Dr. Rebekah McCloud
My grandson Kevin loves to play games on his Xbox. Often, he dons his headset and plays with partners from across town or across the country. Recently, I noticed that when he was playing, he would yell out what I thought was a sound, “yeet.” He said it so often, that it started to concern me. One night at dinner, I asked him why he was making that sound.
“Grandma,” he said. “It’s not a sound, it’s a word.”
“A word,” I exclaimed. “How do you spell it and what does it mean?”
“It’s spelled y-e-e-t and it means that you are really excited,” he said. “There’s a song and a dance.”
Well, yeet, y’all, if young people can get all excited about a song, a dance or a video game, can we get excited about going to church? Over the years, people have stopped going to church. According to a Gallup Poll, church attendance declined to 37% in 2017.[1] Uhm, so sad. Saints, we have some work to do.
We all know some CME church goers. You know, the ones who attend only on Christmas, Mother’s Day and Easter. Some of us might have been one. Then there are the HMD church goers. You know, the hatched, matched and dispatched; the ones who attend only for christenings, weddings and funerals. Some of us might have been one of those, too.
When I was a kid, almost everybody in my community went to church. Even some of the winos would straighten up and show up on Sunday morning. When I was in college, most Sundays I would take an hour and a half bus ride into the city to attend church. My classmates thought it strange, but chalked it up to me being a preacher’s kid. Not. Then and now, church fills my tank.
Romans 15:13 says it this way, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Grace, without the joy and the peace and the love of God, I’d be running on empty. I’ve had so many challenges in the past thirteen months, that I know, that I know, that I know, but God. Amen.
To some, going to church is part of their Christian duty. There are others, like me, who know it’s so much more. Church is the place where we worship, where we praise, where we learn, where we grow, where we serve, where we are encouraged, where we use our gifts, where we practice stewardship and where we give thanks.
More importantly, it’s where we meet the Lord. Matthew 18:20 says, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” What I like about this scripture, what excites me about it is that it does not say we need a crowd or a mega church, or church clothes; it says, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” Amen.
I hear a lot of people say that in this modern age there’s no need to go to church. A couple of my friends have stopped going. They tell me you can watch church on television, stream it on the Internet or use your smart phone or device. Of course, this has its place; but, ain’t nothing like the real thing. Amen.
No church is perfect. The pews are filled with imperfect people; most doing their best to please God. Those pews are where we can discover God’s grace and mercy and where we find forgiveness, deliverance and salvation.
We are all a part of the body of Christ. Hebrew 10:25 tells us to not forsake assembling ourselves together and encouraging one another. The Bible also tells us that the church is the bride of Christ. In fact, Ephesians 5:25 says in part, that Christ loved the church so much that that he, “gave himself up for her.”
I recently read an article titled, “The Excitement of Going to Church.”[2] In it, the author discusses “exactly what we receive when we meet together in the Name of Christ.” We can find:
- The comfort of his word.
- The assurance of his love.
- The gift of his peace.
- The knowledge of his will.
- The power of his spirit.
What a promise: his word, his love, his peace, his will and his spirit. Romans 12:11 says, “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.” Yeet, somebody ought to be excited! I am; I pray yawl can catch hold of this joy. The joy of having the opportunity to come to church, to be a steward, to use your gift. The love of God brings me joy, unspeakable joy!
Back in the day, we sang a song that said, “this joy that I have, the world didn’t give it to me. The world didn’t give it, the world can’t take it away.” Church, I’m determined to share this joy with the world. Amen!
[1] Reachright (n.d.). 37 Church Statitics You need to Know for 2019. https://reachrightstudios.com/church-statistics-2019/.
[2] Dixon, F.
(2019). Study 5 The Excitement of
Going to Church Twelve Days of My Favourite Biblical Themes. https://www.wordsoflife.co.uk/bible-studies/study-5-the-excitement-of-going-to-church/