I am teaching a course for ministry majors at Olivet this fall, titled "Pastoral Care and Counseling." It is a course on how to be a pastor.

This last week, we were talking about the importance of the church in the life of a believer, and in particular, we were talking about the significance of Sunday worship. I asked those called into ministry this semi-rhetorical question: "What do you think would happen if every person in the United States who considered themselves a follower of Jesus Christ, decided to make Sunday worship a priority over every other Sunday morning activity?" (According to the Pew Research Center, 62% of adults in the U.S. identify as Christian, which amounts to 160 - 165 million adults.) In other words, I asked my students what they thought would happen if the 160 million adults who call themselves Christian decided not to do anything other than worship the Lord on Sunday morning!

It was an intriguing notion to them, and after a few moments, they replied that it would be quite the witness to our nation of the truth of Jesus Christ. If every Christian decided to make the corporate worship of the Lord the priority, there would probably be fewer competing activities, as Christians wouldn't be participating. The students decided, in short, that it would be a very good thing. (Full disclosure, it was also my way of encouraging them to be faithful to their church.)

The Christian privilege and duty of worshipping our Lord on the first day of the week is usually the first witness to others of our faith in Jesus Christ. It is most likely, the first way others know we are followers of Jesus. And because it is just something we do, we probably underestimate the power of that simple witness to others.

I will say that I agreed with my students; if every person who said they were a follower of Jesus made Sunday worship the priority, it would be a powerful witness to our Lord and Savior and would be redemptive for our nation.

Regardless, let us not underestimate the power of the witness of gathering for corporate worship of our Lord on His Day, and let us remember that our faithfulness to corporate worship may not be only about us! It may be what the world needs.

See you Sunday, as we witness to the truth of our faith by worshipping Him together on the Lord's Day.

Pastor Mark