Church and life groups
So what do you look for in a church or cell/lifegroup?
The Preaching? The Worship?The 'presence' of God?
Over the span of nearly 3 years in Hobsons Bay CityLife Church, i witness many comings and goings. Various people are drawn to my church and others leave for a whole host of reasons.
This year, i shifted from living in the heart of the city to the suburbs of Clayton. As a result, it takes nearly and hour to drive to church as compared to 30mins in previous years. This also meant that i will require to wake up much earlier especially on days that im serving in the hospitality team.
Many people ask me, "why, why do i stay on?"
I guess, the initial reason i decided to commit to the church was that i found the Pastor to be a very real person and i truely appreciated that. The hardest part of being a christian is that we faced so much pressure from the community secular and religious to conform to this preconcieved standards. And the church, instead of being a retreat for people to come to and be who they are, becomes a place of showing forth a facade. Standard small talks without any sincerity are common placed.
Once someone admits to be struggling with some sin, everyone would give the poor guy the look and "oohs". I like the story of Jesus and the woman who committed adultery where the pharisees wanted to trap Jesus and make him punish the woman for her sin. However, Jesus, just bended down and drew something on the ground and said "Let the sinless cast the first stone".
In my opinion, the church or cell/lifegroups should be a place of refuge, where all should feel comfortable in expressing themselves, in being who they are. Else why would Jesus say " Come onto me, all who are weary, i will give you rest" ? The reason is clear, Jesus loves us as we are now and forever. He loves because he is love, not because of who we are.
Back to the reason i stayed on... I stayed on because i made alot of friendships that were way deeper than the superficial. These are the people i want to do my life with.
Hobsons Bay Citylife is MY Church.
Have you committed to a church? or a cell/life group? If not maybe its time to start sharing your life with other christians abit more and stop visiting the church or cell/lifegroups and start being a part of the community.
The Preaching? The Worship?The 'presence' of God?
Over the span of nearly 3 years in Hobsons Bay CityLife Church, i witness many comings and goings. Various people are drawn to my church and others leave for a whole host of reasons.
This year, i shifted from living in the heart of the city to the suburbs of Clayton. As a result, it takes nearly and hour to drive to church as compared to 30mins in previous years. This also meant that i will require to wake up much earlier especially on days that im serving in the hospitality team.
Many people ask me, "why, why do i stay on?"
I guess, the initial reason i decided to commit to the church was that i found the Pastor to be a very real person and i truely appreciated that. The hardest part of being a christian is that we faced so much pressure from the community secular and religious to conform to this preconcieved standards. And the church, instead of being a retreat for people to come to and be who they are, becomes a place of showing forth a facade. Standard small talks without any sincerity are common placed.
Once someone admits to be struggling with some sin, everyone would give the poor guy the look and "oohs". I like the story of Jesus and the woman who committed adultery where the pharisees wanted to trap Jesus and make him punish the woman for her sin. However, Jesus, just bended down and drew something on the ground and said "Let the sinless cast the first stone".
In my opinion, the church or cell/lifegroups should be a place of refuge, where all should feel comfortable in expressing themselves, in being who they are. Else why would Jesus say " Come onto me, all who are weary, i will give you rest" ? The reason is clear, Jesus loves us as we are now and forever. He loves because he is love, not because of who we are.
Back to the reason i stayed on... I stayed on because i made alot of friendships that were way deeper than the superficial. These are the people i want to do my life with.
Hobsons Bay Citylife is MY Church.
Have you committed to a church? or a cell/life group? If not maybe its time to start sharing your life with other christians abit more and stop visiting the church or cell/lifegroups and start being a part of the community.
posted by JX at 22:37
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