New Christian Need Advise.

[Travis84]

So I accepted Jesus Christ into my life about a year ago, sorry if this doesn't qualify as new but I still feel very new to it. My current problem is that I am having problems connecting with my local pastor and his message. I've gone to a church in a different state where I was saved wile up and visiting my best friend. I really connected with the pastor up there and I felt everything he was saying it it really made me want to learn about God to pick my bible up to gain as much knowledge as I could and to live for God and have him Number 1 in my life. When I was up there church was so inspiring about the word of God and learning the word of God. So much so that I've debated packing up and moving there. When I was up there I felt a fire inside me that made me hunger for Jesus Christ. Now it feels like I'm back stepping. I don't feel motivated I dread going to church is it wrong that I feel that way? So I guess overall my question is do I continue to force my self to continue attending the same church? What are somethings that I can do to try to do to keep motivated, I pray about this issue every night, I keep having a feeling that I should move. My local pastor teaches the bible he doesn't add or take away from it but I feel like I'm Losing my fire. I'm actually going to be going back up to the church where I was saved to visit some friends and the pastor in hopes that I can get that burning fire back inside. More then anything I want to live for God I want him in my life and I never ever want to lose that feeling.

 

[Lee52]

Travis84,
Do not be alarmed, what you are experiencing is fairly normal and fairly common when one is saved in a congregation-not-their-home congregation. Within my own Church of God-Anderson movement, we have congregations that are made up of old saints with old pastors that teach to a house full of born-again Christians and sing ONLY traditional hymns. We also have vibrant, contemporary, moving congregations reaching out to the community surrounding the church building meeting physical and spiritual needs of those in the community in need, and we have everything in between.

My suggestion is going to be two-fold. 1) If you are not tied to a career job and can make a move to that other congregation community and find employment and meet your financial needs, perhaps GOD is leading you to move there. 2) If you are tied to a career type of income producing job in your current community, does the congregation you were saved in have an affiliated congregation in your current community? If so, go there for worship. There have been times in every Christian's life that we have had to walk away from dead and dying congregations to find growth and spiritual worship. If you are not growing in Christ, being helped in the sanctification process in your current congregation, you must take care of your spiritual needs elsewhere. If the other congregation is unaffiliated, then find a similar congregation to the one you were saved in and go there. This may take some time, so do not be hesitant to go to several congregations and "test the waters".

You need a congregation of Christians that can mentor your development and growth into the Body of Christ.

I am praying for you.
Be blessed,
Lee52

 

[heymikey80]

It is important that you search further for a place where you would receive more and grow more.

Your pastor may be pressing you for more growth in an unexpected direction. The Spirit of God may be, too. And I've experienced time & again that a church with a pastor that seems obscure at first, probably has individual discipleship that would help you to grow and gain a whole lot more from what the pastor is saying. I've been to two churches in succession that're like that.

So maybe the Spirit is calling you to growth in this direction? And maybe the pieces haven't all come into place. I can't tell.

 

[paul1149]

Hi Travis,

Two things are necessary: the Word and the Spirit. If you are getting word without Spirit, it is doing you no good.

I can't say whether you're being led out of your church or whether the obstacle before you is something you need to overcome, in place. I suspect, though, that it is the former. I don’t see what harm it would do to visit other churches in the area and see if there's something out there that feeds you better.

It's a precious blessing to be on fire for the Word and the Spirit. I think you should do whatever you can to fan that flame. Allegiance to any man or church body ends when obedience to following Christ is at stake.

 

[heron]

You have probably heard Christians talk about hunger for God. You have it!

 

[ILuvJesus4ever]

Hi Travis,

Before typing this I said a mini prayer for you. What I would do is pray and ask God for direction. God will not steer you wrong. He will direct a path for you to follow. It may not be the path YOU expected to go but it will all make sense in the end. Always keep the faith. That is so important because you see without faith you are setting yourself up for failure. I will continue to pray for you and ask God to direct you in the direction he wants you to go in.

 

[Miss Wills]

Did you talk to your pastor about it? Pastors have an obligation to their flock to help them mature in the spirit, and to teach on all subjects, not just the nice ones, they're to help with spiritual feeding. Maybe if you let them know your problem, it would help your entire church as well as you, maybe some in your church are feeling the same way

 

[salida]

Remember you can't go by feelings alone-pray for the fire in your heart that God would grow it.