We all know that the COVID-19 pandemic had a massive impact on church attendance.

And yet, even though many of us have returned to in-person church,

the percentage of Americans who regularly attend worship services has continued to decline over the past decade.

And the decline doesn't look like it's slowing down, including among self-professed

evangelical Christians. The question facing many of us seems to be, does Sunday really matter?

My guest today is Paul Tripp, and he says, yes, it does. In our conversation, he reflects on the

importance of not just the universal church, but the local church, the gathered

church. Responding to many of the reasons that people stop going to church, Paul reminds us of

God's design for weekly corporate worship. A regular rhythm intended to guard us against what he calls

identity amnesia. Paul also encourages us, challenges us to stand against our consumeristic tendencies when it comes to church,

and value the church for what it is, not merely what it can do for us.

Paul Tripp is a pastor, an award-winning author, and an international conference speaker.

He's written numerous books, including his newest

Sunday Matters, 52 devotionals to prepare your heart for church from Crossway. Let's get started.

Well, Paul, thank you for joining me again on the Crossway podcast. Well, I love our conversation, so I'm looking forward to this.

Me too.

So I recently read the results of a study that was done, a survey that was done in, I think, June of this past year,

where the people running the survey found that even after a significant post-COVID rebound, in-person

church attendance continues to decline in the U.S. and it's kind of in line with a pretty

significant decline over the last decade or so that we've been observing. And the decline applies

even to those who would claim to be evangelical Christians.

So I wonder just to kick us off as we talk about this idea of corporate worship and the value of gathering together with other Christians on Sundays.

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