Churches of Christ

Source: The Christian Higher Education Foundation Report

Churches of Christ rank first in the nation in weekly attendance among their membership.

Churches of Christ rank first in the nation in distribution of congregations.

Churches of Christ rank fourth in the nation in number of counties in which there is a congregation.

Churches of Christ are the sixth fastest growing church in America.

Churches of Christ constitute the twelfth largest religious group in America.

Churches of Christ are regarded as having a "remarkable degree of unity" by other religious groups because "they have experienced far less fragmentation".

Only 4.2 percent of young people in Churches of Christ who graduated from high school in the past ten years have divorced, which is half of the rate of their peers (8.1%).

Church Attendance

Why go to Church? (This is good)

If you're spiritually alive, you're going to love this! If you're spiritually dead, you won't want to read it. If you're spiritually curious, there is still hope!

Why Go To Church?

A Church goer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday... "I've gone for 30 years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard thousands of  sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all."

This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher:

"I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this.. They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!" When you are DOWN to nothing... God is UP to something! Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible! Thank God for our physical AND our spiritual nourishment!

All right, now that you're done reading, send it on! I think everyone should read this! "When Satan is knocking at your door, simply say, "Jesus, could you get that for me?"

Amen!!

Scriptures to consider

Hebrews 10:25-26 (and Isaiah 54:7),
Matthew 6:33,
Titus 3:1,
Psalms 122:1

Dead or Alive?

Live churches have space problems - parking, classrooms etc.;
dead churches have no worry about space.
Live churches are always changing things;
dead churches don't have to, they always stay the same.
Live churches have noisy children and young people;
dead churches are fairly quiet and serene.
Live churches have a shortage of staff;
dead churches usually have a surplus.
Live churches are always overspending their budgets;
dead churches maintain large bank accounts.
Live churches struggle to remember new names;
dead churches - well everybody knows everybody - for years!
Live churches have a problem developing new leaders;
dead ones just use the same people over and over.
Live churches spend much on missions;
dead churches keep it all at home.
Live churches are filled with givers;
dead churches are filled with tippers.
Live churches operate primarily on faith;
dead churches operate totally on sight.
Live churches strain to learn and serve;
dead churches seek rest and comfort.
Live churches evangelize;
dead churches fossilize!