Why attend Church? Reasons to attend church
– I want you to understand that being a part of the universal church, (becoming a Christian) without submitting to a local
church is not possible, biblical, or healthy.
First, it’s simply not possible. To imply you can be part of the greater community without first being part of the smaller
is not logical. You cannot be a student at a University and never attend a class. You cannot be part of the universal
human family without first being part of a small immediate family.
Second, it’s not biblical. Every letter in the New Testament assumes Christians are members of local churches. The
letters themselves are addressed to local churches. The New Testament letters which follow the Gospels and Acts of
the apostles teach us how to get along with other members, how to encourage the weak within the church, how to
conduct ourselves at church, and what to do with unrepentant sinners in the church. They command to submit to our
elders, and encourage us to go to our elders to pray. We cannot be obedient to the basics of the Gospel operating
outside the local church body. All the things taught us in the Bible as a whole are impossible if you aren’t a member of
a local church. (See 1 and 2 Corinthians, James, Ephesians, 1 and 2 Timothy, and 1 Peter for references.)Asking where the Bible commands you to be a church member is like asking where the USGA rulebook for golf
insists you be a human. The whole book is addressed to the church because you are a member of the Church.
Third, It’s not healthy. This latest Pew survey is a reminder that if I love my neighbor—especially my nominal
Christian neighbor—I will tell them, as my colleague Jeff Robinson says, that “when we say church
membership/attendance is optional, we are also tacitly rejecting the very people Christ ‘bought with his own blood’
(Acts 20:28).” I need to find the courage to tell them that Christianity is not a choose-your-own path religion, and that
the people we are to associate with have already been chosen for us.” To walk away from who we are and where we
are to be as ordained by God breeds unhealthy Christians.
There are so many other personal reasons that you should be a member of a church that benefit you and your family
and are only found in a local church family. I’ve listed 15 basic ones below.
1. The very fact that there is a God that created, sustains, blesses and delivers us -warrants our worship. At Cedar
Fork we unquestionably stand in the confidence and reality of a loving and faithful God, who deserves so much
worship and respect, that we should honor him with personal and corporate worship as much as is possible.
2. We are commanded to:
◦ Hebrews 10:24-25, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet
together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. “
◦ The teaching and preaching of God’s Word, which Penetrates hearts and transforms lives is a clear directive of all
Christians. To be under the teaching of God directed teachers, who are not perfect, but directed – is necessary for
spiritual growth.
◦ Why?
2Timothy 4:2, “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete
patience and teaching.” Also – Hebrews 4:12 – “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-
edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the
thoughts and intents of the heart.”
2. Purifies the heart. Allows the Holy Spirit to move and convict. Calls sinners to repentance. Releases the burden
of built, Lays guilt on the altar. Brings salvation.
3. Encourages the downtrodden – those who are depressed, hurt, oppressed, burdened, forgotten.
4. Inspires the Lord’s servants to love and serve Christ- the Church is the only place this is taught.
5. Lights the way God would have you go. Church is a place where God reveals his will for you through his
presence in worship, His actual words through the teaching ministry of the Bible, and the testimonies of fellow
pilgrims who have walked where you are walking having been delivered by Gods miraculous grace.
(Psalm119:105)
6. Equips you to stand in faith and hope in days of trial. I Peter 5:8 –“ Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the
devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm together in the
faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of
sufferings.”
7. Encouragement and accountability of the Saints. Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpens Iron – this makes us sharper
to stand in the day of testing. If you’ve stopped attending church because people hurt you, didn’t measure up to
your expectations, or are hypocritical, know that the enemy has you right where he wants you. Satan’s tactic is
to divide and conquer. If he can pull you from the flock, you are vulnerable to his deceptions and attacks. Satan
will use your lack of love for God’s people to quench your love and passion for God. Having a place where there
are people who recognize they struggle with sin and are not going to judge you in your sin but wholly lean on
Jesus for mercy and grace.
8.. To fulfill our Great Commission
• Many see work happening at church and think,” they really don’t need me.” Don’t be deceived. A well running
ministry may appear to have all its bases covered––and it might. But if you look closely you'll discover many
individuals who are doing more work than they’d like simply because today, just as in Jesus’ day, “the harvest is truly
great but the workers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers…” (Luke 10:2). Your
willingness to minister in your church with what God has gifted you is likely the answer to someone’s prayer for God
to send more workers to help with the harvest. A Christian has a call to minister. How can anyone truly minister as
God directs outside of the church?
9. To share your God given abilities and Spiritual Gifts, with which everyone is gifted. I Corinthians 12:4-6” There are
different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.
There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.”
10. To Find Godly Mentors
• In the church you’ll discover many people who have walked the road ahead of you. Their wisdom, insights, and
even vulnerability to teach you from their mistakes is one way God provides to help you grow. Titus chapter 2 is a
great place to learn how much God values mentorship. It is His plan for the mature men and women to come
alongside of the younger to train them in godliness, and guide them toward building a life of no regrets.
11. To Bear Each Other's Burdens
• Galatians 6:2 teaches us to bear each other’s burdens to fulfill the law of Christ. Life can be hard, right? In a
moment everything can change. Just when things are going great, a phone call, diagnosis, a mistake or a host of
other mishaps can leave you feeling afraid and alone. But to those who are a part of a church family they will never
feel alone. When life is going great, they have the affirmation of others. And when life throws a curve, they’re blessed
by loving concern, support, and prayer. Teach your children to Love the Church. To teach love for the church is to
teach love for God.
12. To be a part of a church is to taste the sweetness of life support.
13. Family and marriage health. According to ‘Faiths and Prayer’ there are several benefits to the family that attends
church together: Instilling a moral compass with the children, teaches points of conversation, creates a Godly
support network, decreased problem with developmental issues, establishes righteous routines, helps create
traditions that bring the family together, exposure to spiritual music, teaches organizational and social skills, teaches
principals of God to children from early ages, builds family as a unit.
14. To build up your home and family with bonds that are less likely to be broken. A family that prays and worships
together stays together. Although divorce has hit the church as well as our general society, marriages are less likely
to fall if worshipping together. Prayer warriors in the church are praying for your marriage and family daily. When you
are with people that teach and live for Godly unbroken homes as the Bible teaches, you are bound up in a Godly
family grace atmosphere.
• We would never consider not taking our children to the doctor for a regular check ups. Why do we neglect their
spiritual health which is supremely important and the only part of our lives that lives forever.
15. For personal health. Each of us are designed to operate best in a balanced life of wholeness (health). But what
is health? Health is operating at full capacity and efficiently -physically , mentally , spiritually , and emotionally. Yes,
the church is a spiritual body most definitely. But it is also a place of emotional, mental and physical health that you
get at no other place. There is no other substitute. God created the church for us to be healthy to deny his plan is to
turn away from health.
16. Confidence in our hope and faith which produces joy and peace in our lives. Romans 15:13” May the God of
hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy
Spirit.”
• Jesus said His Church would be based on the confidence that Jesus gives us salvation and is the only begotten
Son of the one true God. He holds us and our futures in His hands. The one who loves us and died for us, is the one
who holds our future in His Hands. This confidence and hope leads to perfect joy and peace.