andysw Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 What is Church to you? Is church necessary a building? Is church necessary being in a group and together worship God? Can church be listening to a recorded service online on the internet about God's word? Can church be a bible study class? Your views.... Link to post Share on other sites
Lostgurl Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 Church is merely a place where weddings and funerals are held. My family is not religious at all. I have never gone to church for any other reason, and have never read the bible. Link to post Share on other sites
Tony T Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 A church is any place a spiritual group gathers. It can be in a building, outdoors or even via conference call. The people who are part of that group are members. It's a rather vague term and pretty meaningless. There are a LOT of people in "church" buildings who aren't spiritual at all and sometimes even hypocritical. Here I am, giving you much more than you asked for. Why is this an important question for you? Link to post Share on other sites
lindya Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 I see churches as being focal points for communities. Places for people to meet, form friendships and feel supported if they need to find some emotional strength. I think they can serve a very valid purpose in preventing people from feeling lonely. Although I sometimes enjoy the arguments presented by strongly atheistic posters here, and certainly agree with those who question overly literal interpretation of the bible, I don't think that the important social aspect of religion should be overlooked. Particularly for elderly people, church might provide a support network and purpose in life that they wouldn't otherwise have. A spiritual/social organisation such as that can probably meet certain emotional needs that armies of professional and clinical helpers aren't geared towards. Link to post Share on other sites
crinago1172 Posted November 23, 2007 Share Posted November 23, 2007 The church is not the building at all. It's the congregation of people with common beliefs and bounded by faith. One can always destroy the building or any place of gathering but not the people, in essence the church cannot be destroyed because their faith is its very foundations. Link to post Share on other sites
Yosef Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 The church is not the building at all. It's the congregation of people with common beliefs and bounded by faith. One can always destroy the building or any place of gathering but not the people, in essence the church cannot be destroyed because their faith is its very foundations. Very well put, crinago. Link to post Share on other sites
knaveman Posted November 26, 2007 Share Posted November 26, 2007 Church is merely a building. You don't need to go to a building to worship and you don't need people around to worship, but sometimes it helps. If you need the structure of a building and its people to help you worship then go for it. If not, that's good too. God is not just in a building, God is in EVERYTHING. Link to post Share on other sites
samsungxoxo Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 Ok since you asked that question be ready for this answer. Church is like the nicotine found on a cigar (in others words, a chemical substance that makes you addicted to it). The more yur brain inhales it, the more the addiction. In terms of struction is just a building done by architects. Link to post Share on other sites
Love Hurts Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 Saved :I am the Church. Christ calls His Church Home.... Do you think He calls a building? Link to post Share on other sites
Touche Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 What is Church to you? Is church necessary a building? Is church necessary being in a group and together worship God? Can church be listening to a recorded service online on the internet about God's word? Can church be a bible study class? Your views.... Funny, but I just had this conversation with my son yesterday about this very thing. I don't want to go into the whole conversation but in essence, I told him that we don't need to enter a "building" or any kind of structure to be spiritual. We don't need to attend any kind of service either. That spirituality and being "good" in life can be a private matter. He didn't agree. But he's only 11. Link to post Share on other sites
ahoydave Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 Funny, but I just had this conversation with my son yesterday about this very thing. I don't want to go into the whole conversation but in essence, I told him that we don't need to enter a "building" or any kind of structure to be spiritual. We don't need to attend any kind of service either. That spirituality and being "good" in life can be a private matter. He didn't agree. But he's only 11. Well if we are talking about the church as it is in the bible then the church is the collection of everyone who has turned away from ruling their own lives and now trusts in Jesus for their forgiveness (ie Christians). So there is only one church - it is all over the world. In the bible you then hear about the church in Jerusalem and the church in Antioch or now days it would be the church in Cape Town or the chruch in <insert your town here>. That is just the part of the church which lives in <insert your town here>. So the church is the people. Not just when they meet in a building, not just when they are doing the usual christian stuff. All the time. So, although he is only 11, I think I agree with your son. There is no concept of the privately spiritual person that I have seen in the bible. Of course it depends on what you mean by spiritual. I am talking about having a relationship with God which can only happen when we have made peace with Him. The thing is that when you become a Christian, you are immediately adopted into God's family - being a Christian is in fact the opposite of being alone. It is to be part of God's family, the church. As for the actual meetings... The thing is that it is tough to be a christian. It is difficult to keep trusting in what we say - that Jesus is Lord and we must rely on him. I shudder at the the thought of trying to do it on my own. But we aren't alone. God uses other christians - the church - to encourage and spur us on. That is why we meet together. To encourage one another, to remind each other of what is true, to pray together and to help each other figure out life. Basically the church should meet in order for the members to show love to the other members. Link to post Share on other sites
Author andysw Posted February 20, 2008 Author Share Posted February 20, 2008 Well if we are talking about the church as it is in the bible then the church is the collection of everyone who has turned away from ruling their own lives and now trusts in Jesus for their forgiveness (ie Christians). So there is only one church - it is all over the world. In the bible you then hear about the church in Jerusalem and the church in Antioch or now days it would be the church in Cape Town or the chruch in <insert your town here>. That is just the part of the church which lives in <insert your town here>. So the church is the people. Not just when they meet in a building, not just when they are doing the usual christian stuff. All the time. So, although he is only 11, I think I agree with your son. There is no concept of the privately spiritual person that I have seen in the bible. Of course it depends on what you mean by spiritual. I am talking about having a relationship with God which can only happen when we have made peace with Him. The thing is that when you become a Christian, you are immediately adopted into God's family - being a Christian is in fact the opposite of being alone. It is to be part of God's family, the church. As for the actual meetings... The thing is that it is tough to be a christian. It is difficult to keep trusting in what we say - that Jesus is Lord and we must rely on him. I shudder at the the thought of trying to do it on my own. But we aren't alone. God uses other christians - the church - to encourage and spur us on. That is why we meet together. To encourage one another, to remind each other of what is true, to pray together and to help each other figure out life. Basically the church should meet in order for the members to show love to the other members. Yes. But it doesn't necessarily mean that every church in the world are the same. Some church maybe hypocritical, and some may not even try and do what christians should do to show love and encouragement to others (even if it's just one person). Unfortunatly, not all churches are pure (I don't mean that in a general sense), some may have individuals who only come to socialise - for example, this guy I know didn't show up in church for the whole day until service ended, and you know what he did, he was socialising with his friends. I wondered if he came in late because of his bus didn't arrive in time wouldn't it make sense he rather not wait for the bus and go home (even if he knew that he was going to be really late)? I believe that certain churches have lost their way. Try reading my thread "Should I be ashamed?" Link to post Share on other sites
ahoydave Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 (edited) I'm afraid I don't have time to read all the replies in your other thread - got a thesis to finish and all. I was actually going to say something about this in my original post but it was getting long The church is certainly not perfect. Far from it. We are all sinners and so we don't relate to each other as we should and we don't love others as we should. I realise that this makes for some tricky situations as I gather you are in from reading a little of your other thread. A group of christians should always be reading, teaching and applying God's word. As soon as we start drifting away from that we end up in trouble because God is perfect, we are not. We need to rely and listen to Him, not each other. Is your church teaching the bible? I think sometimes people also forget what the point of going to a church meetings is. If we look in the bible. The thing to notice is that going to a church meeting, whatever that meeting may be - bible study, social, sunday service - is not just about getting stuff out. It is not about you and what you can get. Really the attitude you should have is that you are going to serve the other people there. Perhaps a change of focus will make a difference is your experience of church and even if it doesn't, perhaps you can encourage or help someone else (which is better than helping yourself so be happy!) Just a quick comment about your other thread. Bare in mind that the bible tells us to honour our parents. I know this isn't always easy and sometimes they are wrong (they are sinners too) but each of us is often wrong too. Don't assume that you are right - your parents MAY well know better. I'm not saying they ARE right - I don't know the situation really - but God doesn't give bad commands. Edited February 21, 2008 by ahoydave Link to post Share on other sites
Space Marine Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 Church (as a building) is creepy. But then again, the only church I was ever in was an empty Catholic church. Link to post Share on other sites
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