"I rejoiced when they said unto me, 'Let us go into the house of the Lord.' " (Psalm 122:1)  

I had a conversation recently with a Christian friend who told me he didn't really need to "go to church." He said he often read the Bible, prayed with his wife, and was involved in a ministry, so he didn't feel the need to attend church worship services on Sunday. Needless to say, I disagreed.

But it's obvious that a large segment of our society--including many people who would describe themselves as Christians--don't feel it's necessary to regularly gather with any church family.  In many cases, they have replaced regular participation in public church services with watching "church" online. But many more who do attend, do so more out of a sense of guilt and duty ("Go to church or the devil will get you!") than of joy and celebration of God's love. 

Why do you attend church? Or, if you don't attend much, why not? It's a question worth asking, and worth answering. There are several reasons for regular participation in congregational fellowship and worship. And yes, part of our motivation is a sense of faithfulness and obedience; we are called in Scripture to "forsake not assembling ourselves together." (Hebrews 10:25)

But there are other reasons, some of which are downright selfish. For instance, did you know that surveys have shown that the best place in America to develop meaningful friendships is church? And in a culture of isolation and loneliness, who doesn't need genuine friendship?

And how about family life? A Gallup survey of American adults found that the activity believed to most strengthen family life is "attending church or religious activities together." In other words, the best thing you can do to keep your family strong is go to church together.

If that's not enough, there are also health reasons. A series of independent medical studies in recent years have determined the positive effect that regular church attendance has on a person's health. Researchers in one study found that those who attend religious services at least once a week have healthier immune systems than those who do not. Another recent study concluded that people who attend church on a regular basis have generally lower blood pressure than those who don't. Yet another survey conducted by researchers at the University of Texas found that those who regularly attended worship services lived an average of seven years longer than those who never attended.

In the most striking finding, Dr. Harold Koenig of Duke University Medical School has calculated that "lack of religious involvement has an effect on mortality that is equivalent to 40 years of smoking one pack of cigarettes per day." 

It's like the old "Got Milk?" television commercials some of you will remember from back in the 1980's that were part of a PR campaign from dairy farmers to get more people to drink milk. The tag line: "Milk: It does a body good." It was their way of saying, milk is good for you! And according to those studies mentioned above, so is attending church!

And we haven't even touched on the encouragement, hope and spiritual direction we get in a community of believers who are there to support us and lead us to a deeper level of faith in Christ. And yet, it's obvious, we really can't afford not to go to church!

"Church....it does a body good!"  I hope to see you at The Church at Shelby Crossings this Sunday!

--Pastor Ken