Can You Be A Christian And Not GO To CHURCH?
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- Опубликовано: 24 июн 2024
- Can You Be A Christian And Not GO To CHURCH?
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Let's face it, if you're life is like mine it's hectic and crazy. There is always something to do. Our lives are so full that we don't have time for anyone or anything else. Still, when the hard times hit, who has your back?
Many people say they can be a Christian apart from the Church. You may be one of the 15 million people during the pandemic who woke up on Sunday morning and learned that church didn't make a difference one way or another in your life. You were just as isolated and alone then as you are now.
Still, is it supposed to be this way? In this video, I share how the church has a resemblance to the military from Scripture. When we train together, prioritize one another, and engage in the spiritual battles together, it draws us closer together than we could ever imagine. Our relationship with God, the Church, and one another takes on new meaning.
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My constant pray is for God to open my eyes and awaken my heart so that His face is all I seek!
Amen! God bless you. ~ Don
As I told you the other day my dear husband is in heaven now. I have started to go to church regularly even though I find the music makes me cry a lot, but my Christian friends are there to hug me or hold my hand when I'm upset, they are my family, brothers and sisters in the Lord. I'm closer to God than ever before, even with my grieving I trust Him and know that he wants the best for me. Thanks again, God bless you and your family xx
@@marilynpowell6881 That’s beautiful!!! I’m so glad you found a special place where people care for you and you for them. I am so honored you watch my videos and share your experiences!!! Blessing to you. ~ Don
My wife recommended this to me.
You have to reach out yourself. Too many visitors sit on the pew waiting for someone to approach them. They then go home complaining about that loveless church. To the Church member, I would say, to look for visitors, greet them. If they come a second time, tell them of classes they can get involved in, if the church is big enough. Those who think that their relationship with Christ is their business probably don't have one. It's a dangerous thing to deceive yourself. How can you be salt and light working undercover? "Why call me Lord, Lord?"...
Christians are the church, and Jesus is the head of the church. When someone receives Jesus into their hearts then yes they become a new creation in Christ. God is looking for those to worship Him in truth and in spirit. I would love to find a real church that is speaking and living the truth of the gospel, and not man made doctrines. That would be wonderful. In the meantime I am not alone because Jesus is with me.
Got can certainly take you through a period of isolation so that you can come right, Just you and The Lord teaching you , molding you, He teaches everyone different. My closest time with the Lord Lord and training I receives was alone, not in a church until I got a dream where the Lord said I must join a church so that He can use me and not neglect the fellowship of the believers....
Amen! Thank you for sharing your experience and the importance of needing the desert but also needing to leave it and return to Jesus' Church.
If people want that kind of assembly, they will not find it in the organized churches. They will find it in house churches, the throwback to what the original assemblies were. For church is not the building, it is the body of Christ, and in house churches, that is what you will find. Christians who want all they can get of the Lord, who want to share themselves and their gifts with each other. Who encourage each other. They spend real time in Bible studies, learning, interacting and contributing, and edifying, instead of just sitting there passively consuming. Everyone can bring a song, instead of being entertained by some wannabe Amy Grants or Casting Crowns or whomever. They have time to witness what God is doing for them, to share sorrows and joys, and they can pray for each other's needs. This is what the church really is. Not an organized business or institution, not a well-oiled staff, not a building that requires maintenance. It is the people themselves. No need for a pastor to pay, they do it all themselves contributing their gifts of the Spirit as God has dispensed to them.
To @conniemaew.I see your point however most people can't entertain too many people in their homes or feel comfortable with those they don't know well. The Church "is not" the building but it is the place where large numbers of people can meet. Even in house churches you need a Pastor otherwise it's just a Bible study.
@@carolineeccel5387 I don't know if you are able to see it, but what you said is exactly why house churches are better.
First, you aren't really “entertaining” people when they come to your home. That's not the objective. It is merely a meeting place and doesn't have to be a home. It can be a barn (in good weather) or a school, or any place, even outdoors, but preferably something that would not cost the people maintenance, so that they wouldn't be spending money unnecessarily that would be better spent elsewhere. Far too much money is spent on buildings and electronic equipment these days, etc., not to mention that some pastors have enormous salaries. This isn't a party and doesn't require that someone be a hostess. It is merely people assembling to edify each other, for if you study the epistles of Paul, especially Corinthians, you'll find that this is one of the main objectives of gathering. To edify each other by all participating and offering something. They are there to learn the Word and grow in knowledge of the Lord,, (through interactive Bible study) share their spiritual (and otherwise) gifts for the edification of the saints, and give God the sacrifice of praise, through the songs they bring to share and sing together, (no musical director, no choir, no worship team, and nobody dictating what song would be sung) and through their prayers, which they all would contribute (not just a pastoral prayer). It isn't run by a pastor, nor does it need to be. It is run by the Lord through the Holy Spirit in each member. Yes, originally the apostles seeded the churches and stayed for a while, teaching, to get them going, because these people knew little to nothing about the Lord, and the Gentiles knew very little to nothing about the Old Testament, but then they turned the assemblies over to the people themselves and they gathered to do all the above, plus share full meals followed by the Lord's supper. The elders were merely there to be advisors and teach where needed, but they didn't lord it over the others. All were equally priests of God, for that is what we are. Nobody ranked above anybody else and was of a different level spiritually, the way people treat pastors and priests these days. Those with the gift of ministry ministered to others' needs, it didn't mean they were overlords who mediated between Jesus and the people. Deacons and elders were there to help, not to run things. There was no clergy for several hundred years. That mainly occurred after Constantine made the church a state institution and basically took over its running. Things had already started to change somewhat though, by the time he took over, as many Greek and Roman ways and traditions were being altered and incorporated into the assemblies, which was not the scriptural way.
These assemblies originally weren't large groups of people the way some churches and especially mega churches are today, where you don't know anybody, and everyone is no more than a number. They couldn't travel long distances and kept to the local people. It might have been 10 families or so or less. So, everyone knew everyone, and only real Christians were coming, as opposed to the churches today which see themselves as evangelistic tools and try to pull in unbelievers in the hopes of converting them. The original groups were only assemblies of believers. The evangelism was outside of the assemblies. You say that people may not want people they don't know well in their houses and may not feel comfortable with them. Well, this is the problem with churches today. They are just a group of people showing up to sit in pews, listen to a worship team play (and maybe sing along) and then sit through a sermon, then go home until next week. Where is the community in that? Where is the ability to interact and offer edification to others? This is the problem with churches. They are doing it all wrong. If you have a small group of true believers, you shouldn't feel afraid or uncomfortable to have them in your house, and you should know them well. Doesn't that statement that you made about this set off bells that something is wrong, if believers are uncomfortable having other members of their assembly in their houses? Should believers be so set apart from each other?
As for needing a pastor. Why? The early Christians didn't need one, once the apostles got the assemblies going. I call them assemblies, because that is what they are called in the Bible. The only “church” is the believers. Not an organization or a building. And it's just a Bible study? Isn't that one of the main reasons to gather? Isn't that what the sermon you listen to is supposed to do, but rarely does in my opinion, teach the Word? House churches are more than Bible study. There is singing, praying, sharing, testifying of God's goodness. Far more than what you would receive and do in a church service.
You may be fine with going to the church one hour a week and that does it for you, but for a lot of us who are finding it insufficient for our spiritual needs, that we want so much more, house churches are truly a godsend. I have three to four Bible studies a week, plus our Sabbath assembly, and it provides so much more than “church” ever did. We all find that to be true among my group. We learn more than ever before, we exercise our gifts, we care about each other. It is truly wonderful.
I really appreciate your insights. The only area of disagreement we have is that you do need a pastor. Paul takes the time to lay the qualifications of one in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:6-9, among many others. They are highly discipled, trained, and masters of Scripture and are able to lead, shepherd, and teach. ~ Don
@@FaithandTrustinChrist The idea of a separation of clergy from laity was not in the original church. It came much later, if you study the history of the church's development. What a bishop and deacon were, were offices to help administrate and oversee, but not as a superior level of Christian from the rest of them in understanding the Word. Yes, God likes order and there does need to be some kind of mature people who are there to oversee disputes, or problems, or needs, which is what these men did, but having one person who is above the rest in "spirituality" or believing that only they have the ability to understand Scripture is not the truth. God said the Holy Spirit will lead all of us into the truth if we study. You do not have to be seminary trained to be a Bible scholar. Seminaries did not exist for the early church. The apostles started churches from scratch, then left the people to continue on their own. They didn't train and appoint only certain individuals in the group to take over and everyone else just sat and listened. We are all told to study to show ourselves approved rightly dividing the Word of truth. That is the entire problem with the Church today. People don't know their Bibles because they've relegated that to their pastors who only know what they've been taught in the appropriately doctrinally approved seminary for their denomination, and nobody is double checking as a Berean and seeking out the truth. Nobody catches the doctrines of demons or wrong interpretations, because it is everyone else's responsibility to do that. When all the body is into their Bible and discuss it and debate it to try to find the truth, that is a much better way of doing things, and it is the way it was originally done in the church. We have become too much of a consumer and no longer know how to be anything else.
God calls you into the "Church" to get corrupted with man's religion, then he calls you out of the "Church" into his real Church (which is not the Christian Church.
Rev 18:4 - And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Are you saying all churches are Rev 18:4 churches?
@@FaithandTrustinChrist
All Christian Churchs. Yes.