Why Church?

Our Youth Collective lesson on Sunday afternoon was answering the question, “Why Church?”  We read through three passages of Scripture and sorted through what these passages had to teach us about life in the church.  For your reference we discussed, ACTS 2:42-47, HEBREWS 10:19-25, and 1 CORINTHIANS 12.

Can you have faith without church? Of course. A large part of our spiritual journeys is individual and personal. We need a relationship with the Triune God that is centered around our own study, our own beliefs, our own prayers.  But our journey is also communal and relational.  Isn’t a long hike better with a friend? Sure, you may love the solitude of the forest, but how might your observations be strengthened by another set of eyes to identify trees and wildlife? How much safer might your hike be with a pair of hands to help you climb over tough spots along the trail?

Pastor Loren’s Top 10 Reasons for Church

10) God did not create just one person; God created people in a relationship.

9) God did not choose just one person for salvation; God chose all people.

8) The body of Christ is meant to have many different parts creating the whole.

7) Different voices help us discern and interpret God’s word in our lives.

6) We are given different gifts, and we need all of them to strengthen our faith.

5) Jesus modeled having a group of companions in life.

4) Fellowship and Feasting together are part of the life of faith.

3) The sacraments are meant to be done in community (Communion and Baptism).

2) We need relationships with people who will be present in our times of need.

1) We can thrive when we share things in common and live to serve others.

You can have faith without the church.  But can you have the church without faith? No, without faith it’s just another social club.  Our sense of belonging in the Christian life is centered on shared belief in the Creator God, the Messiah Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. 

John 15:4-5 reads, “Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.” We are all intertwined and connected at the root to the vine of Christ. 

And let us not forget, the church is not a building, the church is people. 

So, when someone asks, “why church?” Don’t just say, “why not?” But tell them a story about what church has meant to you.  Maybe you had a Sunday school teacher who answered all your questions about the Bible.  Maybe the choir became your family.  Maybe you felt the Holy Spirit stir in you during communion.  Maybe church members held you in your deepest grief.  Maybe a minister sat with you in your seasons of doubt.  Maybe you found new friends while pulling weeds in the church yard.  Maybe someone said a prayer for you when you didn’t have the words.  Maybe church friends brought you food when you had surgery.  Maybe the church paid your light bill or built a ramp for your house. All of these and a million more reasons are why we need church.  And perhaps we don’t witness to one another about these deep down, meaningful experiences of God at work in our lives.  Let’s work to change that. 

“24 And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”-Hebrews 10: 24-25