Place of worship?

I am still considering if I should worship at FCC tomorrow morning. I am craving more and more of just God's presence in the place of worship, wherever it is.

I had dinner with a dear friend and had a good catch up. At the end of the session, it made me think: There may be a small proportion of people who go to church for other purposes other than worshipping God. But there are also many people who go to church to seek God, to feel that connection with the Lord, to just be still and worship. It doesn't make it easy because there will always be distractors.. people, interaction, excitement to see mates we have not seen for the past week, exciting news to share, etc. There are also negative distractors, like gossip, complaints and a general feel of insecurity and the feeling of being unsafe in the church environment.

Does that mean that we ought to escape from all these so we can worship God? I think the answer is yes and no. Yes because our primary purpose of churching is to worship God in one voice and one spirit with like-minded souls. Yes because getting into the routine of going to church and being distracted makes it an unhealthy norm in the long run.

No, because this is part of church community, this is part of growing up as a believer. We never can say we are growing if we fail to live with our fellow brothers and sisters in christ. It is through all the distractors, both negative and positive, that we will ideally come into a equilibirum to strike that balance between being able to worship God and worshipping with fellow believers. It's easier to run away, I admit, having done that once or twice, but I think facing challenges is the only way to bring true growth.

A person living in solitude can never be credible when they say they experience peace. True achievement of peace comes only if you can find peace in the midst of turmoils and tribulations.

So guess I am going to FCC tomorrow. Moreover, I got to return an ipod watch to a very kind friend who lent it to me. Such a pretty watch. Blessings galore.  I am thankful to God for bringing awesome people into my life.
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