Skip to main content

The purpose of church

My husband and I have been pondering lately what the purpose of church is. It hasn't been an easy question to answer. But, I found this on the web and I thought it very succinctly answered the question of what the purpose of the church is...

http://www.gotquestions.org/purpose-church.html

Comments

Melissa said…
This is a question that Patrick and I have discussed frequently over the years as we've served in student ministries. We struggled to get students to attend service. They often claim "I get nothing out of it," "It's boring," etc.
We tried to get them to realize one major truth...It's NOT about THEM or US. It's about GOD. He is worthy of worship and if don't, the rocks will (Luke 19:40). I love the picture that Psalm 95 paints. We should consider it a privilege to approach the God of the Universe in worship...not obligated. Although it's important to root your family in a Bible-believing and teaching church, it's not about the quality of music or preaching. We actually believe that Sunday mornings is not the specified place for spiritual growth. We take our children to worship because we believe it's important to worship as a family (covenant theology). If we are a little distracted from the sermon, that's ok. We can always pick up a CD. Ultimately, we don't rely on Sunday mornings for teaching. We make sure we're plugged into good small group and individual studies. Anyway...just some more food for thought :)
September 2, 2009 at 2:23 PM
Anne said…
I can see why you commented that way--I actually didn't mean my post that way. We very much believe in going to church and don't struggle with the reasons why to go, but we wanted to be able to articulate it succinctly what the church is called to be and do. I realized a while ago that I have so much information stuffed in my brain =) that I forget things that I've learned and have stored away, so I have to refresh my memory. =)
September 2, 2009 at 9:22 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Comparison of Verses

Tonight I was reading the Mom's Bible again (NCV) and compared this verse: NCV Ephesians 5:22-24 22 Wives, yield to your husbands, as you do to the Lord, 23 because the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church. And he is the Savior of the body, which is the church. 24 As the church yields to Christ, so you wives should yield to your husbands in everything. NIV Ephesians 5:22-24 22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. The Message 22-24 Wives, understand and support your husbands in ways that show your support for Christ. The husband provides leadership to his wife the way Christ does to his church, not by domineering but by cherishing. So just as the church submits to Christ as he exercises such leadership, wives should likewis...
Post a Comment
Read more

Grieved

Why is it that my generation (I belong to Gen X) and generations after us always seem to think that they know more than the generations that have come before us? Why is there such a lack of respect in our generation for our elders? Why do we think that the liturgy of the church and hymns are irrelevant? It is ironic to me that the emergent movement is saying that the seeker sensitive movement is irrelevant. It seems as if it was only a few years ago when it was the seeker sensitive movement that said to the traditional church that it (the traditional church) was irrelevant. I'm reading a book with all of these big words and I want to be honest--I didn't understand a lot of it. I'm not dumb. I understood most of it, but the author was assuming a lot of background knowledge on the part of the reader. Most of the time I learn deep theological concepts and then I have to store them in my "attic" (as Autumn would say) because there isn't enough room in the ...
Post a Comment
Read more

ESV, NIV, or NASB and then there's the ICB, ESV or NIrV...which should we read?

I am so thankful for my friend's question about the ESV vs. NASB and NIV. I couldn't remember the difference so I went to look it up. I knew that John Piper and Tim Keller, both pastors and authors that I deeply respect have switched over to the ESV. All of the churches that we have attended over the past few years PCA or Reformed Baptist have also switched to the ESV. I did find a blog that explained the differences and that helped me ( http://thefoolishgalatian.wordpress.com/2007/10/22/niv-vs-esv-and-why-piper-switched/ ) I knew why I didn't like the KJV--it was written in the days when writers were paid by a patron and that often slanted the translation. The NKJV, from what I understand, is a revision of the KJV that uses more modern language. Most churches I have attended used the NIV until the ESV came out. The blog I found explained that the ESV is a more literal translation---like the NASB. The NASB is a very literal translation. The ESV has come to be consid...
Post a Comment
Read more