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I've just started reading some stuff on this board and I'm really enjoying the well though out, researched responses so many of you seem to give.
I have been out of church for several years. I am a believer but not doing so great on the walking the walk part. I've seen several things happen in church with "church people" that have just turned me off completely. I can't even go into everything here but the gist of it is that many of the so called Christians in the church were extremely judgemental, cliquey, and unwelcoming. I find people who are like that to be very hypocritical of the Christian values and have no desire whatsoever to be around them.
My son is 8 and hasn't been to church since he was 4 other than here and there on holidays or with Nana. He knows about God and Jesus and prays so he is learning about the parts we want him to learn. Not to mention he is very compassionate with others. That's what I want him to learn.
Do we have to go to church to be Christians? How do find welcoming churches? I was raised Baptist but the last church we attended was Pentecostal which I really enjoyed. I guess I just wonder how important it is if the church is not what it's supposed to be anymore.
Well, Austinsmom, I think you will get a variety of responses from the people here. I don't think your salvation hangs on whether you attend church or not, but you can be strengthened by it. I think all of us have encountered people like you describe in your post. I'm sure there is a congregation somewhere with people who are more open and welcoming. Once you find it, it will be like coming home. There is strength to be gained in fellowshipping with other believers. The Bible calls it "iron sharpening iron". We are supposed to meet to encourage and teach one another. If it is done correctly, you will grow from the interaction with others. I hope you are able to find a healthy church to be a part of.
God should be within you. If you are sincere in your beliefs , and follow the precepts your heart guides you with, I cannot imagine any god who would find it an offence for you not to go to church.
Church is only a building, a place of bricks and mortar so to speak , nothing else. For some people Church is a social place to gather with like minded people, some see it as a place to go when nobody goes, a sacred "haven" to introspect and pray.
Others do not feel the need, others are not comfortable there.
The point is that god ( as an Atheist I don't believe in him but still ) would know what is in your heart and whether you are a Christian or not. You should need no vindication or approval from someone else, such as a minister or church-goers.
Follow your own heart and do what is right for YOU. Faith is a very personal and very introspective thing. It's between you and god. You need no interlopers if you don't want to.
God does not need a building, as far as I understand it, he is supposed to be everywhere ,so wherever you are he is.
Austin..I was gonna give you my opinion,but my good friend Moose pretty much stated my opinionSo, just getting off topic a little bit..I hope you see from my post and others who will answer that Athiests and Christians/believers can and do get along
Sitting in church makes you no more of a Christian than sitting in a garage makes you a car...but it's good to park the car in the garage out of the elements sometimes.
I've just started reading some stuff on this board and I'm really enjoying the well though out, researched responses so many of you seem to give.
I have been out of church for several years. I am a believer but not doing so great on the walking the walk part. I've seen several things happen in church with "church people" that have just turned me off completely. I can't even go into everything here but the gist of it is that many of the so called Christians in the church were extremely judgemental, cliquey, and unwelcoming. I find people who are like that to be very hypocritical of the Christian values and have no desire whatsoever to be around them.
My son is 8 and hasn't been to church since he was 4 other than here and there on holidays or with Nana. He knows about God and Jesus and prays so he is learning about the parts we want him to learn. Not to mention he is very compassionate with others. That's what I want him to learn.
Do we have to go to church to be Christians? How do find welcoming churches? I was raised Baptist but the last church we attended was Pentecostal which I really enjoyed. I guess I just wonder how important it is if the church is not what it's supposed to be anymore.
Well I guess to answer that question, one would have to ask another question? What do you consider a Church? The bible defines the Church as the following:
1 Peter 2:5 - 7 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,
It also tells us the following regarding attending Church:
Hebrews 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
That being stated, we're in church right now..as we are living stones of the body(Church) of the Lord. In regards to more formal worship...I think it is a good thing to have a consistent routine when one goes to church, is it a salvific issue? Well that would turn attending Church into a work, and we know that we are not saved by works, but instead by God's Grace.
So continue fellowshipping, studying, praying, and attending to the body of Christ. Whether it be online, regular building attendance, at work, or wherever else you go. By doing so you'll be building upon God's kingdom.
I've just started reading some stuff on this board and I'm really enjoying the well though out, researched responses so many of you seem to give.
I have been out of church for several years. I am a believer but not doing so great on the walking the walk part. I've seen several things happen in church with "church people" that have just turned me off completely. I can't even go into everything here but the gist of it is that many of the so called Christians in the church were extremely judgemental, cliquey, and unwelcoming. I find people who are like that to be very hypocritical of the Christian values and have no desire whatsoever to be around them.
My son is 8 and hasn't been to church since he was 4 other than here and there on holidays or with Nana. He knows about God and Jesus and prays so he is learning about the parts we want him to learn. Not to mention he is very compassionate with others. That's what I want him to learn.
Do we have to go to church to be Christians? How do find welcoming churches? I was raised Baptist but the last church we attended was Pentecostal which I really enjoyed. I guess I just wonder how important it is if the church is not what it's supposed to be anymore.
I do think that attending some Church is both beneficial and in keeping with God's will.
But I would look further than that. We live in an increasingly wicked world. It seems that one of you're primary concerns is for your son. I would start looking for a Church that is, as you say, more Christian and more welcoming -- with a very solid youth ministry. You're facing an uphill battle to instill good Christian values in your son. The wicked world will seek to destroy his faith, just as it seeks to destroy the faith of each one of us. Finding and keeping an additional support structure, in the form of attending a church each Sunday, seems to make a lot of sense to me.
Sitting in church makes you no more of a Christian than sitting in a garage makes you a car...but it's good to park the car in the garage out of the elements sometimes.
My son is 8 and hasn't been to church since he was 4 other than here and there on holidays or with Nana. He knows about God and Jesus and prays so he is learning about the parts we want him to learn. Not to mention he is very compassionate with others. That's what I want him to learn.
Do we have to go to church to be Christians? How do find welcoming churches? I was raised Baptist but the last church we attended was Pentecostal which I really enjoyed. I guess I just wonder how important it is if the church is not what it's supposed to be anymore.
I bolded the part that stood out for me. Like the previous post, I agree, the body of believers is the church. When he is 12 maybe that will be a good time or safe time to let him go should you still feel the need.
As for the garage analogy, good but most folk go for a battery recharge for the next 6 days and little one on Wednesdays if their battery is not a good brand.
This e-book spoke volumes to me of an associate pastor who came out of the system. This demonstrates how God really moves.
You can download it and read and it. I have posted some snippets on my blog.
This is no distant God who sent his Son with a list of rules to follow or rituals to practice. His mission was to invite us into his love—into a relationship with his Father that he described as friendship. But what do we do? We are so quickly captured by a work-driven religious culture that thrives on guilt, conformity and manipulation that it devours the very love it seeks to sustain.
Won't it be a joy again to wake up confident about being loved by God every day, without having to earn it by any act of righteousness on your part? That is the secret to first love. Don't try to earn it. Know that you are accepted and loved, not for what you can do for God, or somehow hoping that you will be worthy of his acceptance, but because his greatest desire is to have you as one of his children. Jesus came to remove any obstacle that would prevent that from happening.
Don't you realize that the most powerful thing about the gospel is that it liberates us from the concept that God dwells in any building? For a people steeped in the rites of temple worship this was either great or terrible news. His followers thought it was great. No longer did they have to think of God as cloaked in the recesses of the temple, available only to special people at select times.
Blessings
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. I've seen several things happen in church with "church people" that have just turned me off completely. I can't even go into everything here but the gist of it is that many of the so called Christians in the church were extremely judgemental, cliquey, and unwelcoming. I find people who are like that to be very hypocritical of the Christian values and have no desire whatsoever to be around them. 
