The community provided by the church gives us relief from the chaos. It’s the place we can retreat to where truth replaces confusion and we can find rest for our souls. “The physical presence of other Christians,” Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “is a source of incomparable joy and strength to the believer.”

The starting point for every church should be the question, “Why do we exist?” Until we know what our church exists for, we will have no foundation, no motivation, no direction, and no unity. The early church knew why they existed. And they were unified about that purpose. Jesus called followers not to a life of leisure, but to a life of service. While each had a different task they all had the same calling: to make disciples in their generation.

Why should I be an active part of a local congregation? What’s in it for me? What’s in it for the Church that I can bring?