Why We Go To Church

Why We Go To Church

Pastor Terry Wilcox

Psalm 122 demonstrates what people of faith always do:
gather at a place to .

Psalm 122
A song of ascents. Of David.
1 I rejoiced with those who said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
2 Our feet are standing
in your gates, Jerusalem.

3 Jerusalem is built like a city
that is closely compacted together.
4 That is where the tribes go up—
the tribes of the Lord—
to praise the name of the Lord
according to the statute given to Israel.
5 There stand the thrones for judgment,
the thrones of the house of David.

6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May those who love you be secure.
7 May there be peace within your walls
and security within your citadels.”
8 For the sake of my family and friends,
I will say, “Peace be within you.”
9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek your prosperity.

Psalm 120 is about ,
the first step on the road to God.

Psalm 121 is about .
It brings realization to the promises of God.

Psalm 122 is about people happy together in .

Going to church is not .

A test of your values is what you when you don’t have to.

Hebrews 10:25

Psalm 122 gives three reasons to gather for corporate worship:

1. Worship provides a for life.
   “Jerusalem is built like a city that is closely compacted together.” (Psalm 122:3)
   Cloverdale Translation: “…that is in unity with itself.”

   The framework of our faith is God’s Word, Jesus, and the .

2. It is how we follow God’s command to praise Him and .
   

   
   Psalm 122:4-5 (Common English Bible)
   That is where the tribes go up—the Lord’s tribes!
   It is the law for Israel to give thanks there to the Lord’s name,
   because the thrones of justice are there—the thrones of the house of David!

   Augustine wrote: “a Christian should be a hallelujah from head to foot.”

   Psalm 144:9
   Psalm 145:1

3. It is where we focus on .

   Hebrew scholar Eugene Peterson says of Psalm 122:5 (“There stand the thrones of judgment.”) that the word judgment means the decisive word by which God straightens things out and puts things right.

   Psalm 122:6-9 indicates that worship will make a difference the rest of the week.

   Here we have prayers that go beyond the church at worship and create new relationships in our cities and in society.

   Worship does not satisfy our for God – it whets our .

Personal Notes: