Attending Church

I have regularly attended church since I became a Christian. It's important to worship and fellowship with other believers. You can worship God anywhere but you will never know your brothers and sisters unless you spend time with them. We all have gifts and need each other. If you keep away from the family of God, you are robbing someone of your special gift. Please find a good Bible preaching/teaching church and use your gifts where they are needed. YOU are needed. There are no Lone Rangers in the Body, we need each other. I'll be seeing you at Home someday. Also, don't look to people for heroes, keep you eyes on Jesus and your heart full of forgiveness. After all, I'm sure you need to be forgive too by people. You are forgiven in Jesus.

I not only attend church regularly for the past 27 years, I am also involved in running the church's resource centre, and I have been serving in this ministry for the past 26 years. I am one of the pioneers who were involved in setting up the RC. As Christians, God has called us to worship regularly on Sundays as a congregation together with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. I've heard of people who excuse themselves from church because the service time is not very appropriate, they can't wake up early enough, the pastor is not inspiring, they don't like some people in church, the church is not charismatic enough, they need to have their tennis or golf every Sunday, and a thousand other reasons. Sometimes, I don't know if they go (or opt not to go) to church for the right reasons, and that is to set aside time to worship God. If our focus during Sunday worship is on God, and we spend time in prayer, singing and meditation while seeking God's presence and annointing and letting Him administer to us personally, other things become secondary and inconsequential. The quality of our worship is what matters. We are not there to worship other people. Please do know that I am not directing this at you. Pardon me if you feel otherwise. I am just expressing this because this discussion is about attending church, and in my church I know of people like that so I am just sharing. In your case, perhaps you can explore another church where you will feel that it meets your needs better. Spending quality time with God as a church fellowship is essential, so I hope you can find an alternative church where you will feel more at ease, rather than stop going to church altogether. Remember your main purpose of being at the Sunday service is to seek God and to worship Him in His house. God bless.

When I was growing up we were taken to church every Saturday or Sunday. We had to go. As an adult I do not attend church. I never felt comfortable with it. I still have my faith as well but I find I don't need to go to church to have faith.

what you're saying is totally true. there's a lot of church leaders who are not true to what they preach. they are examples of how men are prone to all kinds of temptations and distractions. they are human like us anyway we look at it. personally i never make that affect my going to church. i go to church for myself and my maker. i attend sunday service because i want to not because i have to. everyone of us has different ways how to practice our faith, and at the end of the day it's our faith that will set us free. good day.

well i use to attend church when i was younger like every sunday,but times have changed,i had to work on sundays and then got married and everything else so i wasnt able to make church.i dont feel bad about it because i do pray all the time,and god does answers our prayers.sometimes it takes alot longer but he does.when my kids get older than i will get them to go to church too,and we can do it as a family,and if we cant get there then i wont dread over it,as long as we believe in god than we really dont need church.take care worldwise1.pattie

hi i attend church every sunday and its really nice feeling to fellowship with the ppl who believe in God.its really blessed to be in the Lord.Just continue seeking God.

I'm not sure what 'religion' you are but I want to set your mind at ease.... the bible instructs us to maintain fellowship with other believers; it does NOT say this has to be done in a church! You can stop worrying about judgement now :)

yes we do to church and sure everyone is 'filled' with sin, but by God's grace makes it possible for everyone to get along. i think you musta been going to the wrong church lol...

I use to go to church when I was younger too, several different ones in fact. I have not been to one for several years now and prefer to have my own time with God. I think one day I may go back to one but at the moment, I don't really know where I stand with my faith and all.

Well honey I never attended church until my son was about 5! I have been involved with our community church ever since! Unfortunately I can rarely attend now but my children love going - we are lucky it is a very friendly, open and welcoming church, we no longer have a pastor but the leaders are very nice and not at all judgemental- our sermons, or as they sometimes are discussions , are posted on our church website every week and I keep in contact with many of my church family! I do know what you mean about the leadership of some churches though - they are more about religion than faith! A lot of my christian freinds like me believe you can be a good christian without attending church - the difference is that you do not get the support of the other people in church. I am sure no one will judge you honey - thought I wouold put in a link to our church website if you fancy a little look at it and can understand the scottish accents! www.stninianscommunitychurch.org

When I was a kid I did go to church, was confirmed there etc...but by the time I reached fifteen I stopped going...like you it wasn't that I lost faith, but I just couldn't stand the hypocracy of people professing to love thy neighbor on Sunday and being real s**ts the rest of the week...now I'm not saying this is the case for everyone, just my experience....Of course now I'm on a different pagan path, though I've never exactly given up my Christian beliefs either...And while going to church might be the answer for some, and there is a feeling of holiness in a church, or any building of religion, to me religion should be more than a one day of the week thing....and in all honesty I could probably benefit just as much being attuned to the creator by being in the middle of a field and being in harmony with nature

I used to be like you. I losst my faith with the people in the church but i learned that it was God's invitation. So now I go to church every sunday to please God's invitation. At times I don't attend sunday mass.

I agree. When I was a kid, I regularly went to church and even when I was a young adult, I still made it a point to go to church on Sundays. But then I moved to Manila because of work and I stayed in a compound owned by the church here in the city. There is a seminary in the compound and the priests are also given housing within the compound. It was my years of stay in the said compound that opened my eyes to the various intrigues that are involved in our church. Things that would make you question the actions of these so called church leaders. So like you, I was kind of disillusioned but still my faith is intact. I've since moved to another place and have never visited the compound since.

I am sorry to hear that. Those people you looked up are humans too like me and you. They also committed sins even they are serving God. But Jesus said, He came here not for the just but for the sinners. All of us sinned. Don't take their actions against their teachings. What is important is that you follow their teachings not their actions. Those serving God are more prone to temptations of sinning. Satan is trying to distract this people so their souls will be his. But if that's you decision, you are entitled to it. If you want, you can choose other church or other congregation that you will feel comfortable with and you think would give you answers for all the questions you have. Anyway, religion doesn't save one man's soul. It is how he live his life and how he treat other people that matters to God. You can be spiritual without going to church as long as you build a closer relationship with God everything would fine. God bless you.

I regularly attend church. I feel quite blessed that I've attended churches with people whose lives reflect their beliefs. these are real people with flaws and who don't profess to be all sorted. but they are all seeking to build each other up and pull each other up when we face trials. i do agree with you that there are many 'white-washed tombs' as Jesus called the pharisees. this is something that is real and will not go away. but should the existence of a few bad eggs keep us away from fellowship with true believers? i hope not. I don't think God will 'judge you for this someday'. Afterall, you are His child and nothing can change that. I've heard a useful analogy, which says that church is like a hospital of sick people who recognise that they are sick. not meant to be a place of holy moly folk who pretend that all is right when we all struggle with sin in our lives. :)