Not a church goer.

[Neighbor]

On 4/4/2018 at 7:27 AM, Hidden In Him said:

I certainly hope so, cuz I'm sunk if not, LoL.

In my opinion, a church that is not operating in a full array of genuine spiritual gifts is not manifesting true New Testament Christianity (1 Corinthians 12:8–10, 1 Corinthians 12:28).

Does that mean the people in that church do not belong to God? No, of course not. But trying to hold believers accountable to church attendance while ignoring far more weightier matters has a way of making me not all that concerned about people's judgments as to what believers are and are not supposed to be doing.
  

Okay, but how about God's will for those foreknown, predestined to be saved, and given to His Son whom does not lose a one?  

Is Paul's message and instruction not inspired of God?

As for myself, I must consider the words inspired by God and  shared through  Paul that convict me  by the agency and work of the Holy Spirit. I find am wrong when I take on the attitude that the gathering of the saints in corporate worship is not God's will for me.

Further that if I forego that wonderful opportunity to be obedient to God's will to share in the blessings of gathering together, I suffer and am at great risk of eternal shame, even as a saint saved by Grace alone. 

 As I read the excerpt from Paul, I am convinced that worshipping together is very important to God! My own denial of that privilege as a saint in Christ, likely grieves God even as it hardens me against comforting the very souls I will spend eternity with , all those saved by the grace of God. I do not want to suffer that eternal shame. The idea that I had found the gathering together to be superficial and therefore not worth my time, not even when God came to die on a cross and suffer my shame? No, I cannot allow myself to buy into that folly.

Instead; I will read the fuller context and the excerpt below  of the inspired of God message from Paul, and then praise God as I await eagerly the next corporate worship time, and times, to come. Praise God for His allowing me to be part of His corporate worship and for the opportunity to do that which brings glory and pleasure to Him. And praise God for the presence of the comforter the Holy spirit as I await  the night my soul is require dof me or the return of my Lord for me. I also pray  pray deeply  that when i suffer my own times of doubt as to worship and the value of "church" I will always be challenged by the Holy Spirit and brought back to that stage of deep appreciation of the time pent amongst the brothers and sisters in hearing the word together and of the holy Spirit's presence among us. Whether it be two or three gathered, or two or three thousand or more, may the Holy Spirit lift me, and convict me each time of the value of the gathering  of the bond-servants of Christ Jesus.

When I too feel flat in my joy, may I be led to see the saint that is lifted anew, or even for the first time, in the worship time together. May I see the value God has placed upon the testimony given by the presence of witnesses for Jesus in corporate worship for another soul that is in need  of comfort. May i remember always, it is not about me and my wanting what I want when I want it an dhow I want it, but always it is about You Lord Jesus. Amen.

"The Full Assurance of Faith"

 ^"Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh,  and since we have a great priest over the house of God,  let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.  Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.  And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,  not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,  but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.  Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses.  How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?  For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.”  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings,  sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.  Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised."

    -excerpt; from the God inspired letter from Paul to the Hebrews

[Neighbor]

..."And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,  not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near."...

 

"All the more as you see the Day drawing near."  -Do I see the day drawing near? I do. And yet I see some drawing away from corporate worship, claiming the church, Jesus' church, to not be of value to them. I have suffered that same errant thought, a delusion on my part. I am convinced that it is the message picked up by  many little anti-Christs to go about proclaiming  of it to taunt the saints in Christ Jesus. It has it's strongest and most negative affect upon me  when I am weak, and when I start to demand my satisfaction, my music, my happy  and short sermon message, and my deserved respect, when I  have puffed myself up in my own self pride, and when I begin to feel I am not properly respected nor appreciated.

That's when I need to gather with the saints all the more! That's precisely when I need to hear the sermon, study for it, and read it after it is presented, and learn a verse a passage, a chapter, even a book, that I had not known nearly as well as may be learned by me even under the limits of my own capacity by the Holy Spirit's enlightenment for my benefit; and then- put it into action  in my life.

I find I need dig in, fight off that self pride, my own sin, that sense of having been slighted and not appreciated, and instead humbly praise God and confess my own sin filled attitude. I need give all praise and all merit to God who so loves me He gave His son that I might be found acceptable in His sight for eternity to come. I need attend and participate in the worship the prayer and the action of helping "widows and orphans" and sharing a cup of cool water in the name of Jesus. I need serve not be served!

[Hidden In Him]

1 hour ago, Neighbor said:

I find am wrong when I take on the attitude that the gathering of the saints in corporate worship is not God's will for me.

Further that if I forego that wonderful opportunity to be obedient to God's will to share in the blessings of gathering together, I suffer and am at great risk of eternal shame, even as a saint saved by Grace alone. 

 As I read the excerpt from Paul, I am convinced that worshipping together is very important to God! My own denial of that privilege as a saint in Christ, likely grieves God even as it hardens me against comforting the very souls I will spend eternity with , all those saved by the grace of God. I do not want to suffer that eternal shame. The idea that I had found the gathering together to be superficial and therefore not worth my time, not even when God came to die on a cross and suffer my shame? No, I cannot allow myself to buy into that folly.

Instead; I will read the fuller context and the excerpt below  of the inspired of God message from Paul, and then praise God as I await eagerly the next corporate worship time, and times, to come. Praise God for His allowing me to be part of His corporate worship and for the opportunity to do that which brings glory and pleasure to Him. And praise God for the presence of the comforter the Holy spirit as I await  the night my soul is require dof me or the return of my Lord for me. I also pray  pray deeply  that when i suffer my own times of doubt as to worship and the value of "church" I will always be challenged by the Holy Spirit and brought back to that stage of deep appreciation of the time pent amongst the brothers and sisters in hearing the word together and of the holy Spirit's presence among us. Whether it be two or three gathered, or two or three thousand or more, may the Holy Spirit lift me, and convict me each time of the value of the gathering  of the bond-servants of Christ Jesus.

 

Then this is why I am absolutely in support of you attending. I hope you don't assume that what I was saying applied in my situation applies to yours, or to anyone else's specifically. I was simply sharing my own perspective to the OP, in case they are in a similar situation to me.

1 hour ago, Neighbor said:

When I too feel flat in my joy

Please understand, Neighbor, in my case this is not about simply feeling "flat in my joy." This is about wasting hour after hour, service after service, not being spiritual edified or ministered to (at all). My Lord will hold me accountable for where I spent my time, and I will not be able to stand before Him and give the excuse that I was "obeying what the word said." I will know better than that, and so will He. But please don't take offense with me in this. It is not my intention to discourage anyone from membership in a church. In fact, I envy anyone who finds a church that ministers to them, and am very happy for them. It is just not my circumstance anymore, so I post my own perspective in hopes of encouraging these who going through similar things to what I am now.

1 hour ago, Neighbor said:

excerpt; from the God inspired letter from Paul to the Hebrews

Trust me. If I should find a fellowship operating in true New Testament practice anywhere near me, with strong leadership who are humbly submitted to His Lordship, you can REST ASSURED I'd be in attendance. I'm only concerned with making sure I don't waste the time I have left. I've had more than three decades now of both dealing with and observing local churches, and I will stand judgment for wasting time in some of them already; months of my life that I cannot get back, and will now be held accountable for.

I would love to be pleasing to all men, especially all Christians if at all possible, but in the end I will not have to give account before any of them. Nor will I be able to use the excuse before the True Judge that I was doing what others said He was telling me to do, when my conscience was very clearly telling me something different.

Just please don't assume this is in any way a judgment upon you, or what you are doing, or what you believe. I am not that type of person. I'm again simply hoping there is also consideration for what I and others like me are going through as well.

[Neighbor]

Hi, I am sharing of what I read in my Bible. That Bible tells me I need to be in attendance often in corporate worship with other saints in Christ Jesus. I am not offended. I am enlightened into not yielding again to judging  where God has placed me. I will instead do my best with what He has provided me  as a place to gather. If I serve it well, maybe He will provide me more, maybe not, but I will count it  to be the perfect provision for my life. For God means well for me.

As a matter of experience over long time, I find that I  have been led to specific churches. I  have not picked a church on my own. I might have thought that I did, but no, it was always God. He had something to teach me, not always a pleasant lesson for me to take in, but something I needed regardless.

 I find that I  have been used of God for a specific purpose too. Kind of neat stuff to look back upon, even as I ponder- What next Lord Jesus? Never has the answer from Him been sit at home and carp about My church.

When I read  posts of complaint about churches  and the failings of leadership and members and on and on, I do review my own travails and follies, and the pulling away that  is there tempting me even today. I consider and I  know it is my sin, my listening to the enticement to be a lazy saint seeking comfort for myself only that calls out. I must reject that call, even if it is  an echo of my own heart at any one moment, for it is not the calling to me personally from the Holy Spirit. I must instead stand my post as as soldier of Christ. I do not go AWOL from His church that  he sacrificed so dearly for to establish to my benefit.

And so;  on my desk now is a handmade nameplate that reads "Go to church, go!" and under that is the sentence; "prepare with prayer, study, and in having readied my gift, my giving back to God from that which He has given to me.

Am I offended? NO! I am better enlightened and much more highly encouraged to overcome my own sinful folly of treating attendance lightly. For that I am appreciative. Many in this world would die to have opportunity to attend even the poorest of churches that I have easy privilege to attend. Some do die for trying to attend  such a church, in  places that are strongholds for the evil one of this world.

Praise God for His generosity to me.

[Dennis1209]

On 4/3/2018 at 5:49 PM, Berean said:

Do you believe that a person who does not go to church can still be a Christian and be saved?

The obvious and scriptural answer is, there's only one person and one way to be saved, through the blood and sacrifice of Christ Jesus alone. No building saves anyone or anything.

Are you inquiring personally, or are you just taking a poll?

The Lord Himself, the Apostles and disciples created the church, home churches in the beginning for critical reasons.

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

What's the purpose and mission of the 'true' church, and what benefits and blessings do Christians obtain by faithfully attending service every time the doors are open? It's obvious the in-firmed, elderly, sick and disabled may not be capable of attending. 

We go to a Bible believing, Gospel preaching church as a group of believers (God's children) to worship, praise, sing songs of worship to Him and hear His word. We are in the world but not of this world, as Christians we gather to socialize one with another, hold one another up and encourage each other. As a congregation we pray for and visit one another when we're injured and ill. There are so many things attending church provides and is done collectively as well as individually for the Name of the Lord. 

But no, attending church is not a condition of Salvation.
 

[Dennis1209]

On 4/3/2018 at 5:49 PM, Berean said:

Do you believe that a person who does not go to church can still be a Christian and be saved?

Duplicate post.
 

Edited April 6, 2018 by Dennis1209