Well, this morning my husband has to work. This means I alone get the kids ready for church. My 6 year old, after we were about to get shoes on and go out the door, is telling me she’s ill and has taken out “the big bowl.” So now, all my fancy dressed children are stuck at home with me. We’re officially missing church. However, I am sad. In the early stages of switching churches, we might miss for illness, or even sleep in by accident and force ourselves to go. We were still raw from our break with the former church, and church itself was a chore no matter how great the church.
We still do not feel relationally “plugged in” as most church lingo calls it these days. We see people, they’re friendly, they pray. The people we knew before we came to this church are connected and we can get in depth with them easily in converstation, but we’re not “in” yet. Despite this, there’s enough there that missing is sad to me. I really enjoy the messages/study from scripture. The pastors really teach even more than preach in my opinion. The people are friendly and though we’re not settled in, I know it will happen. They serve and have offered though we’ve not taken them up on it yet. It will take time, but they are surely going to become family.
So today marks an interesting moment, it’s not the social aspect drawing me…but it’s the fact that this church focuses on revealing Christ through the bible. Every time someone stands to add membership, they say the same thing with different words. They say this church teaches from the bible. Most of the time they say they had been to other churches, but THIS church is different in that the pastors teach with an expository style, they do not get wrapped up in the popular but in the scriptural. The second thing always expressed is the kindness of the people. This is evident. If my husband and I stand in membership, we’ll likely express the same thing.
I am a C...I am a CH...I am a CHRISTIAN 
We are exactly in the same position as a family, though, we are slowly getting involved. That will help get us to a point where we feel like part of the church family.
I’m a bit gun shy, though. I was so involved at our former church, I’m not quite ready to dive into a ministry. The teaching is AMAZING at this new church. However, I am beginning to feel a soft nudge to look into an area in which I can be helpful.
“Plugging in” is a difficult process, especially if you have been burned by a church or a pastor. Don’t rush into anything. Take your time. don’t let people pressure you. Pray and ask questions. You won’t agree with everything, but the “absolutes of the faith” should be in complete agreement. If not, run…
Glad you are getting great teaching, that’s so important. Hope you can grow to feel at home with God’s people.
Thanks Okie. I’ll take that advice.
Hi ChristianLady,
I wrote months ago about my church becomming emergent. we are still there but have prayed about it and are not going back.
My question to you is…When we talk to friends about the situation with seeker sens/emergent etc….ie Rick warren etc. we are constantly told that we shouldn’t be bashing ministries that God is blessing. How can I argue with that?? What should be my answer???
Hope someone out there can answer this for me??
Flowerfloosey
FF,
I personally believe verses on false teaching are very important. Click “the Red Pen” on the right and read some of the Warren stuff…the blogger takes apart enough of Warren’s book word for word that makes it clear the biblical error.
Fruit is NOT numbers and people and singing in church with a great band/choir. Fruit can look good on the outside (whitewashed tombs…gotta look up that verse but it’s very easy to look good on the outside and be vile on the inside). The fruit is what’s in the man’s heart, I believe, and it will be what he speaks. Warren uses double speak, and approves of elderly in the church just dying off so you can wait for your church to be altered. Is that Christlike? Or are we servants of Christ to also serve the elderly? I am opening up this question on my blog here to the experts out there…and am going to try to get a good response because I got that one too. We were told by a friend not to bash Warren, it was a sort of “c’mon now, you don’t want to go there and ridicule a good ministry” sort of discussion.
Fact is, being evil feels good at times. Being in one of these churches looks like fruit. I can have alcohol and rock at a party and draw a lot of people who enjoy themselves, we can do a LOT of things to draw people to us, but we can still be evil. A room full of people who seem to be “with” the program is not salvation. A room full of people who serve others is not proof of salvation, although it can still be part of the good fruit. Salvation and goodness comes from Christ alone and then comes the good works which should be first and foremost the worship and study of Christ with a desire to serve HIM. Next is the people in the church. It should also create a desire to share Christ with others, and to serve needs…but not backwards…serve others first and then maybe we’ll worship. Or saying serving others IS worship because well, a lot of people serve and it’s not worship. It can BE an act of obedience and worship but it’s not necessarily worship.
I am not so good at the biblical back up for this. Opening up to the floor….
Thank you for your insights into this. I have found myself at odds with how to explain this to others when they don’t understand what I am talking about. Then thru much prayer, God brought me to a place where I realized that I can’t push this on people..I can pray that God would show them the truth too. Meanwhile, I am trying to get my own personal “house” in order and look at my own sin!
That being said there are going to be many who ask why we have left as we have been there for over 25 years and have been involved. The sad thing is that my 88 year old mother and my 32 year old daughter and three grandchildren still are there. This really hurts to leave!
Thanks for listening!
Flowerfloosey