As I saw from Scripture all the different places that Christians in the Bible gathered together, I came to the conclusion that the reason why God doesn’t go into much detail about the place where they gathered is because He’s not interested in buildings, He’s interested in people. He’s interested in what people do, not what people use to shelter themselves. There are so many instances in Scripture about where they met, but that’s all they are: instances. It is a guaranteed fact that when Paul (or whoever else) went to a place and shared the gospel with them, the new believers supernaturally wanted to be with one another and therefore gathered together. Whether it was in a house, synagogue, or somewhere else, Paul’s (and God’s) thrust of Scripture is directed more to what believers are to know and do.
Is it wrong then to go to a church building to help you fulfill your responsibilities as part of God’s church? I don’t believe so. Is it wrong to meet in someone’s house for the same purpose? No, I don’t believe so. Is it wrong to meet outside in a park? Based from Scripture, no. Then why does the modern Christian community have the church building on a pedestal?
Pro-building vs. Pro-elsewhere
Over and over I heard people say, “If you’re not meeting in a church you’re ‘forsaking the assembling of yourselves together’ (Hebrews 10:25), and therefore are living in sin.” It killed me (even while I was in my church) when a person became angry at someone for not attending an established church building but a home church or a Bible study. I never understood why they did that. But since I was on the outside looking into the situation, I could see the attitudes of both people during those conversations and tried to determine their heart condi...
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...from a lot of the garbage that other kids my age were doing. And for that I am truly thankful.
I can see the point that having a church building is a better evangelistic tool because when an unbeliever is wanting to know about God, they usually try to find a church (if they don’t know anyone who’s a Christian). Churches usually have the times of their services posted somewhere so if someone wanted to come they know what time to be there. If a person wants to know more about God, the church usually has people there ready to share the gospel with them, whether it’s the pastor, deacons, or other laymen. True believers want to have people get saved, and the modern day church makes provision for that. The world doesn’t understand that the church isn’t a building, so having one does help in reaching unsaved people because that’s where they instinctively would know to go.
This stereotypical point of view from nonbelievers actually has driven many away froth church and the Christian faith. A recent survey from “Relevant Magazine,” asked a group of people who identified as atheists and agnostics who all previously attended some form of a modern day christian church, why they left the church. Over 85 percent of the people surveyed blamed harsh and judgmental Christians as the primary reason they walked away from the Christian faith. The evangelism method employed by the modern church is one that can easily be misconstrued as a person judging them for who they are. Church leaders should take the prospective of the outsider into consideration for their perspective and response is the only measurement of the effectiveness of their body of Christ’s effectiveness in their
The church or Ecclesia, as it is called in the original Greek language, regardless of size, are the called out ones who assemble to represent the Body and life of Jesus Christ. They engage in meetings of praise, worship, and listening to the Word of God, which is taken from their manual called the Holy Bible, or the Scriptures; those bringing the message are considered to be the mouthpieces for God, and are typically called preachers (KJV, Eph 5.23-32). According to the Bible, the church, which includes the preachers, is to strive to exemplify the type of life that Jesu...
...gregation will probably fall into the category the non believer has set up. So if he is greeted by a self-absorbed man only concerned about himself and his accomplishments, that from the visitor’s perspective, he will feel empowered to declare everyone at the Church a self-absorbed person. Christians cannot go around claiming acts of greatness that we have achieved, we should instead hold ourselves responsible to giving all credit to the eternal God who breathes life into us and sustains us while we spend our time here on earth. If an unbeliever comes into the church, initiate conversation with him, rather than waiting on the pastors command. We must remember the words of Christ, to “go out into the world” but rather than making a mighty name for our selfish ambitions, make known the name of God and its majesty, that all may know of his greatness.
But to explore the thoughts regarding the boundaries of the church any further, we must clarify exactly what the church is. When Paul gives his closing salutations to the Romans, he says “…greet the church that is in their house.” (Romans 16:5) He was referring to the people, the believers, within the house. Additionally, Paul says in his exposition on Christ “And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills a...
Church is a major part of my life. I have always gone to church. It is a part of who I am. Church is not only about sitting through church services. I am currently involved in Russian school, Sunday school, camps, wind ensemble, teens’ group, teens' choir, and youth group. There are so many engaging activities and groups that bring together our community, defining who we are as individuals and as a society.
All of us have encountered someone in our lifetime – a family member, a co-worker, a neighbor, or an acquaintance – who asked us WHY? Why do we pour all of our talents, all of our gifts, and all of our service into church?
If these primary goals are accomplished, then worship will not be empty and simple-minded. Instead, the worship atmosphere would be held to a higher standard and, she believes, both pleasing to God and attractive to those who do not know God. " Reaching Out without Dumbing Down" is a book intended for church leaders, elders, or pastors who are considering altering their current worship style to attract more unsaved people. The author provides excellent standards to help pastors and worship leaders plan, execute, and evaluate worship services. These same standards also provide a great opportunity to educate the church family on the reasons behind the use of certain worship elements.
... on the person’s particular faith example a Jewish person would belong to a synagogue where Christians belong to a Church or Cathedral. Another misconception of the meaning of church is that it is a society which engages in the rectification of social wrongs. This is a misconception because the church is designed to enhance spiritual development and to follow the teachings of God as a parish community. The nature of churches allows people to contribute to the ceremony. Churches allow input by any member to develop the service.
Typically, a church is to be a very safe and sacred place where no-one would
That isn’t to say there aren’t pockets here and there where that spirit is alive, but as the Church is perceived as a body, so will the world perceive its function, which is largely as a partial paralytic. The nature of its mass congregation is in my opinion, reduced to following a ritualized practice that serves security of the one’s own soul, while vainly proclaiming messages from a practiced pulpit for world outreach in daily life. Then everyone goes home. The outreach that does get done tends to be of a charitable nature, highly organized and outperformed by many secular outfits, where the inductive power is carried by genuine empathy, a desire to help fellow man. Again, the Church means well, but its efforts seem to move with a sense of obligation, rather than true mission. I would argue that the congregations get too large, too organized, do not engage the issues that face culture ...
The Gathering Place is a highly supported non profit organization located in Northeast Ohio. The organizations role is to provide services and care for those touched by Cancer. Fourteen years ago, they opened as a non profit community based cancer support center. In a little over a decade they have two locations, one in Beachwood and on the Westside Cleveland Ohio. The mission of The Gathering Place is, " to support, educate and empower individuals and families touched by cancer through programs and services provided free of charge" (Touched By Cancer). The organizations leader, founder and Chief Executive Officer is Eileen Saffran, LISW-S. A philanthropist, who envisioned a dream that she developed into the present day Gathering Place that we know today. Over twenty five years, Eileen worked as a social worker who constantly battled with health care and the services that were available
The church in today’s world have very low standards. We are disregarding the active sins of the believers in the churches and are not ready to take a stand and speak to them about it. As a result of this churches are encouraging adultery, envy, strife, unforgiveness and lack of love which is taking us away from God on a daily basis. God will give us a time to repent but one day he will judge the church and the nation just like Israel so that we come back to him (Beckham, n.d.).
For as long as I can remember, I have gone to church. My entire life I have known this concept of Jesus and who he was. And for some reason, that was supposed to be important to me. As a kid, I could tell you the majority of the Bible stories, after all, I heard them all the time. Even at a young age, though, I could tell there was more to the whole Jesus thing. It seemed that some people understood on a deeper level what all this church stuff was actually about. As I began to learn more about this Jesus, I began to question why he was important to me and what he had to do with the life change in the people around me.
The Church is the body of Christ where God brings his people together. St. Paul the apostle himself calls the Church the Body of Christ where all those who believe in God join in as its members (New American Bible, 1 Cor. 12; 27). Jesus also refers to the Church as the House of the Father where God should be worshiped and served, although not in the physical sense of the word (NAB, Matt. 21.13). As the House of God, the Church serves as an instrument of salvation for the people of God. God continues to call all His children to come under one roof and dine at His table. There has always been this concern about sharing the Good News and baptizing all the nations in order to bring people under one roof and one belief in order to unify their faith and thus, form one family and one ecumanical Church. The Church still strives to fulfill Jesus’ desire so that all may be one (Ut unum sint 7).
Close to the wall with books and papers haphazardly placed all over its surface sits the one piece of furniture no home can do without one. Some purchase this piece of furniture to fill up a space in a home and eat a meal or two. For others, it is a nothing more than a pretty addition to a beautiful home topped with an elegant table runner and properly placed plates and silverware. This furnishing comes in many shapes, sizes, and colors made of wood, stone, metal, and plastic. For most, the dining room table is a gathering place to share stories of their day and enjoy fellowship together. The family table in our house is plain, aging, and well used, not fancy and untouched.