Posted on 05/15/2019 8:35:02 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Our current pastor has stirred things up by attacking sexual sin.
And divorce, adultuary, and fornication.
My bride and I were just like “OK”. Till we saw a lot of women storm out. Seems they felt “Attacked” and walked out.
A dear friend is raising a daughter conceived out of marriage. She heard it and told some of the upper class prims “If I had heard that, my life choices would be different! We need to hear that!”
Now she is out of the “prim” circle.
And the pastor did not preach about the glories of motherhood Sunday, but the Gospel reading. Same as Father’s day.
It is about feeding the sheep, not entertaining the goats.
I would challenge you on that. I like it.
“Nobody “needs” to go to church to be a Christian.”
Churches gathered together on the first day of the week to celebrate the Lord’s Supper.
The “church” is a community organization.
Nobody “needs” to go to church to be a Christian.
One of the reasons you are there is to serve the church so it’s a pretty big reason to go.
Church is not for us to serve God so much as for God to care for us. And for us to strengthen the bonds with our fellow Christians. And an opportunity for us to minister to our fellow Christians. And not-yet-Christians. Church, when done right, is a weekly renewal of our spirit.
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Amen!
It is interesting to develop a picture of the NT church from Acts and the Letters. Then look for it in our neighborhoods.
The short version is the members believed; they confessed that Jesus was the Son of God; they repented of their sins; they were immersed (baptized); and they were then in a covenant relationship with the Lord in which their goal was to grow in knowledge and show Christian works.
Each church was independent, led by several Elders. Deacons were the workers. No external hierarchy. They met each Sunday. They celebrated the Lord’s Supper each Sunday and only Sunday. The Lord’s Supper was celebrated as a remembrance of the Lord’s death. There were no instruments of music in the service. Scripture was their main/only source of information; as opposed to the traditions of the elders which were presented as doctrine but were really the commandments of men.
That’s a good start. I hope everyone finds such a church. In terms of probability: The chance of finding one is small, but the probability of such a church being the one the Lord will save is very, very high. One has to think how far one can stray from the NT model and still get into the “Joys of the Father.”
Such churches actually exist; and they are not structured as the stereotypical cult group.
One book that helped me when I was a babe in Christ was “Nichol’s Pocket Bible Encyclopedia.”
..Brother Dave was a lone voice many times. Francis Schaeffer with “The Great Evangelical Disaster” and Harold Lindsell with “ The Battle for the Bible” sounded the warning 40 years ago regarding the coming trainwreck when the Bible is no longer central in church...
Another sign that the Church Age is drawing to a close.
Next up: The Tribulation.
O Lord, save Thy people and bless Thine inheritance. Grant victories to the Orthodox Christians over their adversaries; and by the virtue of Thy Cross, preserve Thy habitation.
Churchianity: It picked up momentum in the late 60s and early 70s. Ostensible relevancy replaced Biblical truth.
The Church is not a building; fellowship is not entertainment.
I lost patience with pulpit fillers and pewbench warmers 20+ years ago.
(I have served in the institutionalized church in two denominations. I strove to work amicably within the system, but the system was not reciprocal.)
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