Chalmers' Blog

If I Can Watch Great Preaching Online, Why Bother Going to Church?

We live in an extraordinary age for accessing Christian teaching. Within seconds, I can listen to outstanding preachers from across the world. I can hear sermons from respected theologians, attend online conferences, access biblical commentaries and study difficult passages without leaving my living room. In many ways, that is a wonderful blessing.

But it also raises an important question, if I can listen to excellent biblical preaching online, why should I bother attending my local church? After all, my pastor might not be as gifted as the preacher I follow on YouTube. The singing might not be as impressive. And attending church requires considerably more effort than watching a service from the comfort of my couch.

So, does physically gathering with a local congregation really matter? The New Testament’s answer is a resounding yes, but perhaps not for the reasons we initially expect.

Saturday Snippets (October 31)

As well as reading a lot of books, I also read a ton of articles every week. Here are some of the articles that I’ve read recently and have found interesting, helpful, challenging and encouraging. I hope that they will be the same for you, my dear readers.

Can AI Be Your Bible Teacher? The Danger of Outsourcing Your Spiritual Growth

Imagine a Christian sitting down with their Bible. They reach a difficult passage. Perhaps something in Romans about predestination, or a confusing section of Revelation. Instead of speaking to their pastor, opening a commentary or spending time wrestling with the text, they reach for their phone.

“ChatGPT, what does this verse mean?” Or insert any other AI tool. Within seconds, an answer appears. It sounds confident. It quotes Scripture. It offers theological explanations and even suggests practical applications. Problem solved.

Or is it?

Artificial intelligence is changing how people access information, including information about Christianity. Research published by Barna in 2026 found that nearly half of practising Christians surveyed in America would trust AI with their spiritual growth. That should cause us to think carefully. Not because technology is inherently sinful, but because knowing information about God isn’t the same thing as knowing God.

The Happiness We Were Made For

Everybody wants to be happy. We spend our lives pursuing it. We look for it in relationships, careers, possessions, achievements, and experiences. We convince ourselves that if we could just change a few circumstances, we’d finally be happy.

But what if we’ve misunderstood happiness altogether? What if we’re looking for it in the wrong places?

That’s the question Andrew Wilson tackles in Happiness: What It Is, Where to Find It, and How to Make It Last Forever

I’ve always enjoyed Andrew Wilson’s writing. He’s a remarkably gifted writer who combines serious theological thinking with clarity, wit, and accessibility. He makes complicated ideas understandable without making them simplistic. And this book addresses a subject Christians desperately need to think about.

Is Britain Really Experiencing a Christian Revival? And What If It Isn’t?

For a while, the headlines were wonderfully encouraging. Christianity was making a comeback. Young people were returning to church. After decades of decline, Britain was apparently experiencing a quiet revival. Christians understandably rejoiced. Pastors shared the statistics. Churches celebrated the prospect of renewed spiritual interest. Perhaps the tide was turning.

Then came the uncomfortable news.

In March 2026, the Bible Society withdrew its Quiet Revival report after YouGov acknowledged serious problems with the survey data. Research from the National Centre for Social Research subsequently found no evidence of a nationwide revival in church attendance.

Suddenly, the encouraging narrative wasn’t quite so straightforward. So, what should Christians make of all this? More importantly, should our confidence in the gospel rise and fall with the latest statistics?

Stop Trying to Discover Your Spiritual Gift. Start Serving the Church.

Somewhere along the way, we’ve managed to turn spiritual gifts into something they’re not supposed to be.

What God intended for the building up of his church, we’ve turned into an exercise in self-discovery. What was meant to draw attention to the generosity of the Holy Spirit has become another opportunity to focus on ourselves.

And, ironically, we may even have turned spiritual gifts into idols.

Don’t believe me? Just Google “What’s my spiritual gift?” and see what comes up. You’ll find countless websites offering questionnaires, personality assessments, and quizzes promising to reveal which spiritual gift God has given you.

Answer a few questions about yourself, press submit, and apparently you’ll discover how the sovereign Spirit of God has equipped you for ministry.

Does nobody else find that extraordinary?

We’ve taken something that Scripture describes as the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit and reduced it to an online personality test.

Don’t Just Explain the Text: Why Preachers Must Apply It Specifically

There is a sentence that can sound wonderfully spiritual at the end of a sermon “Now go and apply this to your life.”

The problem is that it may mean almost nothing.

A congregation can hear thirty minutes of careful exegesis, understand the structure of the passage, appreciate the historical background, admire the preacher’s theological precision – and still walk out of church without knowing what obedience should actually look like on Monday morning.

Worse still, vague application can leave people free to make the Bible say whatever they already wanted it to say.

That is why preachers need to be specific.

Not Old, Not Young, Not Done: Why the Church Needs Christians Who Still Have Plenty Left in the Tank

There is a phrase I have heard more than once in church life

“I think it’s time for me to step back and let the younger people do it.”

Sometimes that is exactly the right instinct. Churches need mature Christians who are willing to train others, hand over responsibility and rejoice when a younger believer grows into meaningful service.

But sometimes that sentence hides another assumption – My useful years are behind me.

Saturday Snippets

Should Christians Eat Halal Meat? What 1 Corinthians Teaches Us About Food, Freedom and Conscience

Can Christians eat halal meat?

It sounds like a fairly modern question. Walk into a supermarket, order food from a takeaway, or eat in certain restaurants in Britain and you may discover that the meat being served is halal. For some Christians that barely registers. For others it raises an immediate concern: Has this meat been offered to another god? Am I participating in something Islamic by eating it? Should my conscience trouble me?

Those are not silly questions.

In fact, as I have been preaching through 1 Corinthians, I have been struck by just how contemporary Paul’s discussion in chapters 8–10 feels. The Corinthians were not asking about halal chicken. They were asking whether Christians could eat meat associated with pagan temples.

But underneath their question lay issues Christians are still wrestling with today:
What may I participate in?
When should I abstain?
What does Christian freedom actually mean?
What if another believer’s conscience differs from mine?

Paul’s answer is wonderfully nuanced. He refuses both legalism and careless liberty, and perhaps that is exactly what we need.