BAPTIST! Can i keep the faith in God without going to church?
December 302009
I think church is for those who want to fellowship with others and want to be taugh more. I have plenty breakdowns of the bible and books about the bible. And so long as i do what i am suppose to, do i really have to go to church? I can watch it on t.v too. Just like the church pays the offering thats suppose to go to God when it really goes towards the church bills. It can go towards my house bills, don’t you think?
If you really need a church to keep your ‘faith’ up then you are either extreemly weak or insecure.
December 31st, 2009 at 2:19 am
Yes, but God uses your 10% for HIS honor and glory and NOT YOURS.
EVEN the bills of the church have to get paid because it is the building WHERE JESUS CHRIST is taught.
Ya know?
I pray you will rethink your position with God.
My church makes me WANT to go–because I am active in my choir, children’s choir, singing in ensembles, playing handbells-and I do it FOR GOD because HE gave me the talent to sing and to lead.
God has given YOU TALENT, TOO–if you like to sing–go get in choir and get back into church, PLEASE!
Satan wants to give you EXCUSE UPON EXCUSE for NOT GOING and giving God your talent and your 10%.
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December 31st, 2009 at 3:09 am
If you really need a church to keep your ‘faith’ up then you are either extreemly weak or insecure.
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Atheist
December 31st, 2009 at 3:17 am
You’ll burn and rot in hell. Unless I’m mistaken.
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December 31st, 2009 at 3:25 am
Follow the law and go to church on the Sabbath. That’s required of the Baptist; I’m Baptist.
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December 31st, 2009 at 4:13 am
Can you have faith in God in not attend church? Yes, you can. Should you? No, you shouldn’t. We are called to community with those who share our faith. Not attending church will in no way jeopardize your salvation, but I strongly suggest you re-think your decision.
1 Corinthians 12:27
"Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it."
1 John 1:7
But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, *we have fellowship with one another*, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin (emphasis mine)
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December 31st, 2009 at 4:44 am
Can we be in the will of God and not be doing what he says to do? Christians are to go to church regularly.
1Tim 3:15 But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
1Pe 5:1 The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
3 Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.
Act 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Heb 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another:
Rom 15:6 That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Eph 5:19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
1Co 11:26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.
27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
Mat 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
There ae various places in the book of Acts, for example 120 were in the upper room praying until the Lord poured out the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.
Act 1:14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.
15 And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)
Believers met regularly for fellowship and to recieve the Word and pray and worship together.
Act 2:42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
Eph 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
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December 31st, 2009 at 4:53 am
Going to church is important. The bible tells us to Go fellowship with others of like faith. I would say that going to church is important and to go
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December 31st, 2009 at 5:43 am
Yes you can, Church is just a physical building, its a meaningless place in the Wider picture of things, its really a place for members to gather and worship together, or new commers to find, some sort of answer to life.
But your relationship with the most high is meant to be a personal one, therefore you can keep your faith, in church, in your bed, on the moon, where ever, the choice is yours..
just Love and be peaceful to others
Hetep
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December 31st, 2009 at 6:32 am
There is no faith to ‘keep’ – unless you have truly accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. By the way, being a Baptist – isn’t belonging to any cult.
We are supposed to go to church in order to have fellowship with other brothers and sisters in Christ. To learn – to worship – to go out from the church and tell others, witness to the lost.
I do believe what the Bible says in Hebrews 10:25 "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching."
God Bless………….
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December 31st, 2009 at 7:06 am
you don’t HAVE TO GO TO church it’s just one of those things that you do to be more with God and to fellowship and praise God for what he had done for us. you can watch it on TV but that isn’t really going to church….you would be better off going to a public service……i go to church almost every Sunday unless i am sick and i really enjoy church…
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December 31st, 2009 at 7:53 am
Yeah yeah but if you don’t give then there would be no professional clergy and then who’s going to keep you deluded week in and week out?
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December 31st, 2009 at 8:10 am
If the problem is the offering (tithing)…just tithe what you can. I go to church every week and can’t always give 10% directly to my church. We sponsor a child, we help family, we took in my nephew, we have an autistic child who has financial needs as well as special needs. Giving of yourself is as vital as financial gifts.
You don’t have to go to church to be a Christian…that is between you and God. The Bible does say not to forsake the assembly. The reason for that is people can sharpen other people..spiritually. It is difficult to have a personal outreach and ministry with out the support of a leader in your life.
Hope this helps.
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December 31st, 2009 at 8:30 am
Of course you can keep your faith in God without going to church! Okay my opinion is that a church is built for those who are lost and don’t know how to pray, church is their guide like a school that will teach them the word of God. But if you have a deeper faith and you know to pray you can just do it alone in a quiet room. pray and meditate. talk to God and I’m sure he’ll not condemn you for not going to church. just go to church when it’s in your heart…don’t force it. what important is your communication with God even when nobody’s watching! God bless!
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December 31st, 2009 at 8:50 am
1st- You don’t have to go to church, but there is more than teaching done at church. It gives you a chance to be around those who believe the same as you. It is tough to keep the faith when the entire world is against you. It allows you to "charge your batteries" so to speak.
2nd- There are two types of monies collected at church. Tithe and Offerings. Tithes are 10% of what you make that you are commanded to give back to God. Yes it may pay for the lights at church, but that allows the church to teach to those who may not know God as well as you. Offerings are anything in addition to your tithes that you wish to give. The bible says that anything you give will be returned to you 10 fold.
3rd- Watching church on TV isn’t exactly the same (especially depending on what you believe). Some denominations believe in the presence of God or the Holy Spirit within their churches during survices. This will open your heart and mind to the teachings of God. Think of it this way…. Have you ever heard a song that really touched you one time, and then the next time you heard it you didn’t feel the same? Church opens you up to teaching in much the same way.
I hope this helps. If you can’t make church then TV is something at least.
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December 31st, 2009 at 9:40 am
You can keep the faith without attending church.
-But- Keep in mind what Jesus said. I’m paraphrasing but something like ‘To help your brothers, sisters and neighbors is to help me. Yes when you feed the hungry and cloth the naked you are surely helping me. And to deny them is to deny me.’ I’m not saying that not going to church is to deny Jesus, I am saying that Church is a good place to find the opportunities to unite with people to help those in need.
But all in all, you can accomplish these things outside of church. If you have a study bible, research church in the new testament and see what Jesus or his apostles say about it.
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December 31st, 2009 at 10:13 am
It looks like to me you are saying what can the church do for me rather than what can I do for the church?
Let’s think about this on a broader scale.
What if everyone decided to not attend church?
Would you tell everyone in every church they don’t really have to attend and to just go home and watch TV?
I think you should do whatever you would advise everyone to do and also ask the WWJD question.
In Heb 10:24 we are told to not forsake or cease the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
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December 31st, 2009 at 11:02 am
If your justifying not going to church based on not giving a tithe or offering, then you probably need to go all the more. Tithing is what God requireds at a minimum, in fact God asks for your first and best 10%. Offering is what you give above and beyond that. God has given you everything, the least you can do is give Him what He asks.
Meeting with other believers is how God has designed His Church and He has His reasons. Hebrews 10:24-25 says, "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habbit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the day approaching.
Basically your faith is your own, I get that, but God wants us to be accountable to other Christians so that we don’t become lazy in our faith. We are to keep each other sharp, (Proverbs 27:17). You can’t really do that on your own. Plus there is no one to help keep you in check from rationalizing your faith into whatever you decide it should be.
The entire book of Acts talks about what Church really is and what God intended it to be. They met together all the time. If you are serious about your faith then removing yourself from the Church is not biblical.
My advice is to find a church that you can learn serve and worship at. If you can’t then you go to the one you are at and make it work. Much like you make a relationship with your family work. You get involved and serve them.
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December 31st, 2009 at 11:39 am
"I for one, will have stopped going to church once I have a
home to reside in."
"No worship channels on television or radio Gospel Music."
"No Bible guides for me."
"I understand everything I read completely, because I am
knowledgeable of how their governments and different ruling
empires administered justice, and the order these empires
had controlled Europe, and the entire Eastern Hemisphere."
"I use those prior studies of (what happens to be my major),
Military History, to place in chronological order the books and
the prophets of the Old Testament, (or the Torah)."
"If you feel you would otherwise become selfish, a church isn’t
always just about paying their bills with your tithes, they may
also need you to become involved with their Youth Ministry."
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December 31st, 2009 at 11:45 am
I quit the Baptist church when I was just 8 years old. I recently visited one and was reminded why, half way through the sermon.
The one thing, I have against the Baptist church, is they teach us to be beggers instead of victorious in Christ. You see, Jesus said, "I come to set you free". Who has the right to put guilt on us? Nobody!
So you’re feeling guilty about not going to church? It took me years to get that out of my system. That’s from the Baptist teachings.
Once you feel free, you will return to church but one more open to victory and less of the rules and regs to enslave you.
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