Sometimes I wonder, “Where is a true Church?” Where is a group of Christians
that believe, teach and practice carefully the way to a successful life? The
answer will only be found in the Bible. Where is a Church where the bottom line
is not numbers and money but the moving of the Holy Spirit in a humble,
authentic congregation?
I read about a pastor who stopped in the middle of a sermon, “opened up the floor”
to the congregation and never went back to sermons as usual. The people participated
together by expounding from the Bible what they had learned. They shared
testimonies of Jesus at work in their lives. They departed from the
half-hour lecture that no one remembers once outside the doors of the church.
This is not just a bright idea, the format is in the Bible, 1Corinthians 14:26.
"How is it then, brethren? when you come together, every one of you has a
Psalm, has a doctrine, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation.
Let all things be done unto edifying."
This would be a powerful motivation for every person to grow, to deepen,
to seek the LORD through Scripture for themselves…and then express this growth
for all to be encouraged by.
The Churches we have visited lately are disappointing. The music is loud; my
husband gets Vertigo, (it is dizziness and nausea when the sound is above eighty
decibels). We have had to leave, walk out of Church services immediately.
Neither my husband, nor I can worship sincerely when the decibels are high to
the point of feeling it in the chest. The exhortation from Scripture, “Play
skillfully with a loud noise” (Psalm 33:3) does not mean a threat to hearing
loss.
More than loud music, we left one church we had visited for a few weeks when
the pastor invited: “Everybody come to the Communion Table; it does not matter
what you believe or where you are spiritually. Just come.” The last sermon we
heard there was something like this: “I studied and studied to come up with a
message about baptism, but I threw it all out. I will just speak from my
heart…” Your heart, pastor? Your message was not even from the Bible!
Here is a prescription for a church which, oddly enough today, is described
in the Bible:
“How is it then, brethren? When ye come together, every one of you hath a
psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an
interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.”(1 Corinthians 14:26)
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