What does faith have to say about life's final stage? About parenting? About being a young adult? How does faith help us deal with knowing we are drawing close to life's end? What is the role of a parent (or grandparent) in passing on faith to a child? What are the joys and challenges of faith for young adults?
The past Sundays we have been asking these questions in a series of sermons and stories.
Below is the story told by Lilly Davis.
Why I Choose To Attend Church As A Young Adult
I do not believe it is any secret to our society that young adults are becoming more and more scarce in the church pews on Sunday mornings. In an article published by Christianity Today the author provides some startling statistics as to the reasons young adults drop out of church, “Of those who dropped out, about 97 percent stated it was because of life changes or situations. 27% of them said they simply wanted a break from church. 25% said they had moved to college and 23% stated that their work made it impossible or difficult to attend.”
When Susan asked me to speak about why I choose to attend church as a young adult, I thought to myself, “Why do I choose to come to church? Is it out of habit? Is it out of a sense of duty?” And the answer was evident, community. This place and these people have nurtured, encouraged and molded me as a person from the time I was in the children’s ministry with Cynthia Collins, through years in the Youth Group with Tomara Brown, Anita Roper and Susan Reed, up until where I find myself currently, as a young adult trying to figure out the next chapter of life. Through every phase of my life, the church and specifically this church, Broadway Baptist, has had an immense impact on my life.
Through all of the valuable lessons I have learned from my involvement with this church, the most precious and life altering has been the importance of having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Broadway has poured into me spiritually and has instilled in me the necessity as a Christian to actively be present in the body of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 12:4-6 Paul writes “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.”
All of us are members of the body of Christ and all of us have gifts and talents we are called to contribute to the body whether you’re a teenager, young adult, parent or grandparent. In a culture that is constantly vying for our attention in 10 different ways, I choose to find community here and hopefully, give back to the church that has been investing in me long before I knew it.