In the northern Portuguese town of Sobrado, a lady has a dog name Preta. Preta leaves her owner's home every Sunday morning at 5:00 a.m. and walks 16 miles to a Roman Catholic church in time to take her usual place next to the altar for mass. The dog stands and sits whenever worshippers do the same. She usually walks back home, though some of the parishioners will give her a ride. What is interesting is that the Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manha has reported that church attendance has grown as many people have attended just to see the faithful dog. Not the faithful God - the faithful dog. Go figure.
What are you looking for? Do you seek God or are you like the people in Sobrado, Italy who go to church to see a dog that worships? When someone misses worship in our church and they meet another member who worshipped they ask, "Who was there?" If the person is a member of a Pentecostal Church and misses worship and then sees a fellow parishioner who worshipped that Sunday they ask, "What happened?"
For some of us our faith is about relationships, friends, relatives and members of the flock. For others it is about what they experienced.