Going to church twice on Sunday wasn't the issue with me. It was the constant going out afterwards that began to wear me down. My ex wife and kids would act like I scolded them if I said "no went out to eat already today, where going home" after sunday night services. My ex would spend her last 10 dollars after sunday night service at the pizza parlor. I don't miss that part one bit.
For if the True Saints of God are ever going to Be Overcomer's they must Excel Everyday in Prayer, Fasting and Winning Souls. The God of This World is Not taking any Breaks and is Advancing Everyday, i Believe we Must Advance Greater and Overcome the Adversary. In our Time right Now Its a Cake Walk Compared to Whats to Come. And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man. Sir Ma'am you can never have Too much of God or Church.
Isn't It Hard To Type A Whole Paragraph Like This?
Number of church services is a local church decision, and IMO is completely non-spiritual in nature. The local church leadership should determine what's in the best interest of the local congregation. In some places, the majority of people live within walking distance of the church and getting there often isn't a problem. In rural areas, it might be a 30-45 minute drive one way and coming to service is more of an effort--especially for older people. Additionally, if you have a lot of elderly people in your church, some services won't be as well attended. There are practical considerations and I think it's silly to judge people's spirituality by how many services are on the schedule--one way or the other.
Our church only has two official services each week, but we have a drug and alcohol recovery class on Thursday nights, along with weekly music practices and other departmental meetings and functions. I certainly don't feel guilty for not having a Sunday PM service, although sometimes I miss it. We're often doing church *stuff* on Sunday evenings anyway.
All that said: There is a lot of benefit in fellowshipping with other believers and I think the emphasis on church being all about a "shoutin' service" or getting spiritually "fed" is a misnomer. It leads to unrealistic expectations AND missing out on other components that are important to the Christian life. Breaking bread together and building solid relationships with other saints is very important--almost as important as building a solid relationship with God, IMO. The early church prayed together, worshipped together, ate meals together, shared burdens, shared resources, etc. They were a close knit community of believers. So many people want to show up at church and "be blessed" and they really couldn't care less about all the other people there--or about getting to know any of them on a personal level. They are really missing a big part of what the Church is all about.
__________________
"God, send me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. And sever any tie in my heart except the tie that binds my heart to Yours."
--David Livingstone
"To see no being, not God’s or any, but you also go thither,
To see no possession but you may possess it—enjoying all without labor or purchase—
abstracting the feast, yet not abstracting one particle of it;…."
--Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, Song of the Open Road
Number of church services is a local church decision, and IMO is completely non-spiritual in nature. The local church leadership should determine what's in the best interest of the local congregation. In some places, the majority of people live within walking distance of the church and getting there often isn't a problem. In rural areas, it might be a 30-45 minute drive one way and coming to service is more of an effort--especially for older people. Additionally, if you have a lot of elderly people in your church, some services won't be as well attended. There are practical considerations and I think it's silly to judge people's spirituality by how many services are on the schedule--one way or the other.
Our church only has two official services each week, but we have a drug and alcohol recovery class on Thursday nights, along with weekly music practices and other departmental meetings and functions. I certainly don't feel guilty for not having a Sunday PM service, although sometimes I miss it. We're often doing church *stuff* on Sunday evenings anyway.
All that said: There is a lot of benefit in fellowshipping with other believers and I think the emphasis on church being all about a "shoutin' service" or getting spiritually "fed" is a misnomer. It leads to unrealistic expectations AND missing out on other components that are important to the Christian life. Breaking bread together and building solid relationships with other saints is very important--almost as important as building a solid relationship with God, IMO. The early church prayed together, worshipped together, ate meals together, shared burdens, shared resources, etc. They were a close knit community of believers. So many people want to show up at church and "be blessed" and they really couldn't care less about all the other people there--or about getting to know any of them on a personal level. They are really missing a big part of what the Church is all about.
Well said.
__________________
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14 KJV
He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? Micah 6:8 KJV
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 1 John 3:2 KJV
For those who feel I am spiritually deprived by not being at church for two services on Sunday please know that every once in awhile I am at all 3 Sunday Services so am at church from 8 am until 8 pm with a very short break between about 1 pm and 5 pm.
Also tomorrow, Saturday, I will be at a men's meeting 9-11 am then at 11 straight to a men's work day at the new building we are moving into and after that a 4 pm Tech Crew meeting.
__________________ "I think some people love spiritual bondage just the way some people love physical bondage. It makes them feel secure. In the end though it is not healthy for the one who is lost over it or the one who is lives under the oppression even if by their own choice"
Titus2woman on AFF
"We did not wear uniforms. The lady workers dressed in the current fashions of the day, ...silks...satins...jewels or whatever they happened to possess. They were very smartly turned out, so that they made an impressive appearance on the streets where a large part of our work was conducted in the early years.
"It was not until long after, when former Holiness preachers had become part of us, that strict plainness of dress began to be taught.
"Although Entire Sanctification was preached at the beginning of the Movement, it was from a Wesleyan viewpoint, and had in it very little of the later Holiness Movement characteristics. Nothing was ever said about apparel, for everyone was so taken up with the Lord that mode of dress seemingly never occurred to any of us."
Quote from Ethel Goss (widow of 1st UPC Gen Supt. Howard Goss) book "The Winds of God"
Haven't read the whole thread, but here's my take:
Why should a minister prepare two sermons, but only give the congregation 4 hours to process the first one, then a week to process and implement the second one, causing them to forget the first sermon entirely?
They have some friends who would help if asked, but they probably wouldn't want to impose. I might discuss it with them, not that I think going to church is all that great (), but it's important to them. They've been loving and helpful to so many others over the years, including giving rides to church, it really shouldn't bother them to be on the receiving end, for a change!
I'm in TX, they're in CA.
I thought you lived in CA?
Where at in TX?
__________________
"Resolved: That all men should live to the glory of God. Resolved, secondly: That whether or not anyone else does, I will." ~Jonathan Edwards
"The only man who has the right to say he is justified by grace alone is the man who has left all to follow Christ." ~Dietrich Bonheoffer, The Cost of Discipleship
"Preachers who should be fishing for men are now too often fishing for compliments from men." ~Leonard Ravenhill
), but it's important to them. 
They've been loving and helpful to so many others over the years, including giving rides to church, it really shouldn't bother them to be on the receiving end, for a change! 
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