17 Oct 2013-
Some people approach church in the same way they seek out new mobile phone carrier or cable provider. "Well, I'm just not getting what I need anymore. I think it's time to move on."
If you approach church with a consumer mentality, you are selling yourself short. When the knowledge you hear in church remains between your ears and the worship becomes little more than a spectator sport, you are missing the point.
The purpose of Sunday service is not, "What's in it for me?"
Sure, everyone needs spiritual growth. Everybody needs a gathering place that brings connection with fellow believers. We all need a weekly reminder of our moral compass according to God's Word. But there's something more at the heart of the matter: the true purpose of church.
A Real God Experience
A few months after I accepted the Lord as my Savior, my wife and I went to a nondenominational church in San Diego for the first time in my life as a Christian. The church was an old movie theatre, with about 700 seats. We sat in the back row of a packed house, and three minutes or so into the service I started crying.
I kept raising my eyebrows to try and stop the tears from rolling down my face, but my eyes kept welling up. I wondered, "Why am I crying?"
Was it the singing? It wasn't necessarily the sound of the voices, but something spiritual was washing over me. For the first time in my life I was having a real God experience – in church.
References for pictures:
http://www.therockchurch.co.za/images/surrender_1200x800.jpg
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