When a person stomps out of a church service complaining about the quality of the music, the length of the announcements, or a poorly delivered sermon, he himself may be the problem.

Getting little or no benefit from a worship service is somewhat like going into a huge department store and coming out with a 99-cent item. Literally hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of merchandise are available, but the shopper will take away with him only what he has come prepared to get.

If we enter a church service expecting a blessing, we have taken the first step to receiving one. If we participate with a genuine desire to hear God speak to us through the Scriptures, we will surely come away with our hearts filled. But we are bound to depart emptyhanded if we merely go out of a sense of duty, attend with a critical attitude, or bear ill will toward the pastor or fellow members.

The next time you go to church, go in the spirit of the psalmist, who declared, "I was glad when they said to me, 'Let us go into the house of Lord'" (Ps. 122:1). Then the hymns of praise, the fellowship of believers, and the preaching of the Word will bless your soul!  — Richard De Haan