Why Church?

A fair question

Many people ask today: isn't it enough to pray at home, read the Bible by myself and worship God in my heart? Why church?

The Bible's answer is that the church is not an optional extra to faith, but its natural fruit. Whoever comes to Christ in repentance and faith enters a new family, which the Bible calls "the body of Christ", where they find brothers and sisters walking the same road alongside them.

In the biblical sense, the church is neither a building nor an institution, but a community of people gathered around Jesus Christ.

1. The church is God's idea

God created human beings to live in relationship with him and with one another. Right from the beginning, God said of Adam: "It is not good for the man to be alone" (Genesis 2:18).

That is why Christ did not leave his followers as scattered individuals, but gathered them together. The apostle Paul compares the church to a body: many parts, each with its own role, all joined to the head, who is Christ. Just as a hand cannot live cut off from the body, a believer is not meant to live out their faith in isolation.

Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.

1 Corinthians 12:27

2. The church is a place to grow

You can read the Bible at home, and that is a good thing. But God has given the church pastors and teachers to help believers understand his word and grow in faith (see Ephesians 4:11-12). When we read the word and pray together, we learn from one another and see things we would never have seen on our own.

An ember left on its own quietly goes out. In the same way, the faith of someone who drifts away from their brothers and sisters can slowly grow cold without their even noticing. That is why the early church kept meeting together faithfully:

They continued steadfastly in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and prayer.

Acts 2:42

Let's consider how to provoke one another to love and good works, not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another…

Hebrews 10:24-25

3. The church is a place to serve

God has given every believer gifts, not to keep to themselves, but to serve others with. Your gift might be encouraging people, praying for others, welcoming guests, helping in practical ways or listening to someone who is hurting.

Serving is not a burden but a joy. When you discover your place in the body, you discover that you have a part to play, and that others need you just as you need them.

As each has received a gift, employ it in serving one another, as good managers of the grace of God in its various forms.

1 Peter 4:10

4. The church is a family that holds one another up

Life is not easy. Illness comes without warning, living far from home wears the heart down, and families go through hard times. At times like these, we all need someone to stand with us.

The Bible calls believers to carry one another's burdens: to pray for one another, to encourage the weak, to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. This is how the church becomes a family, not just a place we go to.

Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

Galatians 6:2

The church is not for perfect people

Some people hesitate because they feel they are not "good enough", or because they have been hurt before. The truth is that the church is a community of imperfect people whom God has forgiven by his grace in Christ, and who are still learning to love one another. Jesus himself invites us to come to him just as we are:

Come to me, all you who labour and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.

Matthew 11:28

And if you are still getting to know Jesus, start with our Meet Jesus page.

Putting it into practice

1. Make the weekly meeting a priority. Come regularly, even in the weeks when you don't feel like it. We meet every Wednesday, and you'll find the details on our meetings page.
2. Don't just turn up. Get to know someone new, ask how they are, and pray for them during the week.
3. Ask yourself: what is my gift? Then use it to serve others, even in something small.
4. Be the first to love. Don't wait for others to make the first move; be the one who welcomes and encourages.

A prayer