Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that He opened for us through the curtain, that is, through His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:19-25 ESV)
Connecting with God connects us with one another in the Body of Christ. The Bible knows nothing of a solitary Christian. We need the God who created us to move from death to life. And we need other believers to be fulfilled as His followers and to fulfill the "one another's" of the New Testament: love one another; be kind to one another; forgive one another; serve one another...
The living way to the God the Father is made for us by our great High Priest, Jesus. By the laying down of His life for the sins of the world, Christ opened the way for us to enter the very presence of the Holy One. By our faith in Jesus we have confidence to come to God in humility and boldness, knowing we have been made clean by His washing.
Hebrews says, since the way is open to the Father, let us draw near in faith.
The power of connection to Jesus Christ by faith is the Presence of the Father. God wants to be more real in our lives than just churchy stuff. He longs to have unbroken fellowship with us in a real relationship of love and holiness. We don't have to settle for religion. We can have a relationship with the God who created us. All that is opened up for us by Jesus - not by our good works or by our church activities or by our best intentions.
The piece I believe many believers in Jesus today miss is that connection to the Father fills us with compassion for lost people who do not yet know Him. When we get it right, we want to share the wonder and joy and peace and fulfillment of our relationship with Him so others may know Him, too. Connecting with God connects us with one another in the Body of Christ.
Since the way is open to the Father, let us hold fast to our hope.
We don't give up when life is hard. We don't let up when faced with a challenge. We always look up to God to have our hope renewed. No matter how the storms of life rage, we know there will be calm and peace in the end - and likely a rainbow. One of the deepest, richest resources for maintaining hope is the support and encouragement of other believers as we do life together.
Since the way is open to the Father, let us stir up one another to love and good deeds.
Connecting with God connects us with one another in the Body of Christ. At its best, the church is meant to be a community of faith where we meet together and worship together and serve together and study together and love and encourage one another in faith. In our connection with God and one another we thrive and grow. And in our connection with one another we are witnesses to the world that we belong.
Connecting with God through our living faith in Jesus Christ opens the living way for connection with one another. And like the pieces of a puzzle being assembled together, in the connection we display the whole picture of the reality of our faith in the Son of God, Jesus Christ. All this is why Hebrews says: And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
This is the most basic reason we need to make it to worship every Sunday. We need Him, and we need one another. Let us not neglect meeting together. Let us connect with Jesus and connect with each other, and in the connection, we will be made whole.