As a new Christian, after the pastor talked about this question, I was confused. Why should we go the church? Why shouldn’t we pray at home? The God knew everything of me. He should know how loyal I am. No matter I am at home or in the church, I am the loyal servant of him. Is there any difference between praying at home and in the church? The pastor always repeats something all the Christians know, such as “You should please the Lord by worshipping him”. How about worshipping the God at home, say, listen to the Gospel preached on the BBC4 in the Sunday’s morning, play a CD and sing with it to praise the God, and read Bible or some Gospel online, etc. Why should I go to the Harvest house? There are lots of options around the town. Because I have no answer for these questions, I decided not go to the Church on 23 Aug evening. Hard working on paper and accompanying friends to York made me exhausted in that weekend. I thought that I had plenty of excuse not to go to the church.

However, I woke up at 6.00 in the Sunday morning, and a voice from my deep heart told me: “You must go to the church today.” I agreed. After two other hours’ sleep, I got up and went to the church as usual. However, I mistook the time of service as 10:00 am. I was in the church near an hour before the service. Thank the God! I saw what I never saw before in the church. The choir was rehearsing the songs at that moment. I was touched by their hard work. After a while, Amila came and led me to the prayer room. She introduced me to a kind lady there. The lady prayed for me. I was touched again. After the service, there was a ritual of dedication in the church. Colin introduced the big family to us. He was so happy for the big family that he set it as an example for the whole church. All the singles were called to the front of the church. Colin was surprised that almost half of the Christians in the church were singles. He asked all the married people to pray for us. I felt a little bit embarrassed when we were called on to the front of the church. It reminded the bad feeling that I was called to stand before my classmates because I didn’t hand in my homework when I was a little girl. What wrong with us to be singles? But when all the married people raised their hands to pray for us, I was touched again. Not long later, the miracle happened. When I was in China, no matter how serious I am, no matter what effort I made, my relationship with my boyfriend never ever goes smoothly. But the relationship with the friend I met in the UK is the most comfortable relationship I ever had, which exceeded my expectation on the relationship. My characters didn’t change. My behavior didn’t change. The only thing changed is I have given my life to the Lord. The Lord showed his mercy on my relationship.

Though I was blessed by the God, I was still confused by the questions I mentioned above. When it turned cold and I was under the pressure of time management, I was reluctant to go to the church again. On the 4^th Oct, I decided to take part in the Sunday service twice a month. When I went home on 9.00 pm that day, I thought of doing some transcription work. However, my computer became mute, which means I couldn’t do the transcription work. So I thought that I would better go to the church tomorrow, otherwise I would have nothing to kill the time on Sunday. When I woke up in the Sunday morning, I was still reluctant to go to the church. How about shift to the small church on the opposite of my house? It is easier for me to worship the Lord in a church, if the Lord really wants me to please him in this way. However, I got a message from Annisa, the girl I met in the principle course in the church. She asked me if I would go to the church and she would like offer me a lift. Suddenly, I realized the Lord wants me to the Cathedral House. It’s the church he chose for me. No matter I like it or not, I am his loyal servant, I should go there.

If I didn’t go to the church at that day, I would be regret to death. I appreciated so much what Paul preached at that service. The questions he asked us thinking about are what I was thinking about at that moment. Are we really different from the people around? How do I imagine my preferred future? What is the good life? We need consider our commitment to the purpose of the God. We need to communicate our hope with families. How to make the family last longer? His words threw light on my thought. I realized that the reason why I hesitated to go to the church was that I just thought for myself. I only thought about what I could get from the church. I didn’t think about what should do for the church. I didn’t think about my commitment to the purpose of the God. The first encounter of the God always happens in a church for most of the Christians. The first time I was filled by the Holy Spirit was in a church too. I had shared my experience with lots of my friends. One of them begin going to the Cathedral House now. If I was not there, how could I support her consistently? The Lord guides us and supports us all the time. But he does not do that by showing his image to us all the time. He helps us through the sisters and brothers around us. He also uses us to help other sisters and brothers. Annisa was the angel who the Lord sent to me to show my direction in the morning of 5^th Oct. I will be used by the Lord to help others too.

Finally, here are the answers for the questions which confused me for several months. Why should we go to the church, because the Lord wants us to be there to find our faith, to fill us by the Holy Spirit and to give our guidance and support, and also the Lord uses us there to help each other. If you are the loyal servant of the Lord, you should go to the church. If you are not sure which church should go like me, just humbly follow the Lord’s guidance. He has arranged everything for us probably before we were born.