What is the Point of Going to Church?
What is the Point of Going to Church?
It is hard to imagine now but according to www.news.usc.edu (“USC NEWS”) 6 out of 10 (actually 63.3%) of Americans attended church in the United States in 1960.
Gallup says that as of 2020 47% of Americans still claim to attend church. Because of my own observations I personally find this impossible to believe that almost half of the population attends a church on any given Sunday!
I attribute the high number of people who still say they go to church to people still having their names on a church roll somewhere, but not actually attending. I am amazed that 47% even still claim church attendance. Only 22% of Americans claim to attend church every week according to statista.com.
When I worked on the railroad church was a joke. Not one out of 10 guys I worked with went to church and they actually made a joke out of church attendance. It was just assumed that no railroaders seriously attended church.
Church has become a joke to many. Motorcycle gangs call their mandatory meetings church!
I can’t imagine life without church. During the pandemic when most churches were shut down, many people including me got depressed to one degree or another. Of course not everyone who got depressed was because they missed church. Many were upset that bars, clubs, gyms, and restaurants were closed.
Church is so important to a believer in Jesus Christ that without it, life just isn’t the same. Church is where our friends are. Church is where we get encouraged, fed spiritually, challenged, prayed for and so many other things.
We came to Arizona knowing not a soul here except our kids. We had no friends here. We made friends very quickly once we were able to find a church to attend. When we have been sick these folks have called us, texted us, and prayed for us. They have brought us food, medicine and a nebulizer. They encouraged us greatly.
Some people enjoy the Eagles, Elks, Moose, Rotary or Kiwanis clubs for some of the same reasons people go to church, but those clubs aren’t the same!
To a Christian, church is where we go to worship our Lord and Savior. We go to listen to His Word being preached. We take communion. We pray for one another. We help those in need. We sing and glorify God. We baptize new believers. We counsel and get counseling. We love one another, challenge one another, teach and are taught God’s Holy Word. We encourage one another.
There are many who have no family or none close by, at least. Our church is a part of our family. We love being together. We have concerts and plays, even Christian comedians! We go to events together. We play games together. We take walks and hikes together. We are family. We love being together.
It is sad to me that so many have abandoned going to church. A lot of guys say that they go fishing or golfing out amidst God’s creation and that is church for them. That is nice, but it isnt church!
We visited several good churches that we liked before deciding to attend Hope City Calvary Chapel in Surprise. It is a half hour drive, but we don’t mind. It is well worth it.
If you used to go to church but stopped, why not get back to it? If you have never been a regular church attendee, why not give it a try? I highly recommend it.
