Worship service attendance
I enjoy attending church as an opportunity to grow and foster my faith, but sometimes I feel overwhelmed by attending church so frequently. Is there a standard for how often I should attend worship?
As Christians, we recognize that our sinful nature is hostile to God and wants nothing to do with worshiping God (Romans 8:7). As Christians, we also recognize that our new self delights to do what God says, including worshiping him with fellow believers (Psalm 122:1). When it comes to worship opportunities, then, Christians can be torn between two desires. Martin Luther’s explanation of the meaning of Baptism for our daily life describes the desired outcome in the battle between those two natures: “Baptism means that the Old Adam in us should be drowned by daily contrition and repentance, and that all its evil deeds and desires be put to death. It also means that a new person should daily arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever” (Small Catechism).
Led by the Holy Spirit and our new self, we love God’s word (Psalm 119) and we love God’s house (Psalm 84:10). We look to gather with fellow believers for mutual encouragement (Hebrews 10:25), to hear our God speak to us through his word (2 Timothy 3:16-17), to receive the Lord’s Supper (Matthew 26:26-28), to offer him our prayers and praises (Psalm 149:1) and to support the work of the Lord’s church (Galatians 6:6).
God’s standard for us in everything in life is perfection (1 Peter 1:15-16). Sadly, we fail to meet that standard (Romans 3:23). Thankfully, Jesus met that standard of perfection for us (Hebrews 4:15). In thankful response for God’s forgiveness, we now strive to what God says. We know we can’t be perfect in life, but we try to lead God-pleasing lives as best we can (2 Peter 3:14).
Rather than setting up and trying to meet an arbitrary standard for worship, I would encourage you to seize all the worship opportunities that are available to you. You may want to share with your pastor why you feel overwhelmed with your church’s worship schedule.
Your question provides an opportunity to be reminded of what the Bible says about worship: “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker” (Psalm 95:6).