Things you can only get at church
I’ve embraced the concept that in the post-Covid church community will be the primary reason people will attend church on Sundays, not content. With that being said here’s a short and incomplete list of things you can only get a church.
Communion
I suppose you can take communion at home on your own, but we all know it’s not the same as taking it with our church family. Taking communion alone is like eating out alone. You get the job done but it’s not as meaningful as when you are joined by a table full of friends.
Corporate prayer
Yes you can pray at home. But you can’t see others praying. You can’t hear others praying. You can’t have others pray over you. This powerful aspect of worship is lost if you aren’t in church.
Corporate Singing
If you don’t regularly go to church you probably rarely, if ever, sing along with other people. But singing is a unifying thing. When we all sing the same song we are unified. You need to see others worshipping. There are few things more spiritually invigorating than being surrounded by believers exalting Jesus at full volume. You can’t get that at home watching Youtube.
Handshakes and hugs
One of the benefits of Sunday church is just good old human contact and touch. In our culture people are desperate for human contact. Many never get a handshake, a pat on the back, a hug. This need can be met around other people.
Healing
James 5:16 says “confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” I’m being a little liberal with this text but I read it to mean, in part, that if you want forgiveness then go to God but if you want healing you need friends. There are some things we can only improve on with the help of others.
Sermon emotion
A video of a sermon does not perfectly convey the depth of the emotion the speaker is feeling any more than a text can convey emotion. At home you can hear the words on a screen but you can feel the pastors heart in the room.
Jesus
Of course you can meet Jesus at home. But consider this: 1 Cor 12:27 says “we are the body of Christ.” In a very real and mystical way the closest you can get to Jesus in this world is being around his believers…his body.
