Church Attendance

I have been thinking about this topic for a while and wasn't sure what to do so I thought I would just write it here.

A couple years ago I was under the philosophy that most people can be a good Christian without attending service regularly. Why not? People can worship God and accept Jesus as their savior without being involved in a mass worship, right? Of course. I still believe that it is possible to have a relationship with God without fellowship and worship.

However, I do not believe that it is an appropriate way to maintain the relationship. I used to think it was ok but I firmly believe that is because I hadn't find the right service/church for me. I was afraid of being put into a situation that made me feel uncomfortable (by attending worship services alone).

Over the last few years I have had a lot of help with that. I started by trying to find a church in KC by myself. This was a big step because I was church hunting without anyone to help me along. I try to remember how this felt every time I see someone that may be trying to find a church home. I found a church through referral. A friend told me about one of his friends that attended church in south Olathe. Although I didn't know this friend of a friend it was better than nothing. I attended there for a short time and, although I still didn't feel very comfortable, it was the best church I had found in Kansas City. Then I met Kristen and started attending her church with her. The pastor structured his services in a way that I hadn't seen much of before. It is more like a class that just touches on some very good topics. It made me want to learn more and make decisions for myself. He rarely (if ever) tells the congregation what to think. Instead he makes points as the bible teaches, sometimes on both sides of an issue, and leaves you to make the decision for yourself. The contemporary services are a huge bonus too. But I digress.

Once I started attending this church with Kristen my outlook changed. I realize now that there is so much more that God has planned for us that we won't ever be able to find out unless we do worship and fellowship. I believe that it is very hard to fellowship without worship being in there somewhere. As I mentioned earlier, I started getting more interested in the bible and wanted to learn more and be more involved with the church. Since the church is enormous there wasn't much fellowship at church on Sunday morning (or one of the evening contemporary services). So Kristen and I made the decision to seek out a Sunday morning small group. We found a couples class and joined that. This was our opportunity to dive deeper into studying the bible with people that may have the same questions (or at least can help me find the answers I am looking for). Since then my life has gotten so much better. I have a better outlook and want to help people more. I still have a long way to go. The more I learn the more I realize how little I know. Every question answered reveals more questions unanswered. And the more I do the more I realize that, although I am making a large impact, there is still so much good that needs to be done.

So, back to my original point. When I thought I could do this whole worship thing on my own I was under the illusion that I was a good Christian and doing good work. Now that I attend as regularly as possible and have fellowship with Christian friends I realize that my life back then was missing so much. I praise God that he has led me in this path and that I listened to what he had to say.

I pray for my friends that think that they can have a good relationship with God without attending services and having fellowship. I pray for knowledge and strength to reach out to these people and hopefully spark in them what has been ignited in me.