Visiting a AoG church tomorrow

Tigger45 · Oct 6, 2012

So I've been born again since '93. The seed of faith was planted in my heart at about when I was 10 years old in an AoG church. That seed didn't blossom until 20 years later. A little discipling would of gone a long way to shorten that time frame but it is what it is. Anyway as I've moved in my life I've typically gravitated to charismatic type churches. I was baptised in a Four Square church. Until lately I've been attending a non-denominational charismatic church. The worship is awesome but the biblical teaching is a little weak. The sermon style is they would pick a topic and sprinkle it with biblical references. That was ok with me as a single person well versed in the word but now my GF is accompaning me and she is not very biblically literate. I don't believe she is born again but she is standing at the door and I'm praying she invites Jesus in. So I try to "wash her in the word" through out the week but I think it would be advantageous to get deeper biblical teaching at church to back me up. There is an AoG church very close by so I checked out their website and they are currently going through the book of Jonah. By looking at their history of sermons they seem to teach about the bible and not just biblical concepts. All that being said I would appreciate prayers :{)

FriendOfGod6 · Oct 6, 2012

The only thing I disagree with in the AoG church is that they believe you only have the spirit when you prove it by speaking in tongues.

Tigger45 · Oct 6, 2012

AoG Fundamental truths #6, 7 & 8 states that they believe that the baptism of repentence and the baptism of the Holy Spirit may come at separate occurences and that the initial sign of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is manifested by speaking in tongues. Although I have the gift of speaking in tongues it's not settled in my mind that it's exactly as they state but I won't divide over the statement either. I'm hoping this thread doesn't become a debate about that issue though. May I still ask for your prayer pertaining to my OP? :{)

FriendOfGod6 said:
The only thing I disagree with in the AoG church is that they believe you only have the spirit when you prove it by speaking in tongues.

revrod · Oct 6, 2012

Hey, tigger45. I pray you find connection and a place you can call "home." I pray the preaching is solid, biblically grounded and challenging to your spirit. I pray you and your GF would know even as you arrive on the grounds. May the Lord's Spirit bless you guys immensely as you seek His direction and plan.

I peaked at the list of AG churches in Salt Lake City to see if I recognized any of the pastor's names.

Tigger45 · Oct 7, 2012

The message was on Jonah 1:17 & 2:1. As you would know that's the part where Jonah is actually in the fish's belly. The Pastor pointed out that the fish is a metaphor for God's provision. It's His way of taking us from where we are to where He wants us to be. It might not be necessarily where we want to be but it's better than being at the bottom of the ocean. It also gives us time to reflect. What else can you do in the fish's belly? It's kind of like a time out to get us back on track. I believe it was God's timing that we visited today. In June I lost my job. I am now making about 1/4 of what I was making. Thank God I don't have any debt. If I didn't have this job I would be an emotional wreck!. The thing is my GF has witnessed this event first hand and she could see how relevant and timely this message was to my situation. Thank you again for your prayer brother :{)

ServantJohn · Oct 7, 2012

tigger45 said:
The message was on Jonah 1:17 & 2:1. As you would know that's the part where Jonah is actually in the fish's belly. The Pastor pointed out that the fish is a metaphor for God's provision. It's His way of taking us from where we are to where He wants us to be. It might not be necessarily where we want to be but it's better than being at the bottom of the ocean. It also gives us time to reflect. What else can you do in the fish's belly? It's kind of like a time out to get us back on track. I believe it was God's timing that we visited today. In June I lost my job. I am now making about 1/4 of what I was making. Thank God I don't have any debt. If I didn't have this job I would be an emotional wreck!. The thing is my GF has witnessed this event first hand and she could see how relevant and timely this message was to my situation. Thank you again for your prayer brother :{)

It's good to hear you were blessed, and I pray for the salvation of your girlfriend.

The pastor of the AG church I attend preached on Jonah as well but talked about how God covered him with the vine to give him shade and Jonah's response when it was taken away by the worm. How Jonah cared for the vine and the shade it gave him but God cared for the people of the city he had called Jonah to speak to.

revrod · Oct 7, 2012

tigger45 said:
The message was on Jonah 1:17 & 2:1. As you would know that's the part where Jonah is actually in the fish's belly. The Pastor pointed out that the fish is a metaphor for God's provision. It's His way of taking us from where we are to where He wants us to be. It might not be necessarily where we want to be but it's better than being at the bottom of the ocean. It also gives us time to reflect. What else can you do in the fish's belly? It's kind of like a time out to get us back on track. I believe it was God's timing that we visited today. In June I lost my job. I am now making about 1/4 of what I was making. Thank God I don't have any debt. If I didn't have this job I would be an emotional wreck!. The thing is my GF has witnessed this event first hand and she could see how relevant and timely this message was to my situation. Thank you again for your prayer brother :{)

Cool. Which one did you attend if you don't mind me asking? I saw there were several in SLC.

Tigger45 · Oct 7, 2012

revrod said:
Cool. Which one did you attend if you don't mind me asking? I saw there were several in SLC.

Mount Calvary Family Worship Center Assembly of God. I've visited a half of a dozen AG churches in the area. They each had their good points. The trick is finding a home church. So in your search of AG churches in Salt Lake did you recognize any of the Pastors?

revrod · Oct 7, 2012

tigger45 said:
Mount Calvary Family Worship Center Assembly of God. I've visited a half of a dozen AG churches in the area. They each had their good points. The trick is finding a home church. So in your search of AG churches in Salt Lake did you recognize any of the Pastors?

No. I mostly know pastors in the midwest/central part of the country. I was just curious to see if I had gone to school with any of them. It can be tough to find a home church for sure. Will continue to agree with you that you can find some place to both grow and get involved.

God bless!

j500minn · Oct 8, 2012

god bless you

Tigger45 · Oct 8, 2012

j500minn said:
god bless you

Tigger45 · Oct 14, 2012

So today during the sermon the Pastor mentioned that they choose a book out of the bible and go through it verse by verse. This is exactly what I was praying for but it's not been my experience with the AG denomination. Do individual AG congrecations choose the sermon criteria? I reposted my OP to show that deeper biblical teaching was imperative to finding a home church. God is good!

tigger45 said:
So I've been born again since '93. The seed of faith was planted in my heart at about when I was 10 years old in an AoG church. That seed didn't blossom until 20 years later. A little discipling would of gone a long way to shorten that time frame but it is what it is. Anyway as I've moved in my life I've typically gravitated to charismatic type churches. I was baptised in a Four Square church. Until lately I've been attending a non-denominational charismatic church. The worship is awesome but the biblical teaching is a little weak. The sermon style is they would pick a topic and sprinkle it with biblical references. That was ok with me as a single person well versed in the word but now my GF is accompaning me and she is not very biblically literate. I don't believe she is born again but she is standing at the door and I'm praying she invites Jesus in. So I try to "wash her in the word" through out the week but I think it would be advantageous to get deeper biblical teaching at church to back me up. There is an AoG church very close by so I checked out their website and they are currently going through the book of Jonah. By looking at their history of sermons they seem to teach about the bible and not just biblical concepts. All that being said I would appreciate prayers :{)

Bob Carabbio · Oct 14, 2012

"they believe you only have the spirit when you prove it by speaking in tongues."

ABSOLUTELY FALSE!!!!!!

The AoG (like most other evangelical groups) teach that a person is INDWELLED by the Holy Spirit INSTANTLY when they become a Christian by faith in the shed blood of Jesus as their "SIN Offering".

The AoG teaches a SUBSEQUENT experience of the "Baptism of the Holy Spirit" - which is the Holy Spirit ON the Christian in power - and NORMALLY one will speak in tongues when that occurs.

revrod · Oct 14, 2012

tigger45 said:
So today during the sermon the Pastor mentioned that they choose a book out of the bible and go through it verse by verse. This is exactly what I was praying for but it's not been my experience with the AG denomination. Do individual AG congrecations choose the sermon criteria? I reposted my OP to show that deeper biblical teaching was imperative to finding a home church. God is good!

Yea, we choose our preaching topic/approach unlike some denominations who are given a book or plan to work through. In terms of a verse by verse approach, I choose to do that on Wednesday nights during our Bible study. It allows for open discussion and interaction. I personally love it.

Glad you are having a good experience thus far.

Visiting a AoG church tomorrow

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