Posted on 02/14/2018 5:37:59 AM PST by Gamecock
There is a crisis of worship in our land. People are staying away from church in droves. One survey indicated that the two chief reasons people drop out of church are that it is boring and irrelevant.
If people find worship boring and irrelevant, it can only mean they have no sense of the presence of God in it. When we study the act of worship in Scripture and church history, we discover a variety of human responses to the sense of the presence of God. Some people tremble in terror, falling with their faces to the ground; others weep in mourning; some are exuberant in joy; still others are reduced to a pensive silence. Though the responses differ, one reaction we never find is boredom. It is impossible to be bored in the presence of God (if you know that He is there).
Neither is it possible for a sentient creature to find his or her encounter with God a matter of irrelevance. Nothing—and no one—is more relevant to human existence than the living God.
Coram Deo Do you find worship boring and irrelevant? If so, pray for a renewed sense of God’s presence.
Passages for Further Study
Psalm 95:6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
Psalm 34:1 I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
Psalm 50:23 The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!”
Ping
Or the worship doesn't convey presence of God.
But one or the other.
When churches are more interested ins SJW issues than teaching the words of the Bible, when pastors are pushing the ‘prosperity gospel’ rather than Jeaus, when church hierarchical leadership is pushing teachings that are opposite to that of the Bible, people stop going.
It is not the people but the churches themselves that are turning away.
Preach the Gospel and they will attend. You gotta put solid spiritual food on the table.
I think the problem is more difficult unfortunately. Either people choose to live and accept a world of cultural rot or they accept God. You cannot serve two masters. In days past worship of God and biblical teaching occurred in the home and in the schools. When people ignore God’s teachings 6 days out of the week, why would we expect them to remember Him on the 7th?
I feel fortunate to have found my current church. My pastor steps through the Bible — we just spent 3 years on Luke. We went through every bit of it in small weekly chunks. Full explication. Linking the relevant bits from the gospel to bits in the Old Testament. Touching on translation issues if needed — where else is a particular Greek or Hebrew word used, and what does that tell us about what Luke is really trying to communicate? Plenty of discussion of what this meant for us in our daily lives. Plenty of good, eye-opening stuff.
He never does prosperity stuff, political stuff, or social justice stuff. He covers the Bible. That’s his mission.
I can’t believe he’s preaching in MA. And the church is growing. We went from one service on Sunday, to two services on Sunday, and now we’re in a building project because the pews are so crowded.
Church simply can’t compete with TV.
Or the internet. There is a profound sense of church here and about.
I have given up on churches, all churches. Most are a spiritual pit that sucks the soul into oblivion. They bear no resemblance to Christ.
“Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship.”—Romans 12:1
THIS is worship! May we all know the joy of this.
It is not the people but the churches that
are turning away.
________________________________________
Right, but they are more interested in what
any man on the street says about it than what
Jesus himself said.
Jesus spent quite a bit of time telling us how
to pray and how not to pray and he also told us
to worship in spirit and truth.
That may be open for interpretation
but I believe if we can just do our
best to keep God’s word that is the
worship Jesus was referring to.
But then if they only preach the
truth they may not be called doctor,
reverand or master any more.
Being in the military for 27 years and moving around every two or three years, I realized very quickly that in churches where Scripture was clearly preached there were mature Christians and spiritual growth.
The prosperity gospel does bring in folks for a while, but eventually they flame out.
>>Or the worship doesn’t convey presence of God.
You hit the root of the problem there. People don’t trust God to be there, even though he says that he is. They don’t trust him, so they want visible signs which are really just smoke and incense or glitter or loud preaching. Worship is showing up in a plain church and worshiping because you know that God is there to receive it.
No question, brother, many "churches" suck. The enemy proudly and effectively employs them to discourage and disarm the body of Christ.
But the body doesn't exist only to serve me and my needs. We gather together in fellowship to worship Him and to equip, edify, encourage and love one another. Every attending member of the body contributes, whether they mean to or not. When we neglect the church gathering, we cripple the body of Christ.
While I'm glad you're able to find some semblance of fellowship here, FR is not a gathering of the saints. Not even close. Brothers and sisters cannot function as our Creator intended while hiding behind keyboards in anonymity.
I'm praying you'll look for a group who loves the Lord. They're out there, somewhere, and they're waiting for you.
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. (Hebrews 10:23-25 ESV)
While I'm glad you're able to find some semblance of fellowship here, FR is not a gathering of the saints. Not even close. Brothers and sisters cannot function as our Creator intended while hiding behind keyboards in anonymity.
I'm praying you'll look for a group who loves the Lord. They're out there, somewhere, and they're waiting for you.
Preach it brother!
Amen. Those with no appetite for the feast of His Word might have a ‘missing person’ crisis, for He promised to be in us, the hope of glory.
It also might help to find a church where God is truly being worshiped. Instead of worship being worshiped.
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