Articles
Gospel Meetings
We have been announcing for some time now our upcoming fall gospel meeting. Most of you are aware that this is a common practice among churches to have a guest speaker from out of town or perhaps another state to come and preach the gospel to us. Some churches set aside anywhere from 1-3 days for these meetings and some may do as many as 1-7 days. For some people, their first response to this might be: “Don’t we go to church enough already?”
Think about that statement for a second. What is that individual trying to convey? You can probably imagine that individual is bored with going to church. They may even feel forced because of family ties. They may not like the idea of going to worship God at all but they go anyway lest some “curse” befall them. If this is the attitude some have about worshipping God a mere two days a week, then Heaven is certainly not where they want to be. I hope this attitude does not reflect what any of us feel about worshipping God or even taking advantage of wonderful opportunities such as gospel meetings. I want to share with you a few things about gospel meetings that illustrate its purpose, need and importance.
Gospel meetings help us to grow closer to God. That is why we have them. These days set aside help us to focus more on God and His word as we are called to do. They give us strength and encouragement to keep fighting the good fight in the midst of a world that hates God and hates His word. These opportunities to listen to God’s word help us to put everything firmly into perspective. The truth is, we don’t worship God as much as we should and as much as we need to! There is no such thing as “worshipping God too much” or “hearing too much of the word.”
We are so busy and so tied up with the things of this world that we may often fall short of constantly giving God the glory and honor He deserves and I have felt this way and I’m sure you have too. Gospel meetings bring our minds back where it needs to be because it motivates us to set aside more time for God, His word and His people. Gospel meetings give us an opportunity to serve and love. We get to invite people to come and listen. We meet new people and see old friends as they come and visit us and as we go and visit them. Gospel meetings encourage outsiders to be saved from this perverse world as they listen to God and the power He has to save all of us from sin and its consequences.
We are also graced with the presence of a guest speaker who has willingly travelled some distance to come and speak to us from God’s word. We greatly benefit from his preparation and knowledge as he encourages all of us to draw closer to God. There is so much more we could say but I hope these things motivate all of us to consider the importance of gospel meetings and why we should take advantage of these opportunities.
