Five Defenses Why You Must Go To Church

Your parents made you go every Sunday, but once you left home, you vowed you'd never to back to church again. Several decades later, your own mortality is staring you in face and you know that God is calling you back. You're not alone. Middle-aged men and women are filling the pews like never before, and here are the most popular reasons why.

Acceptance of death: Jesus Christ guarantees a seat in heaven to all who believe in Him. Once we hit middle age and time accelerates, it's comforting to know that nothing but love awaits us on the other side. Our relatives will greet us with open arms and we will feel no pain. Churches teach that death is not the end, but the beginning.

Getting through grief: A relative dies of cancer. Your wife leaves you with a mountain of debt. You lose your job. The church offers support in the form of prayer, financial assistance and of course, words of encouragement and refreshment straight from the world's best selling book - the Holy Bible. We search for comfort in the arms of our Father in heaven.

Faith is usually the right answer: As your aging mother prays for your salvation, you're into New Age or Hinduism with a little bit of Islam on the side. But chances are, if you were raised in a Christian church, you'll come back to what you know. The familiarity. The deep connection to the words of praise you heard as a child will help you feel that church is where you belong.

Great music: A 75-year-old man once admitted that he came to church just for the music. The organist was classically trained and on special occasions, would bring in members of the local philharmonic orchestra to embellish the regular repertoire of Sunday hymns. Good worship music is incredibly uplifting

It's in our blood: Even if you went to church against your will, you probably absorbed a lot of Bible verses, hymn lyrics and liturgy strictly through osmosis. What we learn as a child is deeply ingrained. Our parents wanted to expose us to all that was good in church, and it's all still there, inside.