Posts Tagged ‘Christianity’

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Why come to church?  In an era of declining membership in mainline churches, in a time when more and more people – not justyoungpeople – are exercising the option not to attend church services, why do we keep coming back?  What is it that we realize that we need, and that compels us to return to this place day after day, week after week?

 There are many possible answers, and no doubt we would find a wide range of reasons if we polled the congregation today.  Most of us would say we come first of all to worship and to give thanks to God.  We realize that life is a gift – all of it –and we wantand needto return thanks to the Giver of all that we have received.  Many of us would say we come to be fed by Word and Sacrament, to be nourished and strengthened by the holy gifts of Bread and Wine for the service we feel called to give in the world.  Others of us come for community, to join together with people who have made a commitment to belonging to God and to following Christ.  We take seriously the call to join ourselves to the Body of Christ, and we find strength in solidarity with others in this place.  But here is another important reason why we come to church: We come because we realize that living as a Christian in the world is counter-cultural, and we need frequently to be remindedof that, instructedin that, and encouragedin that.  When we realize that God asks us to live in ways that are often out of step with the culture that surrounds us, that God invites us to embrace and embody a different set of principles and values than the world promotes, namely the values of the kingdom of God, then we understand how much we need the support of others as we make this difficult and sometimes perilous journey upstream.