I KNOW that the bible talks about not forsaking the assembling together but I'm wondering if this means that we should be in church each time the doors are open. Is it a sin not to attend. What if one only goes on Sunday mornings?? A friend and I had a discussion about this today and I've been reading scripture on it and I'm seriously confused.. I do agree that attending church is important to keep walking with Christ in the appropriate manner. I have heard time and time again that if we don't attend each service that it's a sin and that We don't love Christ.. I DO love Christ and he is the center of my life. EVERYTHING I do is for him and because of him. So I get really irritated when I hear this.. Can someone enlighten me on this subject?? Thanks Angela
Just my opinion, but things that are not spelled out in black and white (I don't think you will find a command to attend Awana, Missionary Night, Revival, Guest Speaker or whatever other night ) are a heart issue between you and your Lord. Questions to help discern where your heart is: 1) Why am I not attending? If you have a sense of rebellion associated with your answer, you may need to deal with that. Otherwise, there are more good reasons than you can even imagine to miss an event. 2) Am I missing an event/opportunity at church that I know I am called to do? If you have a calling in an area and you are too busy, not in the mood, etc., then I'd look at that as an attack from the enemy and you probably ought to get your rear in gear and get to church. 3) Am I and my family feeling like our fellowship tank is pleasantly full? If nobody in your home is lacking in fellowship, then you can rest assured that you are in fact not forsaking the gathering of yourselves together with other believers. If anyone in your home feels disconnected from the body of Christ, then I would encourage you to take more opportunities to get to churchy stuff. Hope this quick list helps. I'm sure there are other things that will pop up on your discern-o-meter if you are forsaking anything that the Lord would have you do. And until you sense that in your spirit, you are in the Lord's will for your fellowshipping needs.
I do not believe that we need to attend the church for every function or every service. Considering that some churches have numerous services and functions, it would be impossible to attend them all. With that said, I also do not believe that God wants us to be seat warmers on Sunday morning so we can pat ourselves on the back and say we attended for the week. Brooke gave some great questions to ask yourself.
Going to a physical building (Church) isn't what makes you a Christian/believer. We, as individuals, are the church. We go into a physical building to have the support of other believers and God's teachings which we then take out with us into our daily lives and then share our faith (in some way) with others. If you "signed up" for every ministry that was offered in your physical building, how effective are you if you aren't there because God is calling you to serve in that ministry? Perhaps your own spiritual growth would be bigger but how effective are you at helping someone else. God doesn't call the equipped ones to serve, He equips the ones He calls to do that work. Prayerfully ask God which ministry He would have you serve in and for your children and go from there.
The idea is identifying with people in testimony. I have known ill and elderly people, with every reason not to attend, who still against all odds struggle out because they have joy in doing so.
I really don't think that missing a church service is a sin. We have created church to be a building, but the actual church is a community of believers. The Bible talks about where 2 or more are gathered, Christ is also. Doing a family Bible study is fellowship. Getting together with Christian friends and encouraging one another is also fellowship. "Church" can take many forms, so please don't beat yourself up over missing a service or 2.
Is God a God of rules and regulations? Or is He a loving Father who rejoices when His children fellowship together? Legalists are big on rules. Nowhere in my bible does it say that my salvation is tied to my works (church attendance, tithing,etc).Remember Romans 6:14 "for you are not under law,but under grace" and Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works(or church attendence).
Well, it says in Hebrews, 'Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together'. Like, the believer needs fellowship. Mind you, 'forsaking' there means abandoning altogether.
There are times when It is impossible to attend every service your church may offer. I do like Brooke's post! Her thinking is on the same line as mine! If it is a heart issue, than you need to do some soul searching...
I believe we need to be committed to a body of believers. Part of that commitment is to be in attendance. But I also don't feel you are "under obligation" to be there every night, or at everything they do. We missed last night (our church meets on Saturday nights, rather than Sunday mornings), and we will miss at our regular church again next week (but will be in attendance elsewhere, out of town). Because of the Saturday services, the kids (Rachael especially) will miss on occasion, because of being invited with her friends. I think the introsopective question Brooke asked were very good!
He does... I would have never believed that I would be a place were I could not attend every service my home church has.. But I am in that place. I live over an hour away from my home church, so services on Sunday night, and Wednesday night are out of the question for us. We for on can't afford the gas for that many trips, and if we stay for Sunday night service, we have to eat out, find someplace to stay and such... My husband and I have prayed hard about our decision and felt the Lord knew our heart and our problem. So I do understand not getting to make every service but if you want to miss for a ball game on tv during service time.... than you just may need to find a place to pray and get "prayed trough" as we Penecostals say.
shelby: A prayerfully devoted heart isn't the same as gas; you are right. The gas issue concentrates the mind wonderfully. Good point.
Does it mean that I don't put God first if I don't attend church services?? My children are there each service but I only go on Wednesdays and every now and then on Sunday night. I keep hearing that it shows that you don't love God and aren't putting him first. I DO love God.. I don't always put him first because I am human and life gets in the way.. My neighbor is the strongest christian I know and she doesn't attend church. I have gotten more from the times we talk than I ever did going into the church building. It seems like more of a social event than a get together to praise. The more we go the more chaos there is.. I don't want that interfering with my faith in God. But at the same time I wonder if I should be going.. My thoughts on it is that as long as we are around others who reinforce our faith and keep us going towards the things of Christ that we don't have to go to the church building.. I'm just really tired of hearing that I don't love God if I'm not attending church every single service. That's my main thing...
This is so good!!! I would also add for what/how often are we unable to attend services? There is a huge difference in truly unable and don't wanna or busy. KWIM? If we simply become too busy, we may want to check our hearts. By the same token, if we are only attending because we are "supposed to" or "have to", we may want to check our hearts.
love5c: Yes, we have a verse displayed: 'Be still, and know that I am God'. There are 1000 good, legitimate things that can profitably occupy us, but it's a question also of making time.
Why is it you don't attend regular? And I DO NOT mean that as a criticism in any way! But, as others have said, it's a heart attitude. It isn't right for me or anyone to judge your heart, but by asking it can help YOU decide where your heart is.
Nowhere in the Bible do we read that Christians must meet together in a building of the sort we call a church. What it does make clear is that the church is a local body of believers, so we should be getting together with them often to encourage and help one another. As was mentioned above, some believers are confined to their homes, which means we should be visiting them there. The early church knew each other so well that they were willing to share all their belongings with others - so maybe that's a good gauge of how often we should meet and know other church members. Do we know them well enough to share all we have with them? Also, there's no mention in the Bible of denominations, so shouldn't we be meeting with believers who attend buildings belonging to other denominations? While we should spend time as often as possible with fellow believers, there's no requirement to do so in a particular building or confine such activities to a particular denomination - except that we should place ourselves under the authority of church leaders, and, in our day and age, that implies a particular church with its own building.
No, of course not - and plenty of people who do attend church services do not put God first at all. On the other hand, some spend their Sundays helping older and needy people in their homes so they can watch a church service on TV - which is surely demonstrating that God comes first.
I'm just going to take a wild stab in the dark here....if your children are attending, does that mean you are dropping them off during the regular Sunday worship time? I noticed the times you occasionally attend are the less attended services. Are you a person who is afraid of large crowds? Is there an element to the church you attend that makes you feel out of place? Just asking some questions to get you thinking more deeply about it. Have you prayed over it? Sometimes, when I am not feeling like attending church in the past, it was because my heart was being prepared to switch churches through a move or something of the like. I really like the way Steve asked about assessing the situation. Are we with other believers enough that we desire to have "all things common" with them? I'll be keeping that in mind as I examine my heart toward the people I fellowship with.
