Q and A
I can worship God in nature; why do I need a church?
What we believe to be good and what God knows to be good are two entirely different things. We think that we are being good but we have all sinned and fall short of meeting God’s standards (Romans 3:22-24 “ 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus”). What do you consider good? Are you better than your neighbor, your coworker or some of your friends, but worse than others? How do you know if your good enough, where is the line? The fact of the matter is that none of us are good enough.
People can see the God of creation in nature and wonder and worship, that is very true. But for growth in Christ, for becoming a more mature Christian, a church is what you need.
Through a Bible-believing church you will see glimpses of God through the things that happen there, things like friendship and fellowship, teaching, worship, healing, prayer and giving:
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friendship and fellowship: learning from other believers what God has done and sharing what He is doing in our lives, both the good things and the bad, those shared experiences build faith. Those experiences allow us to see God’s hand and to share what God is like, as He displays His mercy, grace and love for His people through our lives.
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teaching: good Scriptural instruction builds your faith. In the Bible Romans 10, verse 17 says, “faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” We learn new things about God, are reminded of the old things of God and we learn about ourselves through the reading of the Bible and through good Biblical teaching.
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healing: sin is destructive. In John 10:10 Jesus is quoted as saying, “the thief comes to lie, to steal and to destroy. But I am come that they [we] may have life and have life abundantly.” Staying in our sin only hurts us and hurts the people around us. As we recognize the sin in us, repent and ask God for healing, He helps us heal from sin’s effects, with spiritual, emotional and physical healing.
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worship: for many Christians, music is the language of the Spirit. To hear God’s truths delivered in song, by performers or by singing along, that has been a powerful, even life-changing experience for many people.
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prayer: group prayer and prayers shared among close friends or among other believers is powerful, because Jesus is there. In Matthew 18:20 Jesus is quoted saying, “For where two or three come together in My name, there am I with them."
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giving: presenting tithes and offerings to God: of money, time, or other blessings are important to understanding a Christian’s place in God’s plan. All that we have are gifts from God. In the Old Testament, the Israelites were commanded to give a tenth [a tithe] of their crops, herds and earnings, presenting to Him the best that they had. This was and is now a test of God, a jealous God. Giving Him the first and the best of all things, trains our soul to trust Him in all things. To then see how He blesses us and uses our tithes and offerings are also faith-building experiences.
Hebrews 10:25 says, “Let us not give up
meeting together, as some are in the habit
of doing, but let us encourage one
another—and all the more as you see the Day
approaching.” Following the Biblical
suggestion from Hebrews, there is much to
gain. Test it out. Try six months of a
true church fellowship. I expect you will
see there is more gained there than from a
lifetime of Sundays spent in the outdoors.
For more information on the scripture verses
listed above use this link
http://www.biblegateway.com