One of the things that really encouraged me last Sunday was to see many of our youth come to worship. The church is a multi-generational community where we learn in practice with one another the lessons of the school of Christ that build one another up in love.

One of the themes of encouraging people to come to worship is to show them how much they are encouraging others by their presence. For example, I told the youth that they should be encouraged because not only did they encourage Janice and I who had asked them to come because they actually did come, but that they also encouraged family members to come with them, and they encouraged everyone else who was in worship that day. The ways that they encouraged others they may never see completely. For example, other parents may go home and tell their children that they were there and so encourage them.

And this is not true only for these youth. It is true for all of us. We encourage each other when we come and participate in worship. We are not spectators of a show but we join together with each other to praise God, to pray to God, and to hear and see God's word. Do not underestimate the difference you make and do not underestimate how much you encourage others (even if they never tell you, though it would be helpful if they did). When you make worship a regular priority it can be inspiring to many others to do the same or at least to strive for that goal.

We likewise encourage one another when we come to worship for funerals and when we come to committees and small groups and do visitation. Indeed, let us continue to meet together to encourage one another daily as well as weekly (Heb 10:24-25). Thanks be to God for you.

Labels: encourage, funerals, participation, Sunday worship, visit