Why should I go to church? Why should I give so time to people I hardly know? Instead of being so focused on individual needs, Donald Whitney calls us to the discipline of living in community. It is only through our local church that we truly experience life in the body of Christ. In a world committed to self-seeking and the thirst for individual rights, it is hard to create a genuine community based on self-sacrifice and mutual commitment--but that is just what the church must do. In Spiritual Disciplines Within the Church seminary professor, author, and former pastor Don Whitney shows how the local church can build a sense of community and turn church people from passive attendees into active participants. Whitney looks at such frequently asked questions as: * Why can't I get by on my own? * Why should I go to church? * Why should I give of myself to the church? * Why do I need to worship in church? Couldn't I just worship in nature? * Why does it matter whether I become a member of the church? Committed love must mark the local expression of the body of Christ. By putting spiritual disciplines into practice in the church, congregations can return to the depth of community present in the New Testament church, where they "devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer."