Why the Church Still Matters Hebrews 10:24-26

Dear Cedar Branch Family,

We live in a time when we can do almost anything without leaving home. We can work, shop, order groceries, talk with friends, and even watch church services from our couch.

We also have more Christian resources available to us than perhaps any generation before us. With a phone in our hand, we can listen to sermons, Bible studies, worship music, podcasts, and Christian teaching from almost anywhere and anytime.

All that raises an important question: Do we still need the local church?

After all, we can read our Bibles at home. We can pray at home. We can listen to preaching online, and we certainly don't have to be inside a church building to worship God.

Those things are true, and many of these resources can be helpful. But when we open Scripture, we find something that cannot be replaced by a screen: God designed Christians to live in fellowship with other Christians.

The church still matters, not simply because we need somewhere to go on Sunday morning, but because God has joined His people together in Christ. We need one another, it’s part of the way God designed us.

The Church Is More Than a Building

When someone says “church,” it is natural to picture a building. We may think about the sanctuary, the pews, the pulpit, or the familiar place where we gather every week.

But the New Testament's emphasis is not primarily on a building. It is on God's people.

In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul describes believers as members of one body. We don't all have the same gifts, personalities, backgrounds, or responsibilities, but we belong to the same body because we belong to Christ.

That means being part of a church involves much more than attending a service.

When we gather, we worship and study God's Word together. We pray for people who are hurting. We celebrate when someone has reason to rejoice, and when a brother or sister goes through a difficult season, we can walk beside them.

Over time, those relationships become a very important part of our Christian lives.

Church is not merely a place we attend. It is a family of believers to which we belong.

Consider One Another

Hebrews 10:24–25 gives us a helpful picture of what life together should look like:

“And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”

— Hebrews 10:24–25 (NKJV)

Notice how the passage begins: “Let us consider one another.”

That challenges the way we sometimes approach church.

It is easy to walk through the doors on Sunday morning thinking mainly about what we hope to receive. Will I enjoy the music? Will the sermon help me? Will somebody encourage me today?

There is nothing necessarily wrong with expecting to be strengthened when we gather. We should come ready to hear God's Word and allow Him to work in our lives.

But Hebrews encourages us to think about someone besides ourselves.

Instead of only asking, “What will I receive today?” perhaps we should also ask, “Who can I encourage today?”

The person sitting a few pews away may have had an incredibly difficult week, and we may know nothing about it. Someone may be carrying a burden they haven't shared with anyone. Another person may be discouraged in their walk with Christ.

Sometimes encouragement doesn't require a long conversation or profound words. God can use a sincere question, a handshake, a hug, a prayer, or simply taking the time to listen.

That is part of being a church family.

Stirring One Another Toward Love and Good Works

Hebrews tells us not only to consider one another, but also why we should do it: “to stir up love and good works.”

God often works in our lives through other believers.

Think about the Christians who have encouraged you through the years. Perhaps someone prayed for you when you were struggling. Maybe a Sunday school teacher helped you understand God's Word, or another believer reminded you of God's faithfulness when you needed to hear it.

Sometimes we don't even have to say anything. Watching another Christian trust God and remain faithful during a painful season can strengthen our own faith.

Paul gives similar instructions in Galatians 6:2:

“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

— Galatians 6:2 (NKJV)

There are many commands in Scripture concerning how Christians should treat “one another.” We cannot meaningfully practice those commands in isolation. They require relationships with other believers.

That is one reason the local church matters.

Why Gathering Together Matters

Hebrews continues: “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.”

Sometimes that verse is reduced to little more than, “You need to go to church.” Regular church attendance certainly matters, but the context shows us something deeper than simply occupying a pew for an hour or less.

The writer has already told believers to think about one another and encourage one another toward love and good works. Then he tells them not to abandon gathering.

In other words, gathering matters because what happens among God's people matters.

There will, of course, be times when someone genuinely cannot be physically present. Illness, disability, caregiving responsibilities, work, travel, and other circumstances can prevent someone from attending. Hebrews 10 should not be used carelessly to place unnecessary guilt on someone who truly cannot be there.

But Scripture's normal pattern is clear: Christians gather with other Christians.

Online sermons, livestreams, podcasts, and other Christian resources can be valuable. When someone cannot attend in person, technology can be especially helpful. But those tools are best understood as supplemental to Christian fellowship, not replacements for it.

A livestream can allow us to hear a sermon, but it cannot fully reproduce fellowship with other believers. It cannot replace sitting with a grieving friend, praying together face-to-face, serving alongside someone, or noticing that a brother or sister seems unusually quiet and asking, “Are you doing, okay?”

There are parts of the Christian life that simply require us to be present with one another.

You Have a Place in This Ministry

There is another important truth in Hebrews 10 that can easily be overlooked.

The responsibility to encourage other Christians isn't limited to the pastor, deacons, Sunday school teachers, or other ministry leaders.

The writer says, “let us.” Every believer has a role.

You may never preach a sermon or teach a Sunday school class, but you can still have a meaningful ministry in someone's life.

Maybe your ministry this week is noticing that someone hasn't been at church or Sunday school recently and giving them a call to check in. Maybe it is sitting beside someone who normally sits alone. Perhaps it is bringing a meal to a family, going through a difficult time or sharing a passage of Scripture with someone who needs encouragement.

Sometimes it may be as simple as telling someone, “I'm praying for you”—and then making sure you do. Or it could be giving a hug to someone to show you love and appreciate them.

We should never underestimate how God can use an ordinary act of Christian love.

We Need Each Other as the Day Approaches

Hebrews concludes this instruction with the words: “and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”

In the context of Hebrews, “the Day” looks ahead to God's coming day of final judgment and fulfillment—the day toward which believers are moving in hope as we await Christ.

Until then, God's people are called to remain faithful.

That isn't always easy.

Life brings pressure. Temptation is real. Discouragement can creep into our hearts. Families go through difficult seasons, young people face pressures of their own, and any Christian can slowly begin drifting if we stop paying attention to our walk with Christ.

This is another reason we need Christian fellowship.

There will be times when you need someone to remind you of what is true. There will also be times when someone else needs you to do the same for them.

That's what families do. They walk together.

What Kind of Church Family Will We Be?

Here at Cedar Branch, my prayer is that we will never think of church merely as somewhere we attend on Sunday.

I pray that Cedar Branch will be a place where Christ is honored, God's Word is faithfully taught, prayer matters, people are welcomed, burdens are shared, and the Gospel is proclaimed.

I pray that when someone walks through our doors carrying a burden, they find people who care enough to notice.

When someone is discouraged, I hope they find encouragement. When someone needs prayer, I hope we stop and pray with them. And when someone doesn't know Jesus Christ, I pray they will hear the Gospel clearly and see something of Christ's love demonstrated through His people.

That kind of church family doesn't develop merely because our names appear on a membership roll. It grows as believers choose, week after week, to love and serve one another.

Christ Is the Reason We Are a Family

Above everything else, we must remember what brings us together.

It isn't our building, our traditions, or our programs. It is Jesus Christ.

Attending church does not save us. Sitting in a pew cannot forgive our sins or make us right with God. Scripture teaches that salvation is God's gift of grace, received through faith in Jesus Christ.

Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and rose again. We are called to turn to Him in repentance and faith, trusting in Christ rather than ourselves for salvation.

And when Christ saves us, He brings us into fellowship with His people.

So when you walk through the doors of Cedar Branch this Sunday, take a moment to look around.

Instead of thinking only about what you hope to receive, pray something like this: “Lord, who can I encourage today?”

Then pay attention.

There may be someone nearby who needs prayer. Someone may need a friend or simply a few minutes of your time. You may discover that God has placed you beside someone who needs exactly the encouragement you can give.

My Church family, we need Christ above all—and because we belong to Christ, we also need one another.

May we continue to gather faithfully, open God's Word together, pray for each other, carry one another's burdens, and help one another faithfully follow Jesus until He comes.

In Christ,

Cedar Branch Baptist Church