WHAt should a Congregating of the Church be ?

[Alithis]

WHAt should a Congregating of the Church be ?

one thing is can't be is what it has become .. steeped in traditions and often glorified club meetings .

i visited a friends small congregation the other week (they seldom go but thier baby was being sprinkled -yeah i have friends haha yeah i attended )
they attend a small lutheran .the pastors a really nice guy .
i observed the proceedings and the dress code ( robes etc ) and the repetition of prayers recited off like some club house chant ... (and no this is not going where you think haha )
I then began to relate it to the traditions of where i attend .. And i could find little difference in that respect .

i mean strip away the robes .. remove the repetition prayers and there we are left with a dead horse format (im speaking of where i attend now ) it was a little different before .. bt any way ..

the point is .. so we arrive .. and we greet and meet .. and then they start the signing (the lack of prayer before this is troubling to say the least ) then a word is shared ,maybe another song or two ) a collection taken up (this is not a typical pentecostal type thing. after all it's a baptist pentecostal group so there is always this to and fro this ebb and flow among the attendees ) a sermon is given (lately a bit heavy on agenda and lacking in Gospel fervency ).. and in a very short time it's off for a cake and coffee .

so whats the difference ? not a lot .

--OK now some may jump in with accounts of far more lively meetings - and believe me ,iv been in those over the years and some may feel slighted by me saying this .. but if you look past the music budget and lighting , the volume and presentations .. you will find again ... there is little difference . you enter, you greet ,there's notices ,songs collection a message a final sinf and coffee .. very litte difference past all the hype of atmosphere .

i mean what it comes down to is -if you snuck out the back and turned the electricity off .. how any present are "singing " and how many mumbling words ..?


in the book of jude he speaks of blemishes at our love feasts , for this topic please dont go off o a tangent about the blemishes ..i want us to focus for a moment on the term "love feast "

thats interesting .. the gathering together of the saints he refers to as a "love feast " to me that denotes a joyous occasion of togetherness and excitement and anticipation
so WHAt should a Congregating of the Church be ?

we are the church - it is not a building a place or an organization ..it is a living breathing collective of every one ,in whom, the holy Spirit dwells. it is the living cells of the BODY of christ and the bodies head is the lord JESUS and ONLY the LOrd JESUS .

so when we ,the many scattered cells of living salt ,are out an about we should be doing as Christ did and still wills for us to do .. preaching the gospel healing the sick driving out demons raising the dead baptising people in His name and making more deciples .-0 such activities are extremely invigorating and exciting -thus when we all "GATHER "

it should be a celebration of the may who love JESUS gathering in excitement and anticipation to encourage one another with all the wonderful AMAZING things the lord has been doing among us as we go about obeying his WILL as we are led by the Holy Spirit .. it should be a time Filled with TESTIMONIES of encouragements of edifications of love one for another as we love the LORD JESUS ...

so why did it become what we often see it is now .. ? i believe when the individual cells of people( the nitty gritty you and I ) , stopped being the salt of the earth ,when they stopped preaching the gospel to ALL, when they left of praying for the sick because unbelief griped them via fears .when they left off praying and seeking God in ALL things ALL the time .when who won the sports became more important to speak of because they no longer had anything about God to testify of one to another ..

then we became clubhouses.

arrive , announce, sing a song , commend brother so and so for the gardens and sister so and so for the ..whate ever ,parrot a message, collect some funds to pay the bills, have coffee and cake .go home - rinse ,repeat .

whats missing ?

the wondrous works of the gospel being preformed in obedience by the people of which they can later gather and excitedly testify and give praise to God for the wondrous works he has done declaring how he has made the lame walk the blind see the deaf hear ...
there is no true excitement for that which did not happen ..only that which DID happen .

 

[Brighten04]

Lord Jesus said this to the Samaritan woman.

John 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Now I don't exactly know what that means or how it is suppose to look. But, I do believe it has something to do with the individual congregant. But our congregations today is a mixed bag of believers and unbelievers.Wheat and tares. They look similar, but they are not the same. So, you have some worshiping in the spirit and some going through the motions in the flesh, it is hard to distinguish between the two. This is a bit out of context, but it can be searched out if you want to look for the whole story.

Matt.13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

Matt.18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

We have to be careful of saying/implying that there is nothing to meetings lest we accuse Lord Jesus of not keeping His promise to be present in our gatherings.



So if the meeting is gathered in Jesus' name, He is there. That is His promise. And He keeps His word.

 

[visionary]

Zechariah 8:19
Thus hath the LORD of the hosts said, The fast of the fourth month and the fast of the fifth and the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness and cheerful feasts; therefore love the truth and peace.

The Lord does have love feasts.... It is when His people "love FEASTING on the TRUTH"

 

[Alithis]

Zechariah 8:19
Thus hath the LORD of the hosts said, The fast of the fourth month and the fast of the fifth and the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness and cheerful feasts; therefore love the truth and peace.

The Lord does have love feasts.... It is when His people "love FEASTING on the TRUTH"

yeah ..love that .

we cant feast on the truth if we can't even stomach "doing it " though ..

 

[TurtleHare]

Wasn't God's Word throughout that Lutheran service since that's what the liturgical is starting from the very beginning and continuing through the end so it's God's Word that brings us to life and it's God's Word that feeds our faith. It's not about our emotions and whether or not we have some feel good service to know whether or not the Holy Spirit was present since wherever God's Word is, so there is also the Holy Spirit using the Word to do His will. I'd much rather attend a worship service filled entirely with God's Word than a bunch of fakers wanting to feel special.

 

[Alithis]

Lord Jesus said this to the Samaritan woman.

John 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Now I don't exactly know what that means or how it is suppose to look. But, I do believe it has something to do with the individual congregant. But our congregations today is a mixed bag of believers and unbelievers.Wheat and tares. They look similar, but they are not the same. So, you have some worshiping in the spirit and some going through the motions in the flesh, it is hard to distinguish between the two. This is a bit out of context, but it can be searched out if you want to look for the whole story.

Matt.13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

Matt.18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

We have to be careful of saying/implying that there is nothing to meetings lest we accuse Lord Jesus of not keeping His promise to be present in our gatherings.



So if the meeting is gathered in Jesus' name, He is there. That is His promise. And He keeps His word.

oh i so agree ,dont worry about that .. he is there because he already indwells the deciples ..so weh we gather his presence is "gathered also " .

but a disciple is one who is learning to become like his master ,, that means one who lives life doing what his master does .. so if we are not doing that .. we are not really his deciles .. so if we gather as a bunch of people not doing his will and thus not being his deciples .. we end up with a club house meeting scenario of disobedient people ... hmmm .