I can't sleep. So going along with getting ready for this upcoming semester and the rest of my life, I has a questions for yinz.
Do you think it is necessary to physically attend church every week? Why or why not? I am not looking for comments on the technicalities of the question. I just want your honest opinion on whatever you think I mean by this question. *I will not be making any decisions, such as whether or not I should attend church at all, based on your responses. That would be silly.
My thoughts...
In Pittsburgh - I tried attending Hot Metal Bridge Faith Community every week because I believed that God wanted me to invest time in certain people's lives over there. Community at Hot Metal is also strongly emphasized and I really liked that and wanted to be a part of it. And I also got free breakfast and lunch.
In New York - I try to attend Grace Faith Church every week because, as a result of some immature decisions in high school, the friends I have at GFC are almost the only community I have in New York.
I seem to be attending church because of the community I find in both HMBFC and GFC. I am still struggling with the amount of time I should be investing within a fellowship or a community at a local church. This struggle is more difficult in college, where my circle of friends is no longer limited to the people at the church I attend.
I'm going to go make chai now.
My brain can't help but point out all the technicalities to that question :p
ReplyDeleteAnyways, I am not very strict about going to actual church services every Sunday, or going at least so and so often etc. I usually try to have some sort of serious fellowship with other Christians during the week; in Pittsburgh, my home in faith has not been the churches, but in IVCF (though I usually attended church anyways). In Bergen, I have friends and family I can pray with, as well as occasional "summer services" in my church. And more sermons are also available online from whchurch.org wherever I find myself.
To me, I think the most important thing is to frequently have a fellowship I can trust on deep and spiritual issues. New input is also important, but I think the source of this can be almost anything: going to church on Sundays or downloading sermons over the internet, reading books or even attending a class on religion or philosophy.
But I do not believe in minimums. I do not think there is any minimum fellowship threshold with other Christians, nor is there a minimum church attendance, nor is there a minimum of Bible study or listening to teachers. I even doubt there is a definite minimum of doctrine one must believe.
This is what I strive to focus on: _Maximum_ 'followance' of Jesus Christ.
i think community is important, and one of the main reasons why it's important to attend church every week. you invest in the people there, but I think you should also be able to invest in the community that the church serves to - whether it be local or abroad. about the balance, i have no words.. but yeah, both are definitely necessary and equally important.
ReplyDeletei can't sleep either. dang jetlag.
ReplyDeleteDitto Jenn. I think this was in one of the recent GFC sermons, as the topics lately have often been on evangelism. I remember the speaker giving the example of how Jesus was in the world preaching/spending time with them, but it did not cause him to neglect either His time with his disciples nor His own time with God alone.
ReplyDelete