There are many people who see no need of going to church. They say, “I can be just as good a Christian by staying home, so why attend? This question deserves an answer and I have it.
First: We should go to church to worship God. This is by far is the most important reason for church attendance. We do not go to church just to hear a sermon or to see our friends or to show off our clothes. We go to worship God.
Worship is essential in every life. The boat of life must be rowed with two oars—the oar of work and the oar of worship. Use only one of these oars and your life goes around in circles. Worship gives direction to life.
Writer T. S. Eliot said he flew across the Atlantic and lost three days waiting for his soul to catch us with his body. In this busy day and age, that can easily happen. God gave us a day to worship and let our souls catch up. We can worship God any place, any time, but we worship most often in church.
Second: We should go to church to strengthen our faith. When I was a boy I had a bicycle tire that had a slow leak. Over a period of a week it would go flat. I never could find the leak in it and it seemed that I was always pumping it up. There are many slow-leaking Christians. They go flat in about seven days. When we go to church we are pumped up, inspired, and encouraged for better living. Every person believes something. Faith is a necessity—not a luxury. Of all people, we Christians have much to believe in. We believe in God, ourselves, and the future. However, there is much today to shake someone loose from his faith. Church attendance helps us keep a firm grip on what we believe.
Third: We should go to church for fellowship. Fellowship means cooperation in a task. At church we find people who share our desire to serve God and live the Christian life. They will help us through their encouragement and friendship to reach this goal. Cooperating together, we are all made better and can encourage one another to the highest kind of living. People have enough encouragement to bad living nowadays, especially our youth. It comes from every side—advertisements, entertainment, friends. We need to be some place where we are encouraged to the higher things of life. That is what should happen every time you attend church.
The church is for you. It is not a graduate school for saints. It is a kindergarten for sinners. You need what the church provides. Why not begin regular attendance this Sunday? You and the church will both be better for it.