The danger of missing church is that soon you don’t miss it.

Do you have “Blue Dot Fever?” As the hantavirus continues to cause concern among health officials, the music industry is monitoring what’s been dubbed “blue dot fever.” The condition gets its name from Ticketmaster seating charts for concerts at venues where a blue dot indicates an unsold seat. A survey of summer concerts features lots of gigs that look like a bad case of Smurf measles. The Pussycat Dolls are the latest music act to cancel swaths of concerts because of lagging ticket sales. Those venues had more open seats than a 4 pm Friday work meeting.  

Why so blue? Mainly, everything is more expensive: The average concert ticket in 2026 is $144, up from $115 last year and $82 in 2020. 

Do you know what’s still free? 

Church attendance. At Grace, not only will we NOT charge you a ticket price, but we’ll also give you free coffee and treats that you can bring into our worship service. What a deal? 

Summer has officially started and with it the vacation season. The Bible teaches rest and vacations are important. Yet, even when you’re on vacation, please don’t take a vacation from worshiping with others in a local church. There’s a great blessing that too many Christians miss when they’re on vacation – worshiping with other believers in an area local church. What a blessing we can be when we’re on vacation to fellowship with other believers we’ve never met. 

What a blessing you might be to some church family by your presence. I know that at Grace when a visitor from another part of the country is vacationing and attends our service, it encourages us! We’ve had believers from nearly every State visit at one time or another. And it means so much when those who have a vacation home in our area make our church their home church while they’re enjoying their home away from home.  

Long covid is not just a physical malady; it’s become a church one. Post-covid has infected many Christians where they rationalize that watching online is just like being there. It’s not! Our son, Aaron, is in Taiwan and we stay in touch via video calls. It’s not even close to being with each other. 

Facebook Live and YouTube church are designed for those who must work, who are ill or physically unable to attend the worship services. It’s not a substitute for being with your brothers and sisters. It’s a bit like a microwave dinner. It’s okay but it’s no substitute for the real thing. 

“Empty church seat fever” is an epidemic today among professing Christians. The largest evangelical group in America, Southern Baptists, have 16 million members. On a typical Sunday though only 6 million of those members attend their church’s worship gathering. Not only is it disheartening, it’s a spiritually dangerous direction for a Christ-follower.

The New Testament continually emphasizes worshiping together for a reason. And that was in a day when it was very difficult. The majority were slaves who because of their job requirements had to meet for worship very early, before sunrise, or when their work was done, after sunset. 

Why is missing out on worshipping together spiritually dangerous?

You miss out on one of God’s primary designs for your spiritual growth and health. 

The central aspect of corporate worship is the preaching of God’s Word. The proclamation of Scriptures is God’s primary means for disciples to grow in spiritual maturity. When a professing Christian misses church they’re missing God’s prescribed process for spiritual growth. A screen is harder to focus on. It lacks the intimacy of personal presence.  

You make a statement to the world that you love Jesus and He is worthy of your time to worship. 

People watch us and those who don’t know our Savior are watching us. What we spend our time on reveals what we value. If you miss church to chill or attend a sporting activity, what does it say about the worth you ascribe to God? Replacing regularly scheduled worship time with some other activity demonstrates God is not actually worthy of our worship; something else is. Unfortunately, this is the attitude and conduct of unbelievers, not God’s people.

Let me put it another way. If you skipped work to chill-ax, what would your employer think about your value of your job? Missing work affects our financial health; missing worship affects our spiritual health. 

It’s hard to serve the Lord by serving others…if you’re not there. 

Too often people think that corporate worship is for meeting their own spiritual needs. If they don’t feel they have any spiritual needs, there’s no reason to attend. The problem with this view of worship is that it’s individualistic and tends to be self-centered. Jesus washed His disciples’ feet the night before He was crucified. He told His disciples that He was giving them an example of how to serve each other. We all struggle with being focused on serving ourselves, yet neglect serving others. It’s a formula for misery. 

Christ-followers are to invest their lives serving, helping, and encouraging others. Missing out on corporate worship robs you of an opportunity to serve someone other than yourself. When you’re gone on Sunday morning you can’t offer a word of encouragement to someone who needs it. You can’t welcome an unbeliever who doesn’t usually attend church. You can’t pray with a brother or sister who is suffering. You can’t encourage other members with your voice praising God during corporate singing. You can’t encourage your pastor with your presence while he preaches the sermon he’s labored over all week. These are only a few ways you can’t serve if you’re absent from the worship service. 

You’re missing out on a sample of heaven. 

God created us to worship Him. That’s the primary reason we exist. It’s why the Church was redeemed. It’s what God’s people will do when Jesus returns and restores our fallen world. Revelation 22:3 gives us this picture: No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His servants will worship Him.

In 1988 three whales became trapped under a sheet of ice near Point Barrow, Alaska. To save the whales, rescuers dug a series of breathing holes in the ice leading back to the ocean. Two of the three whales were rescued because they were able to get the oxygen they needed and were guided in the correct direction. Gathering together for worship is like a string of breathing holes the Lord provides for His people guiding and sustaining them until they make it to their true Home in heaven.

Worship is spiritual family time! We’re all infected by the “fever” if you’re not present!