Three reasons to attend church, on Easter and otherwise

Christian churches across the area will be packed with people this Easter Sunday. Attending an Easter service may not be on your agenda. Allow me to me give you three reasons to consider attending a Christian church this Easter.

First, church is one of the few places that openly approaches the big questions of life.

From the small-group Bible studies and support groups to the messages delivered by the pastor, churches invite us to wrestle with the questions of existence, values, why anything can be considered good with so much evil in the world.

There are very few realms in our culture where this type of conversation is encouraged.

Second, you need a wide community. Our modern era seems to drift between social starvation and malnutrition. We live in a time when anyone may have thousands of friends and followers but, at the end of the day, may feel isolated. We continuously consume an endless stream of postings and reality television, but are starving for real connections.

Our desperate longing for intimacy becomes misguided by superficial sensuality. Intimacy is reduced to a palm-sized screen and sensuality to a buffet of overindulgence that leaves us feeling ill and unsatisfied. We need places to know and be known by others. Church connects you to a greater community.

A third reason you need to go to church this Sunday is for the singing. As a nation, we love music, but have very few places to sing. We consume and collect music, debate present and past artists, and search for that next new instant classic. But unless we are attending a concert, ballgame or church, we do not sing.

At a concert, the show will go on if you do or do not sing. At ballparks and churches, however, you are the artist.

Whether it is "Amazing Grace" or "Take Me Out To The Ball Game," you are being prompted by someone to sing. The sound that is made is completely dependent upon your participation. There is something about singing that connects us and reaches to an emotional depth that we may not even realize we have.

Whether you believe in God or not, you need church. You and I need Jesus, who established the church. We need the satisfaction of deepest longing of our souls that are truly found in Jesus, God to Son.

This Easter, try church. You'll be glad you did.