Welcome to Messiah’s Congregation
A Reformed Church in Brooklyn serving Jesus Christ in the metropolitan area — and beyond.
251 Avenue U (off Van Sicklen, convenient to F train and B3 bus) – Brooklyn, NY 11223
Questions or further inquiries? Call: 917-757-9297.
Should I Go to Church?
Dear MessiahNYC,
Should I go to church?
From,
Considering
Dear Considering,
This is Steve Schlissel, pastor of Messiah’s Congregation, attempting to answer your good question. I hope you are true to your name, for an answer to your question requires “consider-able” work along at least three axes: You need to consider, first, why you are “considering” church; second, just which church you are “considering;” and third, what the Lord of the church has to say on the subject.
Stop Everything!
Answer this question immediately:
What is your only comfort in life and in death?
If you can’t answer as follows, speak to a member after worship today:
That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.
He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has delivered me from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.
Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.
That member will explain…
What must you know to live and die in the joy of this comfort?
Three things: first, how great my sin and misery are; second, how I am set free from all my sins and misery; third, how I am to thank God for such deliverance.
Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 1
