I put my snow shoes in the give-away. I said, “I won’t wear these again. If it is that cold, I won’t be going to church. If I do, I will be lying prone as I’m carried in.”
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Have you missed me? No? Well, I guess I’d better get to writing to remind you I am here. 😀
Yesterday was a family day at my house. More about that later, another blog. A good part of our conversation was “religious” in nature. We might have been over-compensating as a good reason to quit watching the OU/Texas game! Anyway the importance or un-importance of participating in a local church versus on-line worship was somewhat of a hot topic. You know my arguments, but as a back-up/follow-up I am again referring to my dozen reasons a local church is needed. And the church has to have active members in order to perform these tasks.
Here they are again.
TO SUMMARIZE THE PURPOSES for a local church body:
- A place to praise God (Acts 2:46-47, Heb. 2:12)
- A place to fellowship (Acts 2:46-47)
- A place to prophesy leading to Holy Spirit conviction to sinners (I Cor. 14:24,25)
- A place of prayer (Mat. 21:13)
- A place to nurture people for Christian ministries and Christian witnessing (Acts 1:8)
- A place to receive offerings for financing its enterprises. (I Cor. 16:1,2)
- A place to settle disputes among members. (I Cor. 6:4-6; Mat. 18:15-17)
- A place to preach the gospel leading to repentance & remission of sins (Mat 28:19,20)
- A place to edify oneself & each other by manifestation of spiritual gifts (I Cor 14:26)
- A place to instruct in holy living to prepare a universal glorious church (Eph. 5:25-27)
- A place to partake of the Lord’s Supper (I Cor. 11:23-30)
- A place to facilitate baptism in water (time and place not specified in scripture)
I HAD A TERRIBLE TIME GETTING MYSELF UP AND DRESSED AND OUT TO CHURCH THIS MORNING. OR HOW THE COMPUTER SANG LOVE SONGS TO ME!
Sweet aroma 
A huge number of Americans claim church membership but are not counted by any congregation, since they have not attended in such a long time. The mission field is ripe, filled with people who say they are Christians but who have severed their relationship with the body of Christ. J.
Huge problem that signifies to me that many of those people were/are deceived. “Christ in me” longs to draw close to other member of the body of Christ.
I have always viewed the community of the elect as valued for two reasons:
1. Sometimes the Lord shows me stuff that others in the fellowship need to understand; to correct, to inform, to guide and encourage.
2. Sometimes the Lord shows others stuff that I NEED to understand; be corrected, informed, guided and encouraged!
And Oneta, we can never forget you, and yes, you were missed!!
❤️& 🙏, c.a.
You are right on both counts. And thank you.
Oneta, after shutting its doors for too long, our church has resolved never again to make the Church (PEOPLE) inaccessible. They have streaming, but it’s limited to those who physically can’t get there for one reason or another. But laziness or apathy is not considered a valid excuse. You can’t hold hands to pray with someone online. You can’t hug a computer screen. You can’t get baptized via zoom! There’s just something about God’s people being together that can’t be replaced. Yes, technology sings its siren song, and there are mornings it’s appealing, but too many people drifted away during lockdowns and have yet to come back. 😦
The devil uses every tool he can to bait his traps. This is a big one. I’m glad there is a church who sets some limits and demands some accountability from its members. The NT churches sure had a lot of fellowshipping going on.
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