How do you feel about attending worship? Is it important to you? Do you attend every week or just occasionally? Does it really matter how often you go?

These questions were part of a conversation I had with a close friend last week. I had mentioned that I was surprised to see a certain person in the assembly on Sunday morning. She had surgery the Thursday before, and I had wondered if she would be able to be there.

I made an observation that it is interesting that some people don’t let something like that affect their church attendance while others seem to let the least little thing keep them away. This was his response, “When I see someone like that, I see myself ten years ago. Since I have been in this congregation, my faith has grown; and so has my faithfulness.”

I haven’t had a chance to talk with him further about his statement, but what he said has given me a new perspective about why people don’t want to worship God. Their faith is weak; therefore, their faithfulness is affected by it.

We need only to look at Hebrews 11 to get a picture of faith and what it means in the lives of any human being. The trick is to first develop faith and then to grow it. Our challenge is to figure out how to do that.

First, let’s define faith. The first verse of this chapter defines faith as, “The assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (ESV). Faith is the basis of all our hopes for the future. We are persuaded by things we have never seen.

One cannot believe in God without faith, because none of us have seen God. We are persuaded by our faith that there is a God and that He will fulfill the promises He has made in His word. That should make us want to worship Him.

Let’s think about where we get our faith.  Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” One can’t believe what they never hear.

In II Timothy 1:5, Paul said to Timothy, “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.”

Timothy’s faith began when he was at home, being taught by a mother and grandmother. Paul refers to Timothy as his “child in the faith” (I Timothy 1:2), meaning he was responsible for continuing his teaching.

So one of the ways we can get faith is by being taught, either when we are young like Timothy or even older like Paul. Remember that Paul was not a believer until he was a young man (Acts 9).

Faith certainly comes to us by being taught, but it comes in another way. In Acts 17, Luke is recording the progress of the church in Berea. Speaking of the Jews there he said, “Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so”.

It wasn’t enough for them to have heard the word and accepted it. They continued to search to be sure the things they heard were so.

We have to do the same today to grow our faith. If we never go to the Scriptures to see if what we are being taught is true, our faith in God will not grow.

Another way we grow our faith is through working for the Lord. Our church secretary, Kim, often says to people when they comment on some job she is doing that she is working for the Lord, typing for the Lord, filing for the Lord. It is a lighthearted comment to express that she is making a contribution, but our labor in the Lord is important to our growing our faith. Paul referred to this in I Thessalonians 1:2-3. He said, “We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ”.

 The writer of Hebrews said, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:24-25).

Assembling together to worship will allow us to stir up one another and to be stirred up to love and to do good works. It is our opportunity to celebrate the Lord’s death, burial, and resurrection by taking the Lord’s Supper (Acts 20:7. It is our opportunity to give to the work of the Lord (II Corinthians 9:7). It is our opportunity to sing songs of praise to God (Colossians 3:16). It is our opportunity to pray together as the church did in the first century (Acts 12:5).  Finally, it is our opportunity to be encouraged and exhorted by the preaching of the Word. The result will be a growth of our faith and make us more faithful.

–Sandra Oliver