As I was finishing up the recent Why Believe? sermon series and the Why Go to Church? series on the blog, someone encouraged me to follow them up with a Why NewLife? post, in order to highlight some of the reasons why I feel NewLife is a church worth being a part of.  As I mentioned in an earlier Pulse, I am not fond of religious consumerism, where “church shopping” becomes like looking for a good mechanic (“I like the music, and the seats were comfortable, but the sermon was too long”).  However, I do think it’s worth testifying to what God is doing in our church, in the hopes that more might become a part of what He is doing in and through our community.  So let me offer five reasons (among many others) why I love our church:

1) People who actually want to be there – Many churches have those “Christmas & Easter” types who only come out on the big holidays, or have people who go to church because they think it is part of one’s religious duty or obligation.  Thankfully, our church seems pretty immune to that demographic.  The people at NewLife are there because they want to be there, because they love God and want to know Him better, and they love the community of people who have been gathered together to care for each other and work together to transform our world.  They understand that simply “going to church” doesn’t score any points with God, and come on Sundays because they actually want to be there.

2) A people who know each other and care for each other – One of the frustrations encountered at many churches can be that no one knows who you are, and there is little opportunity to let people know your needs.  At NewLife, it is hard to be anonymous, and easy to find people willing to pray for you, listen to you, and help you out when you are in need.

3) A respect for and knowledge of the Bible – In many churches, Sunday sermons are little more than an opportunity for the preacher to express his or her opinions and views on a subject, or to share heartwarming, Chicken Soup for the Soul-type stories.  At NewLife, we place a high value on the Bible and really want to know what God has said in it so that we might consider how to live our lives in line with the will of our loving and holy God.  This means that we preach the stories and principles of the Bible in all of their richness, with care and attention given to why they matter to our lives today, so that we might know God better.

4) A willingness to ask questions and wrestle with the difficult subjects – I think our church has displayed the courage necessary to ask the hard questions of God and allow faith and life to be complex.  Everyone is welcome with whatever doubts and questions they might have, and all doubts and questions are taken seriously, with no easy, Sunday School answers allowed (except in Sunday School, of course…).

5) A great mix of ages – Despite the fact that our church is small, there is a great mix of ages.  Our largest demographic is probably 20 and 30-something married couples with nursery age children, but NewLife has people from age 0-80, which really allows for every generation to learn from the others and grow in their understanding and worship of God.

In 1 Thessalonians 2:8, Paul (along with Silas and Timothy) wrote these words to a church he had founded:  “We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.”  I am so grateful for a church like NewLife, where it is a delight not only to share the gospel but to share my life as well.

What about you?  If you are a part of NewLife, why do you go?  Or why do you attend the church you attend?  What sets it apart from the many other churches out there?  If you would like to share your reasons, please post a comment.    And if you’ve never visited NewLife, we hope that some Sunday you will stop by!

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