A few weeks back I started a four-part series under the heading, “Why We’re Here,” focusing on Luke’s description of the earliest Christians in Acts 2:42-47. The previous sermons have emphasized the church as a learning community, a sharing community, and an eating together community.
For this last sermon in the series, I’m going to emphasize the church as a worshiping community.
If you’ve traveled to Europe, you’ve noticed that what used to be the center of Christianity–as indicated by the large number of vast cathedrals–is now largely irreligious. Many of these cathedrals exist as little more than stopping points for tourists who marvel at their beauty and architecture.
Surveys suggest that we’re following in the footsteps of our cousins across the pond. There’s a correlation between age and church attendance in America: younger people are much less likely to attend religious services regularly than older folks. Many people do not see the value in taking time out of their weekend to worship.
Are worship services going extinct? Should they? Are they irrelevant to the coming generations?
We’ll reflect on these questions in the sermon time Sunday morning. I believe–as I hope you do–that corporate worship is a crucial part of spiritual formation in the lives of Christian communities, and we neglect them at our own spiritual peril.
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