Question: Why do people go to church?

hey all, i was wondering something. is there a link or statistic somewhere that answers the question: "why do people go to church?". i suppose that a great percentage of people go to church initially to seek out friendships / fellowship. if people don't get friendships / fellowship from the church, then i'm sure they'll look for it in the bars and other places of the world. that's why we need to be super-conscientious when we see a visitor in church. a visitor comes into the church with unfamiliar surroundings and questions like: where's the bathroom? where's the entrance to this building? will anyone speak to me? i understand that church is a place to first seek and worship God, but don't forget about the needs of others too! dennisp.s. if anyone knows of a link, please post it. thanks.

you bring up a good point.Where is the love?

i can only explain this from my point of view and that is. i love to see and be in a place that has been made for the lord and to see people with the same understanding and Goals as i do and the love for the lord. When living and working in the kind of world we do we can get lost in it's motives when exposed long enough. the church is a good place to gain strength and dust the sand of our feet.

I have never really thought about thiswhat is the history

"why do people go to church?"I think people "go to church' for a lot of reasons. Many do so out of religious upbringing. Others go because they want to feel better about themeslves and "going to church" is a 'good" thing to do. Some go because they are looking for a 'safe social environment" and "church" seems a good place to meet people. Other's want to improve themselves and think religion is the way to do it.But the biblical way is for people to come to a saving knowlege of Jesus Christ and as members of the body of Christ, they are led to the fellowship of the saints to grow in Christ, be nourished and become functioning members of the body of Christ.A love for the Lord Jesus Christ and a desire to pursue Him with "all those who call upon the Name of the Lord out of a pure and sincere heart is the best reason to seek out the fellowship of the church.God uses other motives to bring people into contact with the church. But His goal is to bring them to Christ, to partake of Christ, to experience Christ as their Life and to know Him in His fullness. And what is the church anyway? Is it a place? Is it a building? Is it a group of people with the same goals and aims and desires? No. The Church is a living organism. It is the Body of Christ. The "called out ones". Those who have been "sanctified in Christ Jesus, set apart in Him. Those who have been regenerated by HIm and have Him indwelling them as their Life.I don't believe we have an obligation to provide other things for people other than Christ Himself. Social programs and professionally produced shows and performences may attract a crowd. But if all we have is Christ, then Christ alone will attract them and they will see the reality of Christ in us and will be brought to desire Him.Unfortunately there is not much reality of Christ in churches today, so to sustain themselves, attract people, and keep people interested, they have to employ all kinds of schemes, entertainments, social events and what have you. And they must offer this and that program to help people in their marriages, resolve this or that problem ect. The result is "churches" filled with unregenerated lonely socialites and religiously moral people who are pursuing religion to improve themselves or find a mate or what have you.But what about Christ? Is He not enough? Graftedbranch

I was tricked into it by some friendly people. :-)

I don't think you can put it any better, in a cut and dry laymens terms manner as Krispy did, that about sums it up.Thanks BrotherYou Did Good. :-)

And perhaps another reason is to teach us some self-discipline! How many times have I woke up Sunday mornings and not felt like going to church? Maybe I was tired, or had a lot of work to do? To deny ourselves, our pleasures for time to meditate on God! Waste some time with God! We need that. When God set aside one day of the week for worship it then meant we should lay aside unnecessary work as well. This not only rests the physical body and mind, but rests our spirits as well. Many years ago, a tornado roared through our commuinty early one Sunday morning. It destroyed several buildings of a farmer in our church. One of the buildings housed hogs. Before dawn the brethren from our church went there too move the hogs, salvage what feed they could; salvage what could be from the house that was totally destroyed...worship service was canceled that day. If the women were not there helping the clean-up, we were at home cooking food which we took out there to feed the volunteers. Now two weeks went by with no rest. I tell you this taught me a wonderful lesson! Physically, mentally, spiritually we need that one day of rest! I was dreadfully tired at the end of these two weeks! BTW, we sell tomatoes retail at our greenhouses. Last year a customer informed us we would not have as good a business if we would be open on Sundays! Staying closed Sundays helps our business! While it has not tempted us, it would have seemed to make good business sense to be open sometimes when we have so many to sell. But God always made sure we sold them before they spoiled!Yes, attending worship service where we focus on God, fellowship with other saints, is a relaxing way to begin another week. Our spiritual batteries will have been recharged. We need it. If God needed a day of rest, who are we to say we do not? ginnyrose

Having said that, being a part of a body of believers is very important. Whether it be a home Bible study group or a large church... we need to be surrounded by people who care about us and where we can grow and serve.Amen. While there is really no such thing as a "body of believers" in a biblical sense (there is only the one body of Christ of which we are all members if we are believers) If we are believers then the Life of Christ within us will create in us a desire to fellowship with other members of the body of Christ. (Christ does not have but one body, He does not have a lot of "little bodies" of believers here or there. He has lots of local churches which are local expressions of the one body of Christ, but not many bodies.)In Song of Songs which is a picture in type of the belivers love relationship with the Lord Jesus as the Bridegroom, when the loving seeker is brought into the Bridgrooms inner chambers to enjoy intimate fellowship with Him, her first response is, "Tell me whom my soul loves, where do you pasture your flock by day... The more we experience intimate fellowship with Christ, the more the Spirit within us causes us to desire to be among the Lord's companions and to fellowship with His flock.And it is only in this fellowship that she is beautified and perfected by the Lord's companions having the Gold plaited into her hair with Silver studds and strings of Jewells hung around her neck. We need the saints to perfect us, to minister Christ into us.This is just a spiritual reality.Graftedbranch

"Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching." Hebrews 10: 25Fellowship with other Christians is important. We are one body; and are suppose to work "together" for the Good of Christ.I've enjoyed reading these posts. May God BLess you. ;-)