Why Church

More schools, orphanages, and hospitals have been started by Christians than by any other religious group. Why?

Our vision – purpose and mission – is based upon what we see – an awesome God who has made us to be in His image forever. God’s story is simple – a beautiful creation – disobedience, sin and death – Jesus’ life, death and resurrection – His call for us to both be and make disciples – a new heaven and earth for those who follow – a place of fire and judgment for those who do not. We have an awesome God above us! We have people all around us, eternally valuable, made in His image. Isn’t that why Jesus says the most important commandment is for us to love God with all our hearts and people as much as ourselves? (Matthew 22:34-40) Real love meets needs – spiritually, emotionally, physically and eternally. And Jesus just doesn’t want us to be concerned about our own little group. He wants us to care for the whole world. He put it like this:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

At the time of this writing:

90% of the world has not committed to Christ. That means of the 120,000 who will die today; 108,000 will have not trusted Christ. Yet, American missionaries have a hard time raising support.
50% of the world has not even heard the name Jesus, while most Christians are afraid to share their faith, go on short term mission trips or give extra so others can go.
Almost half the world goes to bed hungry, does not have access to clean water, and battles preventable diseases and illiteracy, while the average American household income places us in the world’s top 4% in wealth and just 2% of the world’s grain could feed all the hungry.
75% of our nation does not have a church home, 85% of our churches are not growing, while most Christians have never won one friend to Jesus.
In the USA the family is in trouble – abortion and child abuse claim an incredible toll. Our children are now more likely to be raised without their father.
80% of Christian youth leave the church by age 21. More couples are living together and those who are married are divorcing easier. Pornography, sexual promiscuity and disease continue to spread.

Christians agree that some marks of following Christ are praying, reading the Bible, going to church, sharing their faith, giving to the Lord – but the research shows that only one-third of those who profess Christ actually regularly practice these activities.

Emotional stress is at an incredible rate, with most people scoring the same anxiety levels of psychiatric patients of the 1950’s.

Are we supposed to wring our hands? No! Jesus said, “Go!” When He first said that to His disciples, there were only about 120 of them, Rome thought they ruled the world, and social conditions were far worse than what they are today. Those 120 went in Christ’s power and changed the world. If each of us could just win one person to Christ every year, and teach them to do the same – the world would literally be won to Christ in less than 4 years. Just as Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is near.” We have a great God with a great plan – the Great Commandment (love) and the Great Commission (go make disciples).