Posted by Bigfish69 on 12:15 pm | Categories: church
Do
you need to regularly attend a local church? Is it needed to be part
of God's family? And if you do, does it need to be one single
congregation?
Is it inappropriate to visit various church locations without settling down, without becoming a signed member?
Why is it important to join one particular local church to the exclusion of all others?
Is
it to gain consistent preaching from a single person (pastor or
priest)? Are they the mouthpiece of God and his understanding? Or,
is it to develop relationships among other attendees?
joining a church and understanding God's word
If
every local church holds to the same truth, then every preacher will
say the same thing, at some time, so it doesn't' matter where you
attend. But, if they are not saying the same thing about topics, or
excluding other topics, then we need to take care. We must be
responsible and move around, read widely, so as to discover what God is
sharing.
Like
a human body, was the church designed to exist as a carrier for the
mouth? Is it wise to presume any one person holds all the knowledge of
God? If they can then so be it. But if not, whether you are at home, a
church service, work, school, down the street, wherever you are:
- read the bible yourself
- seek God (prayer) for what he means and what to do with what you discover
- seek to be equipped by apostles, prophets, as well as evangelists, teachers, and pastors (Ephesians 4:11-16)
- encourage people to share their testimonies with one another
- discuss what you learn and consider what others learn (including strangers)
- encourage gifts other than preaching and teaching, as all are equally important for the growth of people and their communities
- ask questions of and for clarity from those who give you information (e.g. pastor/priest)
joining a church and building relationships
Is the body and its gifts limited to a single location?
- Does, or indeed can, every local church, parish, or congregation contain every equipping gift? What if it is a house church?
- Why do we argue that because "you cannot know every one of God's family, stay put and do what is possible in your chosen local church"?
- Is it even possible to truly know everyone even in a small congregation?
- How could expanding who you interact with help with this and where can you find them?
What
makes people one as God the Father and Son are one (John 15)? Is it
being in the same room or something else? Is it possible to gather but
indeed be worlds apart? Consider your family. Do you stop being family
when individual members go to work and school. What about when they
leave to live elsewhere?
