Why Go To Church?

[White Horse]

Why Go To Church? A Church goer wrote a letter to the editor of
a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church
every Sunday. "I've gone for 30 years now," he wrote, "and in that
time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of
me, I can't remember a single one of them.. So, I think I'm wasting
my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all."


This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor"
column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until
someone wrote this clincher:


"I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has
cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall
the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know
this... They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do
my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be
physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for
nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!" When you are DOWN
to nothing.... God is UP to something!


Faith sees the Invisible, Believes the Incredible and Receives
the Impossible! Thank God for our physical AND our spiritual
nourishment!

 

[ZiSunka]

True, but why does church have to be so boring?

It's like having oatmeal for every meal. Same old same old.

 

[bleechers]

I don't "go to church," I "gather for fellowship."

Don't depend on one message a week to grow in your knowledge of the scriptures. We are commanded to "study to show THYSELF approved."

 

[White Horse]

I don't "go to church," I "gather for fellowship."

Don't depend on one message a week to grow in your knowledge of the scriptures. We are commanded to "study to show THYSELF approved."

Yeah, I'd kinda advise against just eating one meal a week, too.

BTW, that was just an email that was sent to me. I didn't write it. Just "food" for thought.

 

[Tenorvoice]

Since no one else will give the Scripture for going to Chruch than I will.

Here ya go Hebrews 10:25 "not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near. "

 

[ZiSunka]

Since no one else will give the Scripture for going to Chruch than I will.

Here ya go Hebrews 10:25 "not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near. "

Assembling together doesn't have to mean church. It could mean Bible study, it could mean getting together to discuss God one-on-one with someone else. It doesn't have to be five-songs-and-a-sermon!

 

[White Horse]

Assembling together doesn't have to mean church. It could mean Bible study, it could mean getting together to discuss God one-on-one with someone else. It doesn't have to be five-songs-and-a-sermon!

Who said "church" had to be "five songs and a sermon"? Who says church can't be in your house?

Chill out, it'll be OK.

 

[Sword-In-Hand]

If I went to a church that was just five songs and a sermon, I think I would be praying for God to lead me somewhere else.

I love church and it is by far not boring. Every Sunday, and Wednesday is different and you feel like you've missed something if you don't go.

Church, much like worship, is what WE bring to it. And I believe the verse mentioned from Hebrews pertains just as much to church as having a Bible study.

 

[daveleau]

True, but why does church have to be so boring?

It's like having oatmeal for every meal. Same old same old.

If it is boring for me, I do several things:
1) Check myself for my spiritual purity and commitment. I usually find that when I find church boring, I am focusing my attention on the wrong things. Am I spiritually hungry and studying the way I should or am I just sitting there gathering dust? Am I fellowshipping with the congregation the way I should be or am I the last one in and the first one out?
2) Check the church to see if it is doing the right things. Is the church reaching out to the membership? Does the pastor understand the best way to reach those in his congregation or has he lost touch in favor of what he feels comfortable with? Has the church followed the examples in Scripture that show how the message delivery was altered to ensure it reached the audience it intended without changing the substance?

My current church is not boring, but I have found church in the past to be boring. Usually it wa because of Point 1 (above). But, I have been in a church that would have failed my point 2 (above) crosscheck. If point 1 is the problem, then you have some work to do by fixing your spirituality through prayer and diligent study. If point 2 is the problem, then you have some work to do by trying to affect change in the church. If that doesn't work, then you have even more work to do by finding a new church.

I feel that I must add a disclaimer to this to squash any possible misunderstanding. I am not chastising you or your church for being spiritually weak. I am merely saying that church should not be boring.

 

[alextg55]

I go to church twice every sunday 10.30am and 6.30pm we have a sermon in the morning and in the evening we work our way through the bible with our pastor explaining it to us just now we are at joshua in both am and pm services we have a live band there are three i think who take turns singing different songs like blessed be the name,holy holy holy and power of your love etc all bands have a drummer guitars piano singer etc and i love it going to church on a sunday both services are probably some of the best times of my week and i really dont understand why others dont think like this.

 

[Extirpated Wildlife]

I feel like there is confusion about church. Show me in the Bible where there was a church as we define it today?

Church isn't about songs. Church isn't about a preacher. Church reflected a group of believers in different cities. There wasn't a First Baptist Church of Rome. There was the church of Rome. There was no building. There were followers of Christ. Matt 18:20 tells us that a few "gathered in [His] name", God is there with them, which equals Church.

The unknown person who was talked about in the letter to the editor that he could not remember a single sermon sounds to me as a lost person. And how can you expect a lost person to remember food from God, unless God draws him to him. There are lost people who go to church and have been going to church all their lives.

America is a nation where you can sit in a church building and never feel the need for Jesus. People will assume your a Christian because you tell them you are, but they don't question your faith. They don't try to test you. "Who are you to judge me if I am a Christian just because I sit and a pew and then go home", or ".....because I sing in the choir so that makes me a Christian" or "I work with the kids so that makes me a Christian" or "I do this and that, but don't ask me my beliefs because they are personal to me" or "Hey God works through all relgions" the person will say. When you here that you know there is something up. You can hide. Meet your qouta. Chalk up your "good deeds". Figure which deeds you should take off the board.

You don't have to be a Christian to go to church building for your whole life. It doesn't even have to be a boring church. Some of the Hollywoodized churches just make it more entertaining for the lost person. Put a great speaker up their and it just adds a little more entertainment. Maybe add a Broadway production style play to the mix, a band that rocks the place out, and childrens area that keeps the childrens attention and you still don't have to become a Christian. It just adds to the entertainment that American crave.

I enjoy these things in church. I see nothing wrong with the afore mentioned items. They can add a great deal of blessings. But if people think that God has to have these things or that the God wants these things in our churches to make people come to Him, then they have missed that God is the one who brings people to Him. Not us.

Boring or Entertaining. What we need is obedience in either case. And if a Christian divorce rate higher than the non-Christian divorce rate demonstrates anything, it demonstrates that Christians in America are fooling themselves.

That is why the church epicenter has moved from Jerusalem, to Europe, to America and now to Eastern Asia. America is not the center of where God's working anymore. East Asia is. And that is because of a commitment and obedience that is nothing like what we have in America.

 

[bleechers]

That is why the church epicenter has moved from Jerusalem, to Europe, to America and now to Eastern Asia. America is not the center of where God's working anymore. East Asia is. And that is because of a commitment and obedience that is nothing like what we have in America.

Amen. In Brazil in may that had a march that attracted 2 million evangelical Christians. They chose a "religious holy day" to show that God is not interested in formal, ritualistic religion and its "religious holy days." They stood up for the simplicity of the gospel.

In America we don't start with the cross and then judge all we say, do, see, hear, read or believe by that cross. We start in the world and try to mesh whatever we see and hear with the cross. We don't judge our traditions by the cross and by the Word, we judge the Word and the cross by our traditions.

 

[Ave Maria]

I go to church for fellowship, learning, and because God has commanded me to go in His holy word.

 

[eldermike]

People will most likely jump all over me for this; A biblical church should be a place to encourage the persecuted Christian/s. If you don't know any persecuted Christians and are not willing to be one yourself or at least support one, you can have some music, a sermon, a covered dish lunch and go home and watch the game on TV. But it's not real church.
Eph says that the wisdom of God in salvation is revealed to the world through a body of people who all have the same name, the same Spirit, the same purpose (but with different gifts). This activity makes the enemy angry and makes the church gathering a home coming of the saints. A place to heal up, be encouraged and then go with the whole armor of God back into the battle.

 

[White Horse]

Mike, where's a guy gonna find a persecuted Christian in the Bible Belt?

 

[eldermike]

Mike, where's a guy gonna find a persecuted Christian in the Bible Belt?

They are here, but fewer and fewer in numbers. If you go into the prisons you will have to fight for space and time, the Muslims are taking our place there. It's not easy but you can find places where the enemy will come out to meet you face on.

 

[bleechers]

I go to church for fellowship, learning, and because God has commanded me to go in His holy word.

Could you give me a reference for this. Thanks.

 

[Tenorvoice]

I feel like there is confusion about church. Show me in the Bible where there was a church as we define it today?

Church isn't about songs. Church isn't about a preacher. Church reflected a group of believers in different cities. There wasn't a First Baptist Church of Rome. There was the church of Rome. There was no building. There were followers of Christ. Matt 18:20 tells us that a few "gathered in [His] name", God is there with them, which equals Church.

The unknown person who was talked about in the letter to the editor that he could not remember a single sermon sounds to me as a lost person. And how can you expect a lost person to remember food from God, unless God draws him to him. There are lost people who go to church and have been going to church all their lives.

America is a nation where you can sit in a church building and never feel the need for Jesus. People will assume your a Christian because you tell them you are, but they don't question your faith. They don't try to test you. "Who are you to judge me if I am a Christian just because I sit and a pew and then go home", or ".....because I sing in the choir so that makes me a Christian" or "I work with the kids so that makes me a Christian" or "I do this and that, but don't ask me my beliefs because they are personal to me" or "Hey God works through all relgions" the person will say. When you here that you know there is something up. You can hide. Meet your qouta. Chalk up your "good deeds". Figure which deeds you should take off the board.

You don't have to be a Christian to go to church building for your whole life. It doesn't even have to be a boring church. Some of the Hollywoodized churches just make it more entertaining for the lost person. Put a great speaker up their and it just adds a little more entertainment. Maybe add a Broadway production style play to the mix, a band that rocks the place out, and childrens area that keeps the childrens attention and you still don't have to become a Christian. It just adds to the entertainment that American crave.

I enjoy these things in church. I see nothing wrong with the afore mentioned items. They can add a great deal of blessings. But if people think that God has to have these things or that the God wants these things in our churches to make people come to Him, then they have missed that God is the one who brings people to Him. Not us.

Boring or Entertaining. What we need is obedience in either case. And if a Christian divorce rate higher than the non-Christian divorce rate demonstrates anything, it demonstrates that Christians in America are fooling themselves.

That is why the church epicenter has moved from Jerusalem, to Europe, to America and now to Eastern Asia. America is not the center of where God's working anymore. East Asia is. And that is because of a commitment and obedience that is nothing like what we have in America.

Beautifull man!!!

I would like to add one thing, In you last paragraph ever notice that it is slowly making its way back to Jerusalem? Makes you think don't it?