Entertain me, dammit!
(Disclaimer: Not a photo of the actual event.)
Posted on 12/11/2005 8:58:32 PM PST by Pikamax
I agree with you that it sends a very poor message. But in the grand scheme of things, whomsoever He has predestined to eternal life will be led to the Lord. In the case of the ministry cancelling the service, there is nothing mandating their worship and remaining open. Then again, God may have elected them for some marvelous rewards in heaven, that might simply go unclaimed and serve as an eternal memorial to the foolishness of any man who fails to remain with Him in all things.
Besides, maybe there is some homeless guy who happens to show up at the church and unbeknownst to all, witnesses to an unbeliever who wanted to hear the Gospel, and then even greater blessings await them both in eternity.
God Bless.
I just realized the way I wrote that might sound like I'm the pianist, which I'm not. I meant it as an addition to who we need.
Or maybe, just maybe, the normal attenders of the church service for once quit warming the pew and use this opportunity to go out, find a homeless guy that doesn't know the Gospel, invites him to their home for a Christmas meal or takes him out for one, does *life* with him, and shares the Gospel and he gets saved!
Listen to his sermon and you'll find out. ;-)
Why do people celebrate Jesus' birth on December 25?
The answer to this question lies in the pagan (the ancient polytheistic religion) origins of Christmas. Before the Romans converted to Christianity, they celebrated the popular holiday Saturnalia, a festival of feasting and revelry held in December in celebration of Saturn, the god of agriculture, and the winter solstice.
Kelly Wittmann wrote, "In 350, Pope Julius I declared that Christ's birth would be celebrated on December 25. There is wide acceptance of the belief that Pope Julius I was trying to make it as painless as possible for pagan Romans, who remained a majority at that time, to convert to Christianity. The new religion went down a bit easier, knowing that their feasts would not be taken away from them." Moreover, in ancient Babylon, December 25 was the feast of the Son of Isis, Goddess of Nature, was celebrated with, "Raucous partying, gluttonous eating and drinking, and gift-giving were traditions of this feast", as stated by Kelly Wittmann.
Entertain me, dammit!
(Disclaimer: Not a photo of the actual event.)
Agreed. Just because Christmas is on Sunday this year is not a good reason to stay home from church!
That's OK - you can be my page-turner! :-)
I would be interested in whether this church has regular Saturday night services that suffice for Sunday, or is he just using this Catholic thing as an excuse???
And anyway, although we have the option to attend several Masses Christmas Eve (and the glorious Midnight Mass as well) there will be Mass on Sunday. This church is cancelling services on the Lord's Day . That's what I find bizarre, not necessarily the availability of alternate Christmas services.
One of the more bizarre feelings for Catholics is when Christmas falls on a Saturday and we go to Mass on Saturday (Christmas Day) and then have the option of going again that evening for the Sunday obligation.
The church does have a weekly 5:30pm service and has had Saturday services for several years now. I am the one that brought up the Catholic issue based on information from my coworker, a Catholic. What I meant by him bringing up that issue was that he brought up that Biblically a day began at sunset and ended the next sunset.
Our church isn't having Christmas day service, they are having a Christmas eve service.
I believe the biggest whiners are the ones who only go to church twice a year on Christmas & Easter.
I'm not trying to be obstinate here. I've noted in several posts that although I am 100% behind this church and its decision I still have a personal preference that a Sunday service be available. I, personally, attend a service on Saturday evenings, so I technically don't have a "dog in this fight". I will be celebrating the Lord's Day, Jesus' birthday, on a Saturday evening. I know that there are those in Christendom who believe that you can't properly worship God or His Son unless your butt is in a pew on a day with "Sun" in the name. Here's a good article regarding Sabbath and/or Sunday worship.
However, the pastor makes a very good point that Jesus broke many traditions in His time putting relationship over religion. This discussion has shown that many Christians tread very close to worshiping a day and not Jesus. After listening to Weece I am inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt that this decision is not one taken lightly nor out of bowing down before the alter of "secularization".
The fallen nature of man and his lusts are no different today than they were four thousand years ago.
He said, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple."
A.J., you aren't trying to save a single soul by your posts, nor enlighten anyone. I'm simply encouraging people to listen to the man. If you haven't investigated this man or the church then all you are doing is posting based upon how you "feel" about this subject based on the very few quotes in the article cited at the top. You are attempting to turn this into some kind of debate where you "win". I'm sorry but there is no winner in that kind of discussion.
Godspeed to you. I pray you have a wonderful time celebrating the birth of Jesus this year. I also pray you lead someone to a saving knowledge of Him as well!
Shalom.
Uh, yeah. Please continue with your point. . .?
I'll be celebrating the party in my home just like we do every Christmas. We might even make a birthday cake.
They are celebrating and observing the Sabbath on the evening before. Many churches hold Saturday evening services.
For awhile, we had to hold our services on Saturday evening. My church is small and we meet in a school. The school has had to be renovated during the summer a few times. One summer, we met at another church on Saturday evenings. It wasn't a big deal. It was just the way it was if we were going to continue to meet.
I just spent the past two evenings with my family at a walk-through Bethlehem reenactment of the Christmas story. On Sunday, we will go to church and watch my daughters in the Christmas play with my daughter being Mary. On Christmas Eve, we'll go to church together as a family. On Christmas morning, we'll spend it at home. We've also opened our home for anyone in our church that doesn't have a place to spend Christmas to eat at our home on Christmas.
I think we do a pretty good job of remembering what the day is about.
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