Pondering
Since moving here to Alaska, my hubby and I have had a hard time finding a church to worship in. My hubby is working at the hospital putting together an entire ministry program there. We are also involved in the worship services on Sunday evening at the base chapel. Our Sunday mornings however, are free. We have been very discouraged in our search. I would like to share with you a snippet from the senior pastor page for the local church (which is highly recommended) in our area. All emphasis was already there on the church webpage.
Life at the (Church name deleted) has never been about “doing church”. We have always been about PEOPLE and RELATIONSHIPS! We are committed to building a church that has YOU at its heart…..
If you’re looking for solid answers delivered in an atmosphere of excitement and energy, we may be your new home! At (Church name)….
* Every service is designed to help you experience the presence of God
* Every ministry is designed to help you reach your potential
Here are my Pondering questions for today.
- Are my hubby and I the only ones who have a problem with this?
- When was a church ever supposed to have YOU at the heart of it? Shouldn’t God be at the heart of the church and its worship? It isn’t about helping people to reach their full potential.
- Why have so many churches deleted God and replaced it with self seeking and serving?
Posted in Christianity, Conviction, grief, Pondering, worship
November 10th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
Chapels change – as is evident by the fact that your dh is starting a hospital ministry (there was one in existence when we arrived in AK 6 years ago and was one when we left 3 years ago. LOL)…..but we found the same thing in AK….many told us how hard the church hunt was in AK and therefore our chapel programs benefited from committed Christians who couldn’t find a “fit”….but as I say times and chapels change so it sounds like the a.m. services provided now aren’t fitting your personal needs.
I’m with you – church is not about “YOU” or “ME” as the case may be. Praying as you hunt.
November 11th, 2008 at 2:48 am
Ummm…yes! I have a big problem with this! It’s NOT all about YOU/ME! It’s about God and the worship of Him and His Son! This goes along with all the other New Age garbage out there…the god inside of you…blah blah blah… what is this world coming to! Sorry, you haven’t found a church…maybe you need to start a home bible study!?
November 11th, 2008 at 3:37 am
This is not an unusual sentiment as many churches seek to reach out to a community and blend with the population. You are correct. God should be at the center of our worship. He is the audience and our worship should please Him and Him alone. We will be blessed because God is pleased with our offering of worship to Him. I will begin praying that the Lord will lead you to a Bible believing, teaching, and preaching church.
November 11th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
The modern church has sought to become relevant to people rather than relevant to the Scripture. I attribute this from the fact that Christianity is moving from a majority to minority as secularism is taking root. And the Christians believe (I think falsely) that they have to maintain that majority.
Hence why you have marketing campaigns and salesmanship tactics and Christians try to stay relevant. The problem is that they neglect the truth, and thereby insure their demise.
What I’m saying is that if you water down everything so that you become void of your core message, who are you really?
BTW – You got rid of the church’s name in the first instance, but left it in the second instance in your quote.
November 12th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
When all we seem to hear in religious circles is about personal interpretation, avoiding the appearance of judgmentalism, and making worship and doctrine pleasing to the ears and minds of men, it’s no wonder we’re replacing God with the self-god. We can’t let truth speak for itself without being non-PC in this country, and too many who claim to wear the name of Christ care far more about how the world sees them than how God sees them. I’ve had recent conversations where I’ve had people tell me “I don’t care what the Bible says, I don’t think that’s what God means”. Until people are willing to step aside and accept that God is the reason we’re here–for HIS glory, not our own–then we’re going to have this stuff get worse. It breaks my heart how easy Satan has it.
November 13th, 2008 at 11:54 am
Hi! I haven’t had time to sit and read lately and I have been thinking of you a lot. BTW-with #9 I wouldn’t wait I would go and risk being sent home. ;p
At first when I started to read the quote, I thought hmmm sounds like our church a bit but then was saddened as I read on. At least they have the relationship part down. My father in law is our pastor of our little church. We have small groups throughout the week and a celabration service on Sunday. He is all about not just “doing church” but about relationships. However God is the absolute center of the relationships not us. I do pray that you find a church family where you can build relationships and grow in the Lord. Where the church’s heart is Jesus and not being an atmosphere of excitement and energy. Unless of course the excitement and energy comes directly from the Lord of course.
Praying for you and baby and family!
November 20th, 2008 at 1:27 am
That’s so hard! Yes, I agree, there is a problem.
My daughter visited a church last weekend that projects the message “discover your potential” in their foyer. ?!?!?
November 25th, 2008 at 5:47 am
OMW – I’m chuckling. I was scrolling down to where I’d find something I’d read (besides Miriam’s announcement)…..and Mike walked in. I read the bulletine blurb to him. He made some gagging screaming sound. ::snort:: And we both have our suspicians about which church this was. LOL
May 3rd, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Hi,
This is an old post but I am browsing through old posts on your site today. How did this situation end up for you? I hope the Lord has led you to more like minded brethren. I would be interested to hear how things have gone in that department.
Ruby’s last blog post..