“See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called ‘Today’, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.” (Hebrews 3:12-14)

These verses share reasons why gathering as a church is so important! Christians are meant to regularly encourage one another to keep prioritizing God and to resist sin’s deceitfulness. The goal for the Christian is to remain faithful to God till the very end. Life will hurl marvelous ups and devastating downs our way, but we are called to stay the course and remain faithful. It is simply not enough to give or receive encouragement once or twice.

Our weekly gathering is also valuable because it’s there where we proclaim the gospel. Whether someone hears it for the first time or the thousandth time, the grounding truth and hope of the gospel is vital for all of us to hear and share regularly. 

We also gather as a church to lift high the name of the Lord, to honor Him with the praise and worship due His name. The King of Kings is worthy of praise and it’s at our weekly gathering that we can corporately do just that. 

Because gathering corporately is so important, Serve Teams become vital. It is they who work together to host our weekly gathering! All churches are called to: “Grow up in all things into Him who is the head-Christ-from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.” (Ephesians 4:15-16)

In our human bodies, we have 360 joints whose function is to connect bone to bone. What a vivid picture of how we each have a small but vital part to play in the overall healthy function of our church body. 

God is building His church. He has no Plan B. So we do best to pour our focus and effort in the direction of what He is up to. That is what being a follower of Christ is all about. In 2023, New Day will go where God is leading us. And what a delight to follow Him together! 

1 Peter 4:10-11 says, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms… so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.” 

Bless you as you prayerfully consider how you will use your gifts to volunteer this year.