Why are YOU going to Church on Sunday? Is it to worship Jesus Christ together with your brothers and sisters who also know the Lord? Is it to participate in fellowship with the saints who have, with you, been purchased as slaves of God to serve a young Jewish man who was crucified nearly two millennia ago because He claimed to be God?

Why are YOU going to Church on Sunday? Is it because you want to “stick it to the man” who wields authority in a way you disagree with? Is it because the government said “not allowed” and you hate being told what to do?

Why are YOU going to Church on Sunday? Is it because your Lord and God commands you to gather to participate in the means of grace? Is it because of your deep, abiding desire to be faithful to the God you love?

Why are YOU going to Church on Sunday? Is it because you desire to “peacefully protest” against government overreach? Is it because you are titillated and get goosebumps at the idea of rebellion?

Why are YOU going to Church on Sunday? Is it to serve your fellow saints who need to be reminded of the grace of God in these evil days? Is it to come alongside the other wretches who know the One who makes them clean?

Why are YOU going to Church on Sunday? Is it to marvel at men and women who display courage you feel you do not have within yourself? Is it to celebrate something other than Jesus Christ’s life, death, resurrection, ascension, and imminent return?

Why ARE you going to Church on Sunday? Is it because you are a Christian? Or is it because of anything else? Is it because you want to hear the message of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? 

We want you to hear of Christ. We want you to repent of your sin and place your faith in Christ for the redemption of your soul:

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and ‘YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.’ For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

–Matthew 11:28–30 LSB

But count the cost of attending a Biblical Church: 

You WILL be explicitly told to repent of your sin, repent of serving idols, and repent of your internal, private depravities. You WILL be told to turn away from serving yourself and to become a slave of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. You WILL be told that your desires to “rebel” against authority are sinful if those desires are not rooted in a desire to obey your Master, Jesus Christ, at the cost of disobedience to the government.

 

We want you to taste and see that the Lord is good and for you to find rest for your soul.

This is not a rebellion or a revolution. The Pastors who open the doors of the Church are not revolutionaries. They won’t lead you anywhere except to the foot of the cross, to the bloodied, battered, sweaty, filthy feet of a Jewish man nailed to wood. The Elders of a Church won’t give you guidance on how to protest the government except to urge and beg you to be reconciled to Christ; to submit yourself as a slave, truly a slave, to the God-Man, Jesus of Nazareth.

Count the cost of following after Christ. This is what Jesus says about following Him:

“Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 

For I came to ‘SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW; and A MAN’S ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD.’

He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.”

— Matthew 10:34–39 LSB

Are you going to Church? We want you to come, but we want you to come fully aware of the cost of following Jesus Christ because we follow Christ. That’s why we come.

And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who wishes receive the water of life without cost.

— Revelation 22:17 LSB

Come to Church on Sunday, but don’t come unprepared.