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Old 01-31-2013, 02:53 PM
Michael Phelps's Avatar
Michael Phelps Michael Phelps is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Omaha, Nebraska
Posts: 6,813
Re: Cutting Back On 'Church' Services

Quote:
Originally Posted by Praxeas View Post
That's like saying the percentage of Laker fans at a home game is more than those at an away game...duh.

But the fact remains, at least at my church, we constantly have vistors coming.

"Church" never was just about "the church". It was common and expected

They had "visitors" on the day of Pentecost when the church was gathered in the upper room

Paul speaks about visitors
1Co 14:16 Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say "Amen" to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying?
1Co 14:17 For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up.

1Co 14:23 If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds?


Obviously a lot or otherwise how did they get invited to a church meeting?



Mat 12:9 He went on from there and entered their synagogue.

Mat 13:54 and coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, "Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works?

Mar 1:23 And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out,

Luk 4:16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read.
Luk 4:17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,


See above....


I LOVE going to church meetings. Where do you guys go to church?


Maybe the person that needs more church is hurting? Will your church be there for him or her? Will you?

When I hear "I need more church" I think "I want to help" not "Oh Gosh, can't I just stay home? Shouldn't you already have a strong relationship with Jesus by now?"

Jas 5:13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.
Jas 5:14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
Jas 5:15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
Jas 5:16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

1Co 14:12 So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.

Gathering together is for the purpose of encouraging each other
Heb 10:25 not abandoning our own meetings, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and even more so because you see the day drawing near.

That should be our motivation for going when it's not us that has a need but someone else
I appreciate the condescension, not above engaging in it myself sometimes.....but, I stand by my point.....church these days has become about pleasing the attendee, not reaching sinners.......at least in my experience.

As a former pastor, I got real tired of hearing some of the old timers complain about the new music, the temperature, the volume, blah blah blah.....we use nomenclature familiar to the saint and not the sinner.....we do things that saints are comfortable with, not necessarily the sinner.......and in a previous post, I made the observation that in a very unscientific study (polled the congregation I used to pastor) a VAST majority of saints had never won another soul to the Lord.

So, whereas I don't have a problem going to church, I DO have a problem when saints only want to do that, and not fulfill the Great Commission.
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