Going to Church

Going to church

We've been a little spotty in our church attendance lately, having missed out on about half of the services for the past couple of months. As such, I feel a little "out-of-step" after missing church for all these weeks, and am motivated to get back into the fold soon. However, before I get back into the Sunday routine, I'm processing some of the reasons of why I go to church.

I go for a lot of reasons, of course. I go out of habit - it's what I've been doing for almost the past two decades. I go to see friends and to make new ones. I go out of a sense of duty - like the way I give money to charity or visit a friend in the hospital. I go because sometimes I enjoy the sermons and believe that it's good for me - like the way I believe that reading a good book, or going to the gym is good for me. But beneath all such reasons, I think, more than I might realize, I go to find peace - peace in Christ.

For all of its beauty and wonder, this is a dangerous world we live in. Lurking around the corner for many of us are hardships and trials that will push us to the limits of what we are made of. Some of us have already been through such storms; and all of us have waiting for us storms still yet to come. So I go to church in faith - faith that to worship together, to pray together, to receive the bread and wine in silence together, even when my mind wanders off to some distant space, is to somehow draw near to a mystery of life-giving peace and holiness that is far beyond the storms of this world, much like the way a child reaches out in the darkness for a hand to take hold of.

 

Comments

[Jeff]

Thank you for sharing Ted.  For me I go to church because when I am in that environment surrounded by fellow Christians I feel closer to God and that is very comforting.  It is the same when I read the Bible.  Your words have made me rekindle that lovely feeling and perhaps I should attend Sunday service again and rejoin a Discovery Group.  I am glad you wrote this blog for it jolted me out of my complacency.  I pray you get back into your Sunday routine too!  Cheers!  Jeff