Why Do You Go/or not go to Church?

[bbyrd009]

KJV John 15
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
Any promises such as "I am with you always' are conditional. I know of no reference that says "wherever you go I will be with you".

ha well i'm sorry you dont know them, but they are sure in There ok, even to the ends of the earth and whatnot? But see those we apply to ourselves, right, for evryone else they are "conditional?" lol

and no offense here ok, that is just how we think, being Hegelians, i of course think the same way, convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are of course going to hell too, etc? :) bc you dont meet the conditions, either, right? I could even Quote them again, we could see? And of course i am DQed on...some other grounds, perfectly reasonable to you, or whomever, right. See bc we know, we all know stuff now, yeh?

 

[Nancy]

[QUOTE="Deborah_, post: 593220, member: 6831"
Jesus' reference to "two or three" gets a lot of misapplication, in my view. It's an encouragement to the few who really are just a few (churches of 2 or 3 do exist), not an excuse for all of us to avoid fellowship with larger groups.

Here's a loose thought/question....Does gathering with people in large groups constitute fellowship? Personally I doubt it unless of course their is fellowship.

Gathering with large groups of people for the purpose of fellowship is a wonderful thought but in my experience it has been a rarity.

Fellowship in my understanding happens when people connect. Our fellowship with the Godhead happens when we are connected. Fellowship in a family becomes a reality when those present harmonise at the core and differences that surface are able to be surmounted....that is fellowship.[/QUOTE]

I agree. My own experience is that small groups are much better for fellowship. The Churches are just so large now that everyone just sticks with their own friends and family, then run out the doors right after closing prayers. My fellowship is really on here or with a couple of other Christian friends. It is not easy to meet people at Church and have meaningful relationships with them. I have been looking for a decent bible study and am having difficulty finding one near me. I would love to hold fellowship meetings at my house but, there is much work to be done and I have to get all new furniture as well. These things are taking a while as, financial constraints. BUT-God is in this all the way and I have no problem waiting on Him. :)

 

[bbyrd009]

You're still reading more into the word 'church' than I actually mean. Biblically, 'church' is an assembly (ekklesia) - now if we assemble, then it rather implies we are all in one place (at least temporarily). Not necessarily a dedicated building, although for practical purposes a lot of churches do now have dedicated buildings. And in the UK, there can't be many towns where there are only two or three believers, so for most of us it's a cop-out to restrict our fellowship to such a small select group.

Jesus' reference to "two or three" gets a lot of misapplication, in my view. It's an encouragement to the few who really are just a few (churches of 2 or 3 do exist), not an excuse for all of us to avoid fellowship with larger groups.

ok, ty

wadr i doubt two are three are gathered in My Name has even the slightest thing to do with what we call "church" now, building or no, anyway. "Congregations" iow. Possible "congregations" of two or threee notwithstanding, at least imo. Just a diff animal to me now

 

[bbyrd009]

see bc i can now gather with ppl i dont maybe agree with at all, belief-wise, dunno bc didnt ask, dont care, see, bc we are gathered in His Name meaning in service to someone in need, and our disparate beliefs never enter the mix, being as they are irrelevant to the matter at hand. Three at the most, btw, four is required to be treated separately iow, four, see, now you got a base, well a human base, we base things on four instead of three like God right, i know that maybe doesnt make sense right now but we could examine four in Scripture and see too i think

 

[bbyrd009]

tetragram is the reveal of that i guess, but you cannot go to google images and get an image of a tetragram even, this shape is occluded from us, right, see all the pentagrams and whatnot, other stuff, when you goto gImages and search "tetragram?" See if you dont know "equilateral triangular pyramid" you will accept that a tetragram is a "square," like our scribes have so helpfully xlated for us, yeh?

and while this might seem like a small thing, it is a huge thing, and tetragrams are occluded from us for a very good reason i guess. Egyptian pyramids we can get on t-shirts lol, tetragrams who even knows what one is, yeh?

 

[bbyrd009]

6And He said to me, "It is done!

see, which you will never, ever find a Scripture xlation that says "it is finished" there for what should be obvious reasons, yeh? lol. But the Bible is Word, right, you are reading Word there, in English, huh

16The city is laid out in a square;

see and now youre just being straight lied to lol, see.
and i didnt mean to bring this out here but now, if you look,
Bible Search: square NT
at every other instance of the use of the term "square" in our NT, aside from the first one which is rendered from tetragram, you might notice a very interesting thing happens! The word "square" is not used in the Bible at all, and those have all been inferred for us, see? Did they just not have an understanding of "square," no root for "square?" lol. Of course squares are in the Bible, but you have to seek them out, bc they are not called squares, even when it would have served to use the word "square" the word has been studiously avoided. Only in the Rev is one, single root rendered "square," incorrectly at that. Bc the power is understood by those who would have you believing that the New Jerusalem is laid out like a square, public square see

 

[Pearl]

I agree. My own experience is that small groups are much better for fellowship. The Churches are just so large now that everyone just sticks with their own friends and family, then run out the doors right after closing prayers. My fellowship is really on here or with a couple of other Christian friends. It is not easy to meet people at Church and have meaningful relationships with them. I have been looking for a decent bible study and am having difficulty finding one near me. I would love to hold fellowship meetings at my house but, there is much work to be done and I have to get all new furniture as well. These things are taking a while as, financial constraints. BUT-God is in this all the way and I have no problem waiting on Him. :)

Does your church not have midweek bible study groups? Mine always has.

 

[Nancy]

Does your church not have midweek bible study groups? Mine always has.

Yes Pearl, they do but they are all an hour away from me and, even though we had the new campus open 10 minutes from my home, all the small groups are still out near the main Church building as, that is the largest and the new campus I go to, still has to get it all together with the small groups.

 

[Pearl]

Yes Pearl, they do but they are all an hour away from me and, even though we had the new campus open 10 minutes from my home, all the small groups are still out near the main Church building as, that is the largest and the new campus I go to, still has to get it all together with the small groups.

I agree, that's too far to go. I hope they will start some near you. Could you perhaps go to one from a different church?

 

[Nancy]

I agree, that's too far to go. I hope they will start some near you. Could you perhaps go to one from a different church?

I probably could. Just have to find one close to me, that is not a CC. I live in the heart of the Irish Catholic part of Buffalo, and there is a CC and a bar on just about every corner! I checked out one or two...a friend goes to one but, they get very political and I will avoid that at ALL costs! There is another by me but, have visited and heard and read enough about the place that I do not feel led there at all...the guy calls himself a prophet and woman MUST keep quiet in their very small Church - their bible studies as well. Not for me at all. Hoping God will open something or allow me to somehow get my home "company ready" so I can invite some of the Christians I know to come over and fellowship, pray, study...

 

[Pearl]

I probably could. Just have to find one close to me, that is not a CC. I live in the heart of the Irish Catholic part of Buffalo, and there is a CC and a bar on just about every corner! I checked out one or two...a friend goes to one but, they get very political and I will avoid that at ALL costs! There is another by me but, have visited and heard and read enough about the place that I do not feel led there at all...the guy calls himself a prophet and woman MUST keep quiet in their very small Church - their bible studies as well. Not for me at all. Hoping God will open something or allow me to somehow get my home "company ready" so I can invite some of the Christians I know to come over and fellowship, pray, study...

Yes do it at yours. We had one at ours for many years, both here and at our other house.

 

[quietthinker]

Nancy said;
I would love to hold fellowship meetings at my house but, there is much work to be done and I have to get all new furniture as well. These things are taking a while as, financial constraints. BUT-God is in this all the way and I have no problem waiting on Him. :)[/QUOTE]

I wouldn't worry about new furniture Nancy. If people are keen to study the scriptures, packing crates won't be an issue to sit on.
All the externals fade into insignificance when people are focused.

Incidentally, when I was in the PNG islands, the seating for people even in their churches were round logs....I heard no complaints.

 

[Nancy]

Nancy said;
I would love to hold fellowship meetings at my house but, there is much work to be done and I have to get all new furniture as well. These things are taking a while as, financial constraints. BUT-God is in this all the way and I have no problem waiting on Him. :)

I wouldn't worry about new furniture Nancy. If people are keen to study the scriptures, packing crates won't be an issue to sit on.
All the externals fade into insignificance when people are focused.

Incidentally, when I was in the PNG islands, the seating for people even in their churches were round logs....I heard no complaints.[/QUOTE]

Ah, yes indeed! Truth! But, as there will be a few elderly I would like here, and there being one single chair in my pulled apart living-room and kitchen...in the midst of painting and putting flooring down...I'll wait for a bit. Although, I do have one brother and one sister that does come over and we pray for our family members, just not on a regular basis. I hear you though Quiet, and just maybe I can figure something out for in the meantime! ♥

 

[brakelite]

But see those we apply to ourselves, right, for evryone else they are "conditional?" lol

Paul counsels me, to die daily, and to examine myself to make sure I am in the faith. My following that wise piece of advice ensures that I, above all others, must meet those conditions before I even step outside the door... Let alone come here and preach to others.

And of course i am DQed on...some other grounds, perfectly reasonable to you, or whomever, right. See bc we know, we all know

What we know is that God's promises are reliable, because He cannot lie. Acting in response to that 'knowledge' is another story.

 

[bbyrd009]

Paul counsels me, to die daily, and to examine myself to make sure I am in the faith. My following that wise piece of advice ensures that I, above all others, must meet those conditions before I even step outside the door... Let alone come here and preach to others.

What we know is that God's promises are reliable, because He cannot lie. Acting in response to that 'knowledge' is another story.

ok bl but see what has been spared here is that tares are not...weeds, ok, they are psychoactive, and put that with wisdom is hidden from the wise see and now all you gotta do is figure out how you got so wise bro, and voila ok. imo. See i can tell youre still eatin from that tree? Bc you are announcing it loud and clear? Every time you post? So bro go find out what ol Preach said during your pre-celebration baptism, as you was comin up outta that water, or dont bro, keep playin with snakes if you want, snakes aint evil anyway ok? But they will bite you, see, and i'd bite you again but i guess that dont work so good, for most ppl. Anyway best of luck to you ok bro, think i'm gonna head up into the UP, upper peninsula, michigan, never been all the way up myself, prolly gonna leave all teh electronics and stuff, but prolly this fall i guess, so til then ok

 

[farouk]

Yes do it at yours. We had one at ours for many years, both here and at our other house.

Yes, it's a good way to encourage ppl in the Scriptures. :)

 

[farouk]

Our home bible study groups midweek were better for true fellowship than the larger gatherings on a Sunday morning. Much more intimate.

I do strongly believe in the value of general congregational meetings; though it's true that some ppl can feel overwhelmed in a large as opposed to a small group.

 

[Pearl]

Yes, it's a good way to encourage ppl in the Scriptures. :)

It's also a good way for new Christians to be encouraged in their faith in a friendly environment.

 

[Pearl]

I do strongly believe in the value of general congregational meetings; though it's true that some ppl can feel overwhelmed in a large as opposed to a small group.

I liked both. Also myself and two friends used to meet once a week at my home for a time of prayer.

 

[farouk]

I liked both. Also myself and two friends used to meet once a week at my home for a time of prayer.

The Christian life indeed revolves round prayer and the Scriptures.