God calls His Church to be a festive people, a community of members who celebrate with joy and solemn vows the high calling and great privilege of being the Body of Christ in the world.

The Church is a party, and seasons of celebrating together before the Lord are integral to our existence and mission. The Lord Jesus Christ is even now preparing an eternal feast of glory and blessing, to enjoy forever with His Body and Bride. Our celebrations – our worship together – serve a twofold purpose.

First, they renew us in our relationship with the Lord and the mission He has appointed to us, individually and as His Body. And, second, they create in us anticipation of the coming Day of celebration in which we will rejoice forever together with the Lord in glory.

Drink it down!

One of my favorite images of the Church at worship is contained in the verses that begin this column. “I will take up the cup of salvation,/And call upon the name of the LORD.” The image here is that of offering a toast. The celebrant raises his glass, and, as he does, he calls others to join him in this gesture of honor and commitment. Together they raise their glasses, each with its own contents and amount, to honor their host and to extol his goodness and generosity. All join together, by raising their glasses, in acknowledging the good gifts and graciousness of the one who has brought them together. He, their esteemed host, is the focus of honor and attention, not they.

Then, having invoked blessing on their host, they drink the fruit of his generosity all the way down, becoming dizzy with the generosity of their host and inebriated with his kindness and largesse.

Finally, they renew loyalty to their honored host, declaring themselves his friends and rededicating themselves together to his service.

How like a service of worship is this situation! God calls His people to come together so that they might enjoy His presence and blessings, celebrate His greatness and kindness, and be renewed in their relationship with and commitments to Him. In worship we hoist our glasses, as it were, filled with praise and thanksgiving for God’s many benefits, as we sing and pray and raise our hands to acknowledge the greatness and goodness of the Lord. The exuberance of every worshiper, celebrating together, increases the devotion and enriches the experience of all.

Then one, speaking for the whole assembly, declares the excellencies of the Lord in a message derived from His Word, to which all declare the “Amen!” as a token of their determination to renew their vows and commitments to Him. They drink down the message of salvation and press into the presence of their Host in the sacrament of His Supper.

Thus, filled with the Spirit and drunken with the presence of God and His salvation, the assembly departs and is disbursed to carry out its commitments in the power and presence of their Lord.

We need to celebrate

Celebration is essential to the wellbeing of the Body of Christ. We cannot fulfill our calling to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth apart from regular seasons of glorious worship of God. The Church should strive to maintain corporate worship at all four levels of expression, from the house churches to the Church universal. Such worship is not only a personal obligation, but it is part and parcel of the life of the believing community.

We need the Church because we cannot worship God, we cannot enjoy our proper seasons of celebration, apart from lifting our glasses of praise and thanks together with the other members of the Body of Christ.

We are the Body of Christ, and each of us is a member thereof. We deceive ourselves, deny our true identity, and betray our mission in the world if we think we can get by in the Christian life without, or with only minimal involvement in, the Church.

Jesus is building His Church, and He intends to do that through each one of us.

If we love Jesus, we will love His Church.

Next steps

Has your view of the Church and why we need it been affected at all by this series? Take some time in prayer to think through the role of the Church in your own life, and what you should be contributing to it for the benefit of the Body of Christ. Share your thoughts with some friends, and seek their support in prayer as you begin to make the Church a more important part of your walk with the Lord.

Additional Resources

Download this week's study, Why We Need the Church.

Sign up for ViewPoint Leaders Training and start your own ViewPoint discussion group.

The Church is the flash point for revival, but only if we prepare for it as we should. Order a copy of T. M.’s book, Preparing Your Church for Revival, from our online store.

And men, download our free brief paper, “Men of the Church: A Solemn Warning,” by clicking here.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.