Happiness is…Having a Church Family

This is my last semester as an undergrad, and my goal as opinions editor is to share ways that I have learned to find and spread joy during our time at Harding. Joy is one of the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22), and God calls us to rejoice inHim always (Philippians 4:4). Joyshould be one of the definingcharacteristics of Christians, woven into the fabric of ourbeing regardless of the challengeswe may face. As such, I have chosen to make it the focus and heart of my column, which will explore practical ways to grow in this area of our Christian walk and to make the most of our college years.

One of the most joyous partsof my Harding experiencehas been my local church. I have been worshipping with the same congregation since I was a freshman, and God has poured out His blessings on my time there. The members have welcomed me into their homes, visited me in the hospital, driven me to and from an internship and encouraged me to teach a children’s Bible class. I have formed friendships with many of the families there, and I have grown deeply attached to the congregation as a whole.

My hope for you is that you too will find a church family in Searcy with whom you can worship every Lord’s Day and Wednesday night, if you have not already. It can be easy to slipinto a pattern of visiting differentchurches every week without ever placing membership at one church and putting down roots there, but I want to suggest a few reasons to place membership at a local congregation and attend there throughout college.

One of the benefits of placingmembership at a church is the accountability it provides. If the elders, deacons and other members of the congregation know to look forward to seeing you each week, they can be there for you if you become discouraged in your attendance; they will be the ones who edify you and exhort you to come back. This accountability is a reason to rejoice; Christians are not supposed to forsake the assembly (Hebrews 10:25), and if we have people cheering us on tobe faithful in our attendance, weare much more likely to do so.

Likewise, another blessing of placing membership at a local church is that we are an encouragement to the other members. Believe me when I say that the churches in and around Searcy are excited andspiritually uplifted when you come regularly. Even though we are young, we can set an exampleto the Christians around us (1 Timothy 4:12), and it is a joy to know that our very presence is an avenue to serve others.

Finally, getting plugged intoachurch provides us with myriad opportunities to use our talents for God. We have the chance to teach Bible classes and work in various ministries; men can wait on the Lord’s Table, lead prayers or singing, and even preach. If churches know that we are attending regularly, they are more likely to invite us to serve in these capacities, which will in turn help us to grow as godly men and women.

If you are in the process ofvisiting churches, I wholeheartedlyencourage you to place membership at a local congregation— because happiness is having a church family.