe you just need to rest on Sunday morning instead of working or going to church. It is a hard choice, so let’s just stay home. Oh sure, we’ll feel guilty but the guilt will go away when I take my nap this afternoon.

Life is full of choices. Many of them are not easy to make, others are. When it comes to church attendance, that should be an easy one. What if God decided to take the summer off? What about just a month, or a week? Well, what about just one day a week? Which day would you advise the Almighty to skip?

Maybe Mondays?

That is the day many people dread because they have to go to work and the weekend was

just too short. So yes, let’s tell God to take Monday off. We can do just fine without him.

Think about it. Would you really want God to take a day off, even a Monday? What happens if we need

to call on the Lord for help or guidance? What about asking for forgiveness for sins that you’ve done? Can that wait a day or two? In this world in which we live, it is easy to think we can go it alone. That we are self-sufficient and don’t need God’s help. If you truly believe that then I feel sorry for you. I and many others realize that when we go alone on this journey called life, things just don’t work out like we hope. When we try to do things on our own the results are usually a giant mess.

I can give you many examples in my own life when I felt I knew what was best

for me. I tried this and I did that, not following what the Lord was leading me to do.

It never turned out well when I went done my own path instead of listening to the Lord. Unfortunately there are several sad stories I could tell because I thought I knew what was best. Thankfully I can tell you not to try and go it alone. Let God help you.

The point of this is to think about a day without God. No, God doesn’t take a day off now and then.

My life, your life, the world, would be in utter chaos if we didn’t have the ability to lift up our burdens and needs in prayer. We need to not only ask for his help but we also need to thank him and worship him daily. It is true that God never leaves his children or forsakes us, but how often do we forget about him?

God is with us every day.

One of the truths that we can rely on is knowing that God is the same today as he was yesterday and will be tomorrow (Hebrews 13:8). We need him every- day regardless of what we might think During the summer when our lives are so busy, maybe we need him

more. My hope and prayer for each of you is that you will not take Sunday off from God.

Come to church and worship him. Come to church and surround yourself with people that love the Lord. When we are the most busy that is when we need to slow down and find our rest in him. Have a great week and mow that grass while the temperatures are cool. Grace and mercy to you.