"And the church did meet together oft, to fast and to pray, and to speak one with another concerning the welfare of their souls."
Moroni 6:5
God cares that we go to church. Although sometimes we would like to believe that he is okay with everyone worshipping in his or her own way, that isn't the case. He wants us to be there, and although God might have more reasons, some good ones are right here in this verse.
God wants us to attend church because meeting together often is something that helps us, and helps others. When we meet other people who are also followers of God, we can learn from each other and help each other in the gospel. Part of it is the Sinners Anonymous idea--we support each other in rejecting sin, allowing God to change us, and working hard on being better people.
God wants us to attend church to fast and to pray. Fasting is about focus, and God should be our focus, *especially* on his day. We can of course feel the spirit outside of church, but the idea of focused attention and doing something for God really helps, in addition to the multiplicative effect of meeting together in his name. Prayer is definitely effective as a solo activity, but it gets better and invites the spirit more strongly when many people pray together in unity. Life isn't here just for our solitary salvation, but to build a celestial community. If we think about the ten commandments, or really anything that God asks us, very little of it is only about ourselves, but instead about how we treat each other and learn to live together. As Neal A Maxwell said, "we serve as each other’s clinical material" (April 2000).
Speaking one with another concerning the welfare of our souls is also part of that "social salvation" that God is striving for. As we help each other with our lives, we become more like God, whose work and glory is "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). Just as he works to help us, the reward that he offers is to become like him, part of which is to join in his work, to learn to love each other as he loves us all, and to achieve a sort of social salvation by being able to live with him and with each other for eternity... to rejoice in good company and good work.
Today, let's think about some of the reasons that God wants us to go to church, and let's resolve to do as God asks, and attend consistently. Let's build good relationships with God and with others so that heaven will be a place filled with our friends and exactly where we want to go. :)
Moroni 6:5
God cares that we go to church. Although sometimes we would like to believe that he is okay with everyone worshipping in his or her own way, that isn't the case. He wants us to be there, and although God might have more reasons, some good ones are right here in this verse.
God wants us to attend church because meeting together often is something that helps us, and helps others. When we meet other people who are also followers of God, we can learn from each other and help each other in the gospel. Part of it is the Sinners Anonymous idea--we support each other in rejecting sin, allowing God to change us, and working hard on being better people.
God wants us to attend church to fast and to pray. Fasting is about focus, and God should be our focus, *especially* on his day. We can of course feel the spirit outside of church, but the idea of focused attention and doing something for God really helps, in addition to the multiplicative effect of meeting together in his name. Prayer is definitely effective as a solo activity, but it gets better and invites the spirit more strongly when many people pray together in unity. Life isn't here just for our solitary salvation, but to build a celestial community. If we think about the ten commandments, or really anything that God asks us, very little of it is only about ourselves, but instead about how we treat each other and learn to live together. As Neal A Maxwell said, "we serve as each other’s clinical material" (April 2000).
Speaking one with another concerning the welfare of our souls is also part of that "social salvation" that God is striving for. As we help each other with our lives, we become more like God, whose work and glory is "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). Just as he works to help us, the reward that he offers is to become like him, part of which is to join in his work, to learn to love each other as he loves us all, and to achieve a sort of social salvation by being able to live with him and with each other for eternity... to rejoice in good company and good work.
Today, let's think about some of the reasons that God wants us to go to church, and let's resolve to do as God asks, and attend consistently. Let's build good relationships with God and with others so that heaven will be a place filled with our friends and exactly where we want to go. :)
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