Silent Sermons

I got an e-mail today with the following Blog posting:

http://blogs.chron.com/leonhale/2009/02/sunday_morning_in_a_church_whe.html

I know many people - who I love and respect - that worship in a similar way. I suppose that there could be nothing truer than to say, "Well, I reckon I'd rather you'd be fishing and thinking about church, instead of being in church and thinking about fishing.''

I am jealous of those who can find meaning in "the creation" and do not need to discover more about the Creator - those who listen to Silent Sermons and can divine from them what it is that we all need to fill our hearts with peace and contentment. However, Silent Sermons seem to produce more questions than answers for me.

I guess I fall into the category of those who need encouragement from the Assembly. In Hebrews 10:25 we find, "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.". I know that when Christians begin to quote scripture that those advocating Silent Sermons will tune out. But as I think about what the scripture is telling us, it seems to me that we NEED one another. We need one another not only in terms of being a part of Christ's Kingdom here on earth, but also in helping us to remain faithful when the inevitable weakness comes.

There are days when I do not feel like getting up and going to worship service. It happens more often than I really want to admit. But there has never been a day when I didn't feel better as a result of that attendance. In my arrogance, I have to believe that the encouragement that I receive from other people in the Congregation has got to be more effective in building faith than an examination of the lessor plants and animals in God's creation.