Why bother being part of the church?
This is an article for the church newsletter a while back... Circle the correct answer: A. Being a part of the church is a blessing. B. Being a part of the church is hard. Which one did you choose? Or maybe you were on to me and recognized right away that the correct answer isn’t one or the other, but both. The local church is a blessing from God in which believers come together as a visible witness to the reality that they are already one in Christ. Through the local church we receive encouragement from fellow Christians, hear God’s Word taught and preached, receive God’s gifts of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion, and have a built in support system to help us in all areas of our lives. Being a part of the church can be an awesome, inspiring, and edifying. But the church is made up of sinners and the local church is where we encounter the reality of the sinner/saint. It’s one thing to talk about how Christians are simultaneo