What would you say if a friend asked you “why do you go to church?”

Is it because it makes you feel better? A spiritual pick-me-up? To grow in your personal faith? Perhaps you like the free food? Or the community to belong to? Maybe you're hoping to find a life partner?

Perhaps a better question to ask ourselves is - “why does God want me to go to church?”

I’m sure a developmental psychologist would have a field day analysing how my upbringing shaped me into a ‘people-pleaser’ as an adult.

Though I’m often not fully aware of it, when I pause and reflect on my actions, I realise they are frequently driven by a desire to make others happy—or to ensure they think well of me. And I have a feeling I’m not alone in this!

The desire to please or impress others is a powerful force.

Where would you place yourself on a scale from "sinner" to "righteous"?

Sinner __________ Not too bad __________ Good __________ Righteous

Maybe it depends—some days we might feel more sinful, while others, perhaps, we feel closer to righteous. But the reality is, as Christians, we are both sinners and righteous at the same time. This can be a challenging reality to keep in view.

Over these last few weeks I’ve been reading a book called “Both / And” by Gary Millar, which dives into the great paradoxical truths of the bible. One that intrigued me is that we are both righteous and sinners at the same time.

I had a severe case of whiplash on Monday this week.

We had a massive Sunday where there was so much to celebrate in the life of our church. 

• The joy of new life in Jesus celebrated through the baptisms of many of our brother and sisters in Christ at Wellington City and at the beach in Island Bay. (Also followed by a church swim!)

• The privilege of welcoming dozens of new people into our church community across all three of our congregations with Hutt running its first Newish Dinner and Night Church welcoming a bunch of new students with Sundae Sunday.

• The encouragement of seeing people maturing and stepping up to serve across our whole church, even at personal cost.