Worshiping God is a privilege and we worship in gratitude for what the Lord has done for us. God does not need our worship, He has a multitude of angels that sing His praise, but He desires our worship. He seeks us out and invites us into fellowship with Him.
That said, I don’t think we need to gather together on a Sunday morning to worship. God is with us always and we are free to, and called to, bring Him worship in everything we do. If we don’t need to gather to worship then why gather?
Fellowship, support, accountability, education, ministry?
When we commit to follow Jesus we don’t do it alone. We are part of a community of believers that are brought together to pray for and encourage one another.
So why do we go to church? To be part of a community of believers gathered together for His mission.
Why should I go to church?
-to Praise God with other believers
-to learn and share and be encouraged and encourage others.
-to be part of a plan for sharing Jesus with others who don’t know Him yet.
The Bible says we need to meet with other believers.
Why am I a member of the particular church I go to?
-because I know that this is where God has called me to go
-I also regularly attend other gatherings of believers to have wider fellowship, to experience different worship style and to
remind myself that no one gathering or person has all the answers
I like your thoughts samuelh.
To stop trying to bring people to church, instead bring Christ to people.
Its not about church-going but about Jesus following.
A better question to ask is: ‘why do those who are actively committed to Jesus and his mission eagerly gather with other Jesus followers?’
I prefer the focus on Jesus and His mission, rather than on ‘going to church’.
The question of why go to church is a valid one considering the times we live in when North American church attendance is declining. This is detailed in the book “UNchristian”.I believe that several reasons account for the fact that not many people regularly go to church and why some won’t even consider it. First, in my opiniion, people today do not see the value of the “church”. I am referring to the institution as well as the collection of people. In the past the church had a much greater role in the society and as such people felt that it was their duty to belong to it, partly due to tradition and partly due to obligation if services were provided. In our modern day, many of these functions are provided by the government or proxy organizations and so the ‘usefulness’ of the church in most people’s eyes, has declined.
Secondly, and a more sinister reason, is because, in North America and Europe, there has been a falling away of people from the faith. If you are not a believing Christian, then you don’t understand the need to meet with other believers.Like minded individuals will meet with like minded individuals.With the competition of instant gratification that the world offers, it doesn’t take much to see that people with weak or little faith will eventually see the church as a waste of time. Why go? It would be too hard to wake up on Sunday after a night of partying.
I don’t offer any remedies to this situation. It however raises a number of questions for me:
– why do we need to bother who goes to church?
– doesn’t Jesus already know who are His? If He does, then what does it matter who goes to church?
– does it require going to church to live a good Christ-centered life?
– many people view ‘church’ as restrictive. If this is the view, then why try to change it? It is obvious that someone who is not a Christian will view following Christ as ‘restrictive’ so why should I try to change ‘church’ to suit the pagans? Rather, I should concentrate my efforts bringing Christ to the people then they will find the ‘church’ of their choice. Not the reverse.
Worshiping God is a privilege and we worship in gratitude for what the Lord has done for us. God does not need our worship, He has a multitude of angels that sing His praise, but He desires our worship. He seeks us out and invites us into fellowship with Him.
That said, I don’t think we need to gather together on a Sunday morning to worship. God is with us always and we are free to, and called to, bring Him worship in everything we do. If we don’t need to gather to worship then why gather?
Fellowship, support, accountability, education, ministry?
When we commit to follow Jesus we don’t do it alone. We are part of a community of believers that are brought together to pray for and encourage one another.
So why do we go to church? To be part of a community of believers gathered together for His mission.
Why should I go to church?
-to Praise God with other believers
-to learn and share and be encouraged and encourage others.
-to be part of a plan for sharing Jesus with others who don’t know Him yet.
The Bible says we need to meet with other believers.
Why am I a member of the particular church I go to?
-because I know that this is where God has called me to go
-I also regularly attend other gatherings of believers to have wider fellowship, to experience different worship style and to
remind myself that no one gathering or person has all the answers
I like your thoughts samuelh.
To stop trying to bring people to church, instead bring Christ to people.
Its not about church-going but about Jesus following.
A better question to ask is: ‘why do those who are actively committed to Jesus and his mission eagerly gather with other Jesus followers?’
I prefer the focus on Jesus and His mission, rather than on ‘going to church’.
The question of why go to church is a valid one considering the times we live in when North American church attendance is declining. This is detailed in the book “UNchristian”.I believe that several reasons account for the fact that not many people regularly go to church and why some won’t even consider it. First, in my opiniion, people today do not see the value of the “church”. I am referring to the institution as well as the collection of people. In the past the church had a much greater role in the society and as such people felt that it was their duty to belong to it, partly due to tradition and partly due to obligation if services were provided. In our modern day, many of these functions are provided by the government or proxy organizations and so the ‘usefulness’ of the church in most people’s eyes, has declined.
Secondly, and a more sinister reason, is because, in North America and Europe, there has been a falling away of people from the faith. If you are not a believing Christian, then you don’t understand the need to meet with other believers.Like minded individuals will meet with like minded individuals.With the competition of instant gratification that the world offers, it doesn’t take much to see that people with weak or little faith will eventually see the church as a waste of time. Why go? It would be too hard to wake up on Sunday after a night of partying.
I don’t offer any remedies to this situation. It however raises a number of questions for me:
– why do we need to bother who goes to church?
– doesn’t Jesus already know who are His? If He does, then what does it matter who goes to church?
– does it require going to church to live a good Christ-centered life?
– many people view ‘church’ as restrictive. If this is the view, then why try to change it? It is obvious that someone who is not a Christian will view following Christ as ‘restrictive’ so why should I try to change ‘church’ to suit the pagans? Rather, I should concentrate my efforts bringing Christ to the people then they will find the ‘church’ of their choice. Not the reverse.
Just some thoughts.