Why Go to church?

Why I go to church?

Dave Broughton writes...

Someone once told me there are only 2 things certain in life: you pay taxes and you die. For too many years I actually believed it. I was ‘happy’. I had a good job and just enough money.

Then my sons were born and that seemed to change my whole outlook on life. I was now responsible for these little lives. I provided for my sons and they depended on me for everything. To be honest, it was a struggle, money was tight and it was all so hard I began to wonder about things. There had to be more. There just had to be more than work, home, sleep, work, home, sleep, day after day. There had to be more than paying taxes and dying.

I started to ask questions. Why was I here? What was life really all about?

I don’t know what made me do it, but if I knew someone who was a Christian, I would ask them questions I knew they would not be able to answer. I wanted them to prove to me that God existed. Prove that Jesus was who He said He was. Tell me what happens when we die. None of them could give me the answers I was looking for.

My life totally changed on my birthday some years ago. It doesn’t matter where or how, but I read the words ‘IF YOU CANNOT SEE THE LIGHT, NO-ONE CAN SHOW YOU.’ This was like a flash of lightening to my brain. I stopped asking other people questions and started to find answers for myself. I actually had to decide for myself what I believed. I didn’t read lots of religious books or anything like that. I knew the basic stories of Christianity and just thought about what I already knew. It all started to make a lot of sense. Just thinking about what I already knew was really all it took. I also thought that there must be something in this Christianity thing because people (some very clever people too) had been believing this for over 2,000 years.

That’s when I plucked up the courage and actually went to church one Sunday morning. This was a massive step for me to take. This was really the first time I had been to church (apart from christenings, weddings and funerals) and meant it. The church I chose was St Mary’s, and what a good choice it was.

To cut a long story short, that was 6 years ago, and I am now what you might call a ‘fully fledged Christian’. But the question was ‘Why do I go to church?’

It’s like actually going to watch Oxford United instead of listening to the match on the radio. It’s like a live concert instead of a CD. It’s a bit like taking my car to the garage. I get ‘topped up’ and ‘serviced’ at church. It keeps me running smoothly. It stops me forgetting and it reminds me of how wonderful my God is.

Come and see for yourself. I look forward to meeting you.