Church: Why Bother?

Philip Yancey asks the question that haunts many believers: Why should I bother with the church? From growing up in rural Georgia in a fundamentalist church to his experience at LaSalle Street Church in inner city Chicago, Philip reflects on the church, his own perceptions of it, and the various metaphors the Bible uses to describe it. Yancey's own early church experience set his faith back by many years. In Church: Why Bother? Yancey offers us a glimpse of his pilgrimage back to faith and to the church as a place of real community and spiritual vitality. This honest and insightful book will help you explore your questions about the place of the church in the life of faith and how to find spiritual connection and community.

A Reference to Japan's Quake

by Dr. David R. Mains

Was any reference made in your service last Sunday to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan? For example, did someone pray for those still looking for loved ones? Was an offering taken to help with the relief efforts? Was a phone link made with a missionary serving in that devastated nation?

I ask because all too often church services are like they take place in a world secluded from any outside influences. While in some people’s minds that could seem like a good thing, my feeling is that it gives the impression that the world of the church is too often unconnected to the one in which people live the major portion of their lives.

My concern is for the impression the church gives when it ignores events of great magnitude like this. Certainly what happened in Japan is of epic proportions and needs to be acknowledged. To totally overlook such devastation would be a sign of incredible provincialism.

Are we so trapped in our traditions that nothing can infringe on the way we normally do church? Maybe we feel that praying makes little differences when problems are this enormous. But can Christians in their services of the church act as though nothing all that extraordinary has happened?

We have now had a little more time to absorb the huge impact of this tragedy on the Japanese people. Let’s make sure that in our church services this coming weekend, what occurred is acknowledged and responded to in a way that is fitting for God’s people.

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Dr. David R. Mains through Mainstay Ministries and Sermon-Coach.com, works tirelessly to help pastors create effective, life-transforming Sunday sermons. Dr. Mains believes that the only hope for our age will come through a great outpouring of revival.