Since before we were married, my wife Pam and I have nearly always been part of a church. In Fairfax, the small suburban city where I grew up, we attended three churches over the early years of our marriage: Christ Lutheran Church, the House of Bread, and New Life Community. When we moved further away from Washington D.C. to Culpeper, we were part of Mt. Lebanon Baptist church and then later, Raccoon Ford Christian Fellowship. When we left Raccoon Ford, we didn't know where we would go but we knew we wanted to be part of a congregation. We visited a lot of churches but anyone who has had great church experiences can tell you it's hard to find a church that's the right fit. Maybe you’ve had trouble finding the right church; maybe you are still looking right now. If that's you, I hope today's passage will be an encouragement; so let's listen:

Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together! (Psalm 34:3)

I’ve often heard people say they can worship God anywhere and I suppose that's true—but my in experience, people don't worship God solely by themselves very often. Besides that, the Bible clearly encourages us to worship the Lord together. Maybe you've had some bad experiences in church. Maybe you’ve been hurt by people in church. Maybe you disagree with the politics of some members or you dislike the liturgy. Let's face it—churches and the people in them are imperfect. In fact, they're sinners. Our own church, even though it isn't a large church, has one service on Saturday night, two services on Sunday and two more services on Wednesday, so five times each and every week sinners gather in that sanctuary —sinners who are confessing their sins, repenting, receiving forgiveness and joyfully worshiping Jesus together. In today's passage, the psalmist encourages us to magnify and exalt the Lord together. If you’re not part of a worshiping community, let me encourage you to keep looking—or start looking again. There's real joy to be found in worshiping together...and besides that, Jesus really likes it!