Church--To go, or not to go: Part 3

This week, we are going to look at another aspect surrounding the question of why go to church.  Two posts ago, we explored how each Sunday is essentially a “mini-Easter” and the best way to celebrate what Jesus has done is to gather together and proclaim it.  Last week, we discussed how the the church, both as a local body and as a universal worldwide Church, is the body of Christ and that every member has a role and responsibility to play.  These last two posts have mostly dealt with why we go to church on a weekly basis; we need community and we are called to worship and proclaim God to the world.  This week, we will look at the larger instance of going to church for those events that don’t happen every week, but still require us to be a part of the church.

We are, of course, talking about the sacraments, particularly Communion and Baptism in the Protestant tradition, but we will also discuss marriage.  I want to start with Communion, or the Lord’s Supper, because I feel strongly that it should be celebrated every week and is actually one of the most important reasons we do gather together on a weekly basis.  I base this on the fact that 1. Jesus gave us no command of how often to do it, 2. Communion is a means of grace whereby the Lord can meet us, thus we should take it often to encounter Jesus, and 3. If done properly, it ensures that the Gospel is proclaimed each week and proclaims that we gather and have life only because of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Church--To go, or not to go: Part 2

I want to continue our conversation we started last time about why we go to church on a regular basis.  Two weeks ago, we mostly referred to a typical Sunday morning service or any other time the church might gather to meet and worship God.  The point was that we can must truly honor and worship the Triune God when we gather to do this as the body of Christ.  This week, I want to focus on another aspect of response to this question: the church is called, “the body of Christ.” 

Twice Paul uses an extended analogy to call the church a body, and specifically the body of Christ. (Rom. 12:4-5, 1 Cor. 12:12-31)  Paul argues that the church is like a body, each part is needed for the whole body to work as best as possible.  Paul uses basic examples to make his point-- the foot and hand, and the eye and ear, but we can add even more depth to this analogy.  Think about how complicated we know the body to be today.  There are so many parts, both inside and out, that if even one is missing or not functioning properly than the whole body suffers (ok, not including the appendix).