I hope everyone had a great day of worship yesterday! We had a good day with our church family. My husband started preaching through the book of Galatians, which leads into my next idea for considering how much time should be spent on church activities.
It's a good idea to try to attend all of your church's main meeting times.
Now I know some of what I wrote last time sounded legalistic, and that's so not the road I want to go down. I'm thankful for the gift of grace and that salvation isn't a gift we can earn because it would be impossible for me! Hear me out on why I think it's a good idea to hit "the big three" meetings.
First, this is just a part of the worldview ingrained into me by my parents. It was expected that we would go to church every time the doors were opened. I didn't buck as a teenager because going to church every Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night was as natural as breathing in and out. Now, having been in ministry with my husband for some time, I can especially see the value in that training. If you ever hear a parent say, "I just can't get my child into church," but the attendance during the child's formative years was touch and go, why would it be natural for him/her later in life? I know that there are exceptions to this rule. There will be children who buck despite the parents' best efforts. We can't save our children. Only God can, and he does it through the work of the Holy Spirit.
"So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ. " - Romans 10:17
We need more preaching in our lives, not less. The Holy Spirit works through Scripture, the only thing that can truly convict us of our sin.
Also, as a ministry wife, I know the value of hearing the pastor's sermons on both Sunday morning and evening. My husband preaches many series, which isn't unusual for exegetical preaching. Currently, my husband is preaching through Galatians. Everyone at church yesterday morning studied the first chapter, but anyone who missed last night completely missed chapter two. Throughout the summer, he did a series on the Baptist Faith and Message so that we might have a firm grasp on our doctrine. Missing some of those messages leaves holes in the bigger picture.
We still do Wednesday night prayer meeting at our church. My husband has felt led for some time now to preach on prayer after the main prayer time. Most of those messages are Sunday morning material! We also need prayer for anything else we do in ministry to be effective.
Now, we also have missions education for the children and youth on Wednesday nights. I'm now one of the adults that misses prayer meeting in order to teach, and I do miss it! That's why I'm especially soaking up my Sunday nights. It's hard to pour out from your own growth if you're only getting bits and pieces of teaching yourself.
I know many churches don't meet three times a week, some don't meet the traditional days. We've done church planting in the past, so I know there are more nontraditional ways of doing things. I'm speaking from where I'm at right now. And again, I'm not wanting to be legalistic, but it always helps to have a goal in mind.
Before anyone goes to thinking that I somehow do it all, I don't. I'll be getting to some things I don't participate in and the reasoning behind it tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment