Why I didn't like Church
I used to hate going to church. Well maybe hate is too strong a word, but you get what I mean. Each week mum and dad would drag me along to Heathcote Anglican church.
I found the singing boring, the prayers too long and worst of all, when Sunday School wasn’t on, I had to sit through the sermon – ouch!
The only things I did enjoy about church was seeing my mates and climbing one of the three excellent trees in the church yard!
How my outlook changed
In year 7, I started going to youth group at Engadine which ran at the same time as church, for 2 years I went to church very rarely and was pretty reluctant when I had to, but thankfully I feel differently about it all now.
As I write this, looking back on those days I feel really sad, because church is now one of the things I love most in the world. I wish I had understood then how wonderful church is and what a privilege it is to be part of it.
I wonder about you, do you love church? Or are you like I was, do you find church boring? Do you wish they would play songs that were 5 years old instead of 50 years old? (Or that they wouldn’t have singing at all!?). Are you frustrated that there is hardly anyone your age there? Do you just not get it?
Why do we have Church?
When I was in year 9, my youth leader Steve started taking me to church with him at the night service, and over time my attitude to church changed. I started singing along, listening up and saying amen to the prayers. I hope now to encourage you to love church as well by talking a bit about what the bible teaches about it.
Now we know that if we trust in Jesus and his death and resurrection, we will be brought back into relationship with God. But did you know that just as Jesus brings peace between God and his people, he also brings peace among God’s people. What I mean is, because you are at peace with God, he has made you at peace with other Christians. Because we belong to him, we belong to each other – that's what church is all about!
We're all in this together
This idea comes out strongly in Ephesians 2:11-22. Here Paul is saying that people who once were far from God have been brought near to God and to each other. Check out vs. 19-22, it’s so good, the Gentiles and the Jews in Paul's day didn’t like each other very much, but in Jesus they are fellow-citizens, members together of God’s household, this is something God has done and he loves,
He loves building people together on the foundation of Jesus and teaching them about him. God is uniting them to live among them by his Holy Spirit. Have a think about that for a moment, it’s amazing. I am blown away that this is what God is doing in his church. I want to be a part of that! Do you?
Jesus loves the church
Check out Matthew 16:18, where the main point is JESUS BUILDS HIS CHURCH. Jesus is so serious about his church that he promises the powers of death will never overcome it. I love Jesus and want to love what he loves, if you are reading this I imagine you love Jesus too. If Jesus is on about church and he in fact is the one who built it, I want in! I want to be a part of it! How about you?
Why I think you will love church too!
I love going to church. I love singing praises to God with my brothers and sisters, I love saying the creeds and prayers that Christians have been saying for two thousand years. I love praying with other Christians and hearing God’s word read and preached on.
Church can be messy sometimes – the sermon may be boring, the song leader might be tone deaf, there might be no one else your age there. But you know what? God works powerfully in messy, unimpressive churches; he uses them to build disciples and to show his glory in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 3:10-11). I love church most of all because I trust and know that God is working awesomely through it, I want to be there every week, how about you?