Welcome back, Rachel! The pictures are lovely! Especially the flowering plants-and all the greenery on your hike! A little bit of heaven! It was good to hear you.
I hear what you are saying, but church is so very important to me, for in depth Bible teaching/preaching, as well as fellowship, worship in song, sharing prayer requests, encouraging others and being encouraged. I am blessed to also be in community with a group of Intercessors throughout the week. Our church facilities get used many days throughout the week with various groups sponsored by the church, outreach ministries, and a school. The outreach ministries include a pro-life center and feeding ministry.
I can’t imagine my life without the church. I do struggle with finding time for quiet time with the Lord, which we all need. Relationship with the Lord and nourishing that is so important! In fact, I believe, as Christians, our time with our Lord should be the most important time of the day, and it gets us ready to face the day with victory, come what may, because we focused on Him from the beginning. So I agree, we can commune with the Lord anywhere. Stillness and quiet is hard for me so I can hear from the Lord in those times. Busyness of church can interfere with private Bible study, letting God teach rather than being totally fed by others, albeit, great Bible teaching. Reading the Bible daily not a struggle but study is! Also, we do go through seasons in life, so maybe this step away from the routine, is a good thing, to discover what God alone has to teach you. I think there could be value in that if one doesn’t camp out there from now on. We need others in the body of Christ! I am so sorry to hear about all the bad weather there. That has got to be difficult! Praying God’s grace and mercy, and His blessings in the middle of it!
Thanks Sandra for your comment! I am so pleased that you have found a good church home. We are all unique and relate to God in different ways. Thanks for your prayers.
Great to to have you back Rachel. I feel I must comment on meeting together as a church. While no church on earth is perfect there are many benefits to enjoy in regular attendance., it nurtures our most important relationships and can aid a healing process so we can grow and move forward, promotes a sense of belonging and one can use their gifts as part of that church community. Togetherness is part of God's plan for his people, prayer, worship and conversation helps remind us that we are not alone In this world..Heb 10v25. Says " Let us not give up the habit of meeting together, as some are doing. Instead, let us encourage one another all the more, since you see the Day of the Lord is coming nearer." We need one another especially right now. Not gathering as a family of believers is Spiritually dangerous..
I agree with you 100% --- God created us to live in community --- he realised that it was not good for Adam/Human to be alone so he created Eve/Life to live together. But in Evangelical Western circles we have made Hebrews 10:25 to relate to a Sunday morning meeting or being an official member of a church. And we shame or judge those who find community informally through small group discussions, online gatherings, meeting for lunch/coffee to discuss and share as believers etc.
Most churches' income goes to the building and wages and a very small percentage goes to those in need in their own locality. Insurance on a church building is now astronomical that it doesn't make sense for believers to have all these expensive buildings sitting empty for 95% of the time.
I have missed your musings and ponderings. I'm glad you are back to writing again. As I read your message today, I was struck by the thought of how we sometimes seem to struggle in the middle of our lives. We have a beginning, and we have assurance about our ending but how do we perceive being in the middle is the question. Are we complacent or happy or curious or bored? I see God at work all around me everyday. But I have to be looking for Him in all of creation and in every conversation. If we allow Him and we abide in Him, we can see and hear Him in each moment of our day. Thank you so much for sharing.
Hey Carol - thanks for the encouragement! Such interesting observations you raise -- yes the messy middle as authors describe it. It's the same with life. We tend to have short memories and can think about God and see him working in the morning then throughout the day we just live a separate type life until we come back home and think again on our bed just before we go to sleep. I guess we can train ourselves to stop and observe God more in the moment.
Welcome back :-)
Some interesting comments from your readers.
There are many kinds of churches in our western world and while some may add rules etc, and may seem to not allow emotions- others are the opposite.
Thanks for sharing Rachel and others!!
Welcome back, Rachel! The pictures are lovely! Especially the flowering plants-and all the greenery on your hike! A little bit of heaven! It was good to hear you.
I hear what you are saying, but church is so very important to me, for in depth Bible teaching/preaching, as well as fellowship, worship in song, sharing prayer requests, encouraging others and being encouraged. I am blessed to also be in community with a group of Intercessors throughout the week. Our church facilities get used many days throughout the week with various groups sponsored by the church, outreach ministries, and a school. The outreach ministries include a pro-life center and feeding ministry.
I can’t imagine my life without the church. I do struggle with finding time for quiet time with the Lord, which we all need. Relationship with the Lord and nourishing that is so important! In fact, I believe, as Christians, our time with our Lord should be the most important time of the day, and it gets us ready to face the day with victory, come what may, because we focused on Him from the beginning. So I agree, we can commune with the Lord anywhere. Stillness and quiet is hard for me so I can hear from the Lord in those times. Busyness of church can interfere with private Bible study, letting God teach rather than being totally fed by others, albeit, great Bible teaching. Reading the Bible daily not a struggle but study is! Also, we do go through seasons in life, so maybe this step away from the routine, is a good thing, to discover what God alone has to teach you. I think there could be value in that if one doesn’t camp out there from now on. We need others in the body of Christ! I am so sorry to hear about all the bad weather there. That has got to be difficult! Praying God’s grace and mercy, and His blessings in the middle of it!
Sandra K
Thanks Sandra for your comment! I am so pleased that you have found a good church home. We are all unique and relate to God in different ways. Thanks for your prayers.
Great to to have you back Rachel. I feel I must comment on meeting together as a church. While no church on earth is perfect there are many benefits to enjoy in regular attendance., it nurtures our most important relationships and can aid a healing process so we can grow and move forward, promotes a sense of belonging and one can use their gifts as part of that church community. Togetherness is part of God's plan for his people, prayer, worship and conversation helps remind us that we are not alone In this world..Heb 10v25. Says " Let us not give up the habit of meeting together, as some are doing. Instead, let us encourage one another all the more, since you see the Day of the Lord is coming nearer." We need one another especially right now. Not gathering as a family of believers is Spiritually dangerous..
I agree with you 100% --- God created us to live in community --- he realised that it was not good for Adam/Human to be alone so he created Eve/Life to live together. But in Evangelical Western circles we have made Hebrews 10:25 to relate to a Sunday morning meeting or being an official member of a church. And we shame or judge those who find community informally through small group discussions, online gatherings, meeting for lunch/coffee to discuss and share as believers etc.
Most churches' income goes to the building and wages and a very small percentage goes to those in need in their own locality. Insurance on a church building is now astronomical that it doesn't make sense for believers to have all these expensive buildings sitting empty for 95% of the time.
I have missed your musings and ponderings. I'm glad you are back to writing again. As I read your message today, I was struck by the thought of how we sometimes seem to struggle in the middle of our lives. We have a beginning, and we have assurance about our ending but how do we perceive being in the middle is the question. Are we complacent or happy or curious or bored? I see God at work all around me everyday. But I have to be looking for Him in all of creation and in every conversation. If we allow Him and we abide in Him, we can see and hear Him in each moment of our day. Thank you so much for sharing.
Hey Carol - thanks for the encouragement! Such interesting observations you raise -- yes the messy middle as authors describe it. It's the same with life. We tend to have short memories and can think about God and see him working in the morning then throughout the day we just live a separate type life until we come back home and think again on our bed just before we go to sleep. I guess we can train ourselves to stop and observe God more in the moment.