Another Sunday

[Rober H]

Though I have my struggles I know that church is right and I thank the Lord for those among us who keep "Exhorting" encouraging us to go to church for we are so told to do so in the word. i been putting up a serious effort in this regards and miss the Sunday one so Wednesday is more better day for me but i hope to make it and it will be three times since i try to go to church again.

that i make it sucessfully through. For it is right thing to do and we need more "Exhorter's" not discouragers among us.

In my opinion the church building out in the community shows the world that we are God's people his family it is a sign to the world. Just like water baptism is a sign to the world your sins was a washed away and you do this publicly and you confess your sins publicly so why not go to church publicly.

Thanks Marnie for your "Exhortation"

OC

Buildings for the church to meet are a good thing. It provides a refuge for believers to assemble and a home base from which to send people out to preach the gospel.

I know that the early church met in homes, temples and even on the beach.

We should encourage believers to meet and come together.

Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

[Bob1234375]

The building is not the church. The people who meet there are the church. I recall a t-shirt that says on the front, "Don't go to Church", and on the back it says, "Be the Church."

Edited June 19, 2006 by Bob1234375

[Marnie]

The building is not the church. The people who meet there are the church. I recall a t-shirt that says on the front, "Don't go to Church", and on the back it says, "Be the Church."

Well, as cute as that may be, individuals make up the (invisible) Church, but the you can't be the Church by yourself. It is when you gather in His Name for the purpose of corporate worship that you exhibit to the world that you are the Church.

[Marnie]

Buildings for the church to meet are a good thing. It provides a refuge for believers to assemble and a home base from which to send people out to preach the gospel.

I know that the early church met in homes, temples and even on the beach.

We should encourage believers to meet and come together.

Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

We are in complete agreement here. But I think it might be just me and thee.

[Anika]

I didn't go, yesterday althoughI wanted to. It was Father's Day, and some friends of ours made homemade cinnamon rolls, so we had breakfast with them and stayed till dinner for a wonderful bar-b-que.

For 8 weeks, I didn't go because my husband and I were doing fencing demonstrations at a ren faire for his sword and armour business, but about 20 feet from the shop was the faire's market cross and services were held there every Sunday. I was so thankful that I was able to participate even though I had to be away from my own church, but at least for a short while I was among other believers.

[Openly Curious]

2thePoint,

Testy, testy.

It's a free country, you are a free moral agent, therefore you can do as you please. But what I don't like is you, or the "I don't need to go church" or the "church is not a building" crowd influencing those among us who, perhaps, haven't reached the level of perfection that excuses them form the Pauline mandate of assembling together on the Lord's Day, or as Paul might have said, "the first day of the week."

All this arguing is so tiresome. Besides, this topic has been beat to death. Let's bury it. You stay home on Sunday, I'll go to church, we'll let the Lord decide who's being obedient to His Word.

Testy indeed, Marnie. You've got a lot of anger at me and others who don't do things as you command. That's fine if you don't like me, what matters is what God thinks of me. We aren't perfect like you Marnie, so we feel the need to "go to church" every day. You can't please God by visiting him once a week.

Paul never commanded anyone to meet on "the Lord's day", the day Jesus rose from the dead. The writer of Hebrews is unknown but it has been shown in another thread that Heb. 10:25 is about Jewish believers wanting to return to the old system of law and neglecting their new 'meetings'. (The letter is, after all, written to HEBREWS) That your "go to church" view takes this verse way out of context has been thoroughly supported.

Let's stop trying to bully others and do as Jesus commanded: "worship in spirit and in truth". You be a pharisee if you want, but I'm going to let the Spirit decide. Here is my final warning to you:

Matthew 7:2

For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

Jesus gave more detail in the parable of the shrewd manager, driving home the point that God will judge us with the same measure we use to judge others. I for one would like God to cut me some slack. I hope for your sake that you can live up to the perfection you have decreed for others.

Hello 2thepoint,

I am going to add you to my prayer list.

OC

[Ovedya]

This is an addition to my original post. It was brought up that in the Once Saved Always Saved thread, it was shown Hebrews 10 was only speaking of those who wanted to go back up under Judaism. I mentioned Ovedya laid that argument out. I went back and looked up those posts and found this contradiction. First of all, I asked him, "Are you suggesting this doesn't have anything to do with the Christian Church but applies only to Jews and their meeting in the synagogue," his original answer in post 700 was as follows. "NO, but I do believe that verses 25 and 26 are couched solidly in the concepts which the writer of Hebrews is trying to convey to the Christian Church." He then takes a more forceful position that this does not apply to Christians attending religious services in post 804 of the same thread. As I said, I don't agree with this position and want it noted that it appears at least that the author of that opinion changed his mind within the same thread.

Butero, You misrepresented my argument. Whether you did so intentionally or you just did not understand my response in post 804 I suppose is left to be seen. I would have liked at least a notice that you brought this up here, though, instead of my having to stumble across it.

In post 804 of the "OSAS" thread I wrote the following,

I could not begin to estimate how many times I've heard christians use Hebrews 10:25 as support for contending that one should attend church services on Sunday. They cite this verse and say, "See, this says it's a sin to not go to church." But actually the verse says no such thing. The verses,and the ones surrounding this verse, deal with a specific issue and a specific problem related to the Hebrew believers. So using the surrounding verses in application to scenarios that don't relate just doesn't work.

This was a separate statement addressing the issue of the misapplication of God's word. That is all. In no way does it contradict my previous statement that the verses we were discussing were couched solidly in the concepts which the writer of Hebrews was trying to convey. In fact, in the next paragraph in that post, I provided a scenario in which that verse would apply:

Now, if you had a situation where a pagan was saved and then went back to paganism, or a Mormon was saved and then went back to Mormonism, then these verses would apply in principal, because the basic issue involved is the rejection of Christ's supreme sacrifice and the complete abandoning of the old way...

I believe that, if anyone contends that Hebrews 10:25 is intended to tell us that the "abandoning our own assembling together" is directly related to attending church on Sunday, then he is sorely mistaken. Actually, he is probably simply following the popular misinterpretation and misapplication of the verse. The "assembling together" is a general statement meant to indicate the assembling together in any means which facilitates exhortation, prayer, building up, etc. The church gatherings were an identifying factor of the early church. These gatherings most often took place from house to house, considering the persecutions they suffered.

All true believers are members of the church. Therefore, whenever two or more are gathered together in the Lord's name, that is where the church is. Going to a building on a certain day of the week, under a certain denomination with certain doctrines, and practicing certain ritual observations does not make you a Christian. I've written it before on these boards, and I will continue writing it until someone is able to prove me wrong: Going to church does not make you a Christian anymore than libing in a garage makes you a car. Certain denoms and sects would love to use Hebrews 10:25 as a commandment, or a restriction to a certain set of doctrines, etc., but the fact is, there is no commandment to "go to church on Sunday." When you are with another believer - whether it's one, two, or a hundred-and-three, you are with the church, and the Lord is there among you.

[Ovedya]

I apologize for not contacting you directly about your inclusion in this post. The only reason I felt in necessary to refer to it, was 2ThePoint made mention of it without giving credit to the author. She just said this point was shown to be a fact in another thread. I was pointing people to the thread.

Where I was saying it appeared there was a contradiction was the fact you said "no," when I asked you, "Are you suggesting this doesn't have anything to do with the Christian Church, but applies only to Jews and their meeting in synagogues?" My question to you now is, if it does not just apply to the Jews and does apply to Christians, how is that application made, seeing you have also said it doesn't mean we have to attend church?

To my understanding the application would be as I cited in the second paragraph of post 804 - that the abandoning is done with the specific intent of forsaking the New Way in which Christ is supreme as the eternal sacrifice (cf. Heb. 10:29)

[Ovedya]

Ovedya, I just got through reading your latest post. Does this verse then mean that we are required to meet periodically with other Christians, whether in a formal worship service at a church, or in a prayer meeting, Bible study, place like Worthy Chat, etc.? What I am again asking is how do we make application to ourselves in light of this position you are taking, or do we? Do these verses simply deal with Christians returning to Jewish law or does this verse have a meaning we need to obey?

I think generally with regard to meeeting together we do not need Hebrews 10 as a specific commandment or warning. Considering the many verses in the New Testament which exhort believers to be together - to come together for the purpose of prayer and building up the church - and to endure trials together as members of the same Body, I think the message is pretty clear: We need each other.

The pattern of the early church was that it was a "gathered church," with the healthy practice of meeting together at certain times and whenever they could. The pattern that Paul established in the churches was that they were a "meeting people." They met on the first day of each week for prayer and breaking bread, they met at regular intervals, and evidence suggests that the formed a very tight-knit community by which they endured many trials. Paul encouraged the church time and time again to stay together, for the members to exhort one another regularly and often.

[Guest LadyC]

i went.... despite feeling horribly. i was determined to go though. for the first time in almost two months, my husband was willing to go with me... and he'd kinda slipped back into some old behaviors, so since he was willing to go, without me nagging him, there was no way i was gonna let a little thing like strep throat keep me home!