What is the primary purpose and function of the church?
Why does the church exist?
Tags:
Colby,
Excellent comments here as well. Thanks for sharing. I do hope others will chime in as well on this subject.
Lord Bless,
LT
Amanda,
Two things about quitting church that come to mind from my experience over the years.
1) Many people quit church because they did not find what they were looking for (worded differently by them, but the basic meaning of their comment). I usually follow them up by asking what it was they were looking for. I will usually get a varied list in response, but seldom do I hear one say they were looking for Christ. They talk about the music, the children/youth program, the attitudes of people, etc. When I ask them do you go there looking for Jesus they usually look at me like I am from Mars. I mentioned in another forum that I can worship practically anywhere and with any style. The reason is that I go looking for Jesus and my desire is to worship Him.
2) I also have heard countless times that I do not have to go to church to worship, pray or read my Bible. This is true, and in fact we should be doing these things daily on our own or in small groups along with gatherng together with the larger part of the body. When I hear this comment that they don't have to go because they can do these things on their own I usually follow that up with a quick "Do you?" After they look at me funny I ask do you read the Bible, pray and worship regularly? The answer is most often "no, they do not." It is God's design for the body of believers to gather and one should never give up looking for a church where they find Jesus in their midst and a group that is loving Him and one another. For those who give up it is their great loss. There are no good reasons for giving up on gathering as the church long term.
Now, to be clear I understand you have not given up. You are searching, but struggling to find a church to call home. That is different than just giving up as you have describe above. Keep in mind that in your search you will not find a perfect church, but you can find one that loves Jesus and others. They do exist.
Michelle,
It pleases me to know that what has been shared has been of help to you and I trust others. Thank you for responding.
Lord Bless,
LT
We may not want to seek Him in others, but will see Him in others, but always must remember that we and others will always be a less than perfect representation fo Christ. No matter how mature we become in this life there is always room for growth.
You basically got the gist of my comment that i can worship almost anywhere. I can worship the Lord alone in a crowd that doesn't even know Him or in a group that is very different in style and fous than I am. I may choose not to make that my church home and family, but I can still love and respect brothers and sisters in CHrist who are different from me.
I believe that the Lord will move/convict a person who reads their Bible and prays everyday regarding being a part of a local body. They may be withdrawn for a season, but I doubt they can stay that way for a lifetime without the gentle nudging of the Holy Spirit calling them into fellowship.
Lord Bless,
LT
Amanda,
To summarize the above in a honest, but positive, light.
You know where you need to be and for the right reason to be there, you want to be there and are taking steps to getting there ... even if they are small steps. You are not willing to get trapped by the teaching that held you entrapped before and thus you are cautious. You don't want to be pressured, you want to make the choice, and you should.
Keep taking those steps and one day, soon I hope, you will be running :-)
Lord Bless,
LT
Is the Church the hallowed sanctuary of the saints? Hardly. We're a motley group, far from perfect. Is it about being good--about high-minded and clean thoughts, obeying the rules? Not really. Merit doesn't earn us a spot in heaven.
As strange as this might sound, the Church is about the brokenness of human life. It's about our repeated failure to be the people God intended us to be. It's about how everything about us - even our best intentions and motives - can become an avenue for sin.
So then, what's the Church about if it's not about what we do? It's about what God has done. In spite of everything, God has breathed into us new life. In spite of everything, God does love us no matter what we do or don't do.
As Paul writes in Romans: "God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us." The Church must tell that truth of God's unconditional love. God knows and we know the Church isn't perfect. Yet the Spirit keeps breathing life into us, calling us into community with one another.
The Bible says you can persecute the Church; you can pray for the Church; you can greet the Church; you can ravage the Church; you can gather the Church; you can meet with the Church; you can strengthen the Church; you can belong to the Church; and, you can care for the Church. The Church is a people not a place; a people who are learning how to breathe with God.
The Spirit continues to draw us into this messy, imperfect, crazy group called Church.
Welcome to
All About GOD
© 2024 Created by AllAboutGOD.com. Powered by