I follow after the Holy Spirit some would say that's doing your own thing, don't answer to anyone, it looks that way but you can be bound controlled in churches not all I know, and the title well at times I do church when I believe |Im led to go there. otherwise Like the freedom. and have other commitments at times in the way, am I loved less by God, He who follows His commandments He loves does it have a commandment saying thou shalt do church every sunday. or sat. or for some in there own home like me church is everyday. so is it jus fitting in to the right place even like being here. one can believe themselves to be rejected not wanted. whatever.
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There is a whole lot more to walking with God than joining church! In fact I have seen far more of God at work outside of church than I ever did within those walls.
While all of this can be true, God does tell us, forsake not the assembly. I know many have been hurt in the churches, but we're going to be hurt in this life, in or out of church. But to follow Scripture, we need to be assembling with other believers on a regular basis.
If you ask most, or at least a good number of, believers they will tell you that they are following the Holy Spirit. Yet, if you bring these people together you will find everything from small to great divides on doctrine. Thus, the question, is God confused or is man confused? Since we know God is never confused then we must believe that the children of God, who truly believe they are following the Holy Spirit are often confused and in error. There are many reasons why we need to gather, but one of them is accountability. We hold each other accountable to the Word and each other. If left to our own in most cases we will drift far from what God really intends for us. God refers to us as sheep often in Scripture and one thing is true of sheep ... they need each other.
To the second part, if the church is not aligning with the Word of God then they are in error and one may be in the wrong gathering, but that does not mean we toss out what God has established. Whether we gather in a formal building or in a home setting we need to gather.
To the third part about "thou shalt do church every sunday. or sat" we need to think on two things. 1) I don't do church, we are the church and we gather together to worship, honor and praise the Lord, as well as reading Scripture, etc (I will come back to this in a moment) 2) The Bible gives an important qualifier regarding a child of God. He speaks of us having a love for the brethren. To remove yourself from fellowship, or to fellowship when it is only convenient misses the mark. I go to the gathering of the church to be with those whom I love and with whom I know love me. If this love is absent from them you are in the wrong gathering and if from me then I need to examine myself.
I have had people over the years tell me that they do not need to go to the gathering (church) to worship, pray, and read the Word. This is true (at least to a point). I always ask the same question, "Yes, you don't have to go to church to worship, pray and read the Bible ... so do you?" They usually ask me what I mean and I reiterate do you worship, pray and read the Bible. Of course they say "yes." I then ask how often ... usually it is not often, sporadic at best.
There are so many benefits to gathering with a solid group of the family of God. If in the wrong group, move on ... but find one is the call. Shall we say that we are part of the family of God, but only engage when it is convenient? What about serving others within the family, especially in light of the 22 one another principles in Scripture? Can we really accomplish this apart from being engaged with the family? A quick thought to ponder ... how many missionaries have been sent, hospitals built, schools established around the world by the lone ranger Christian? How many by the organized gathering? Note that even Paul and Barnabas were set apart and sent by the church in Antioch under the instructions of the Holy Spirit.
Food for thought.
Good food too. Amen! I don't agree with everything in my own church, but the part about family...YES, they are. They are better for me than my own blood family has been known to be. I find I NEED to be there, I CRAVE hearing the Word and seeing my family, my friends. I look forward to going. It isn't because of the church, but because God is there. And we can bring God in with us, or not. But we often expect the church to usher God in for us and then blame them if we don't "feel" His presence, or aren't getting patted on the back, or if we get our feelings hurt by another all to human member.
Yes, there are reasons. Some can't even get out of bed and God understands. But when they don't go due to a wrong attitude or wrong religious view, or enmity against the church, they're doing themselves a disservice. I've often found through some messages that just didn't fit right with me, I will close my eyes and just concentrate on the Lord during that time. And I can still "hear" the Word and get in the worship part of the service.
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