#churchattendance

[agapebranchcommunityint]

Craving Solid Food: Moving Beyond Basic Faith

While the Gospel is essential, it is only the beginning. The Hebrew author calls us to a higher level of spiritual maturity, urging us to explore deeper and grow in our understanding.

Author: Evangelist Sushanth Daniel Growing up, many of us remember commercials like “Boost is the secret of my energy,” promoting milk supplements to help us grow strong and healthy. Just as these supplements supported our physical development, the basics of the Gospel serve as the foundation for our spiritual growth. However, the time comes when we must move beyond these elementary…

[sdministry]

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I’m looking forward to when churches reopen! The virtual church is good for times like these, but we NEED the in person fellowship! Hebrews 10:25 “not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” When we get to the other side of this, we need NOT get in the habit of virtual church—we need to all GO to church and MEET TOGETHER in person! I’m looking forward to that. - - @eagleslanding @eagleslandingyoungadults @eagleslandingglobal @eagleslandinggriffin @eagleslandingwomen @elfbc_kids @thrive_students @timdowdy @treabrinson @theericjackson @thebillylord @mattdurenmusic @markhallcc @brianshuler @jesswelliver @nealdose @jen_hembree @lgduren @kelleewill @brucemewbourne @holder.wes @spencer_watson @georgiagibbs_sexton @victor__williams @tammydurrence @zachwelliver - - #Church #ChurchAttendance #MeetingTogether #Congregation #Pastor #Worship #WorshipPastor #LeadPastor #SeniorPastor #Meeting #NotForsakingTheAssembling #Georgia #EaglesLanding #EaglesLandingFBC #CorporateWorship #Togetherness #WeNeedEachOther #WeNeedGod (at Eagle's Landing First Baptist Church) https://www.instagram.com/p/B_f5JI0niFY/?igshid=196xjjzwubgym

[thevirtualvicar]

Beryl & Pete 220613 - Church of England will be extinct by 2060

[ultraman13]

#catholic #catholicism #churchattendance https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn91gZ4nky6/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1trzwb7e2qh4

[melanieyaya]

Plot Twist & Church #write31days #churchattendance #divorce

[rednecktheology]

The Myth Of Going To Church

[divinetouchgraphics-blog]

#christians #jesus #smallbusiness #graphics #graphicdesign #graphicdesigner #typography #leadership #motivation #motivationalspeaker #job #successor #flyers #logo #church #pastors #bible #cry #crying #tears #pain #god #leaders # #smallbusiness #strength #smallbusiness #hope #god #hands #marriage #churchattendance #church

[connectionqc]

Church Attendance

When I talk about Connection with people I’m just meeting, they tend to be most surprised by our approach to attendance. The seemingly universal stance on attendance is that a Christian should attend church every weekend. At Connection, we’ve worked hard to create a culture that communicates just the opposite: it can be healthy to not attend every week.

Growing up I would often hear that attending weekly is a “sign of commitment to God.” or “a sign of a mature believer.” My church leaders would make it clear: Attending weekly is the ultimate goal and what we should all strive towards. I’ve heard it said, “Aim to make it every week and if you fail and you’ll end up only missing a few Sundays a year. If you aim to miss a few Sundays a year and you’ll  end up missing church too many times.”

Naturally, as a pastor myself now, I have started to reflect on this attendance obsession. I started to wonder, “Where does this obsession with regular attendance come from?” I found that many pastors reference a verse in Hebrews that says, “Do not forsake the assembly.” A few quick bullet points on this verse:

It’s only one verse. In the entirety of the Bible. Just one.

“Do not forsake the assembly” is the beginning of a sentence. The next words of that sentence say, “As some have made a habit of doing.” So it’s not even referring to all believers.

It doesn’t speak to frequency. Is this once a week? Once a day? Once a month? We don’t know.

It, without a doubt, is not speaking of a westernized evangelical church service that starts with an upbeat Chris Tomlin song that is followed by three more Chris Tomlin songs.

All Chris Tomlin jokes aside, I think there are two core issues that are driving this unhealthy attendance obsession. For me, personally, I noticed that the issues are the two sides of the same coin—the coin of validation. One of the biggest challenges of my life is getting to a place where I don’t need other people to validate me. The church, unfortunately, has been an unhelpful machine that perpetuates and amplifies my need for validation to very toxic levels.

One side of this validation coin is how church success metrics validate the leaders themselves. Until fairly recently (the last year or so) I would always gauge our church attendance numbers as a judgment on my leadership. If the numbers were low, I would think admittedly egregious thoughts. “No one likes me. Everyone thinks Connection is a bad church. No one enjoys coming on Sundays.” If attendance numbers were high, I would tell myself just the opposite. “You’re doing so great. Everyone loves Connection. Everyone loves you.”

If this is the game you’re playing as a pastor—good attendance equals self-worth—it will inevitably lead to some toxic behavior.

I realized that if attendance–whether implicitly and explicitly—was held in high regard, then manipulation would begin to happen. (And verses will start to be taken out of context to be wielded as guilt-inducing weapons.) I think many pastors have convinced themselves that they don’t need attendance for validation. I also think almost all of those pastors are lying to themselves. I know I was lying to myself.

The flipside of this coin is Church-goer Validation. From an early age, every system we are a part of trains us to get approval from whoever is in charge. Parents, teachers, police officers, Sunday school teachers, and of course, God. The process looks like this: behave properly, gain approval from authority, feel good about yourself. We become addicted to getting approval from authority. Many of us, if we are honest with ourselves, often attend church out of guilt, shame, and obligation.

Take your average approval addiction and combine it with a leader who needs attendance for their own validation and the result will be your typical church culture.

As an alternative—and as a way to help rewire my own internal validation processes—I’ve been talking about Connection as a “community resource.” Just like a soup kitchen or a homeless shelter, Connection exists as a resource. Instead of a free meal, we offer a weekly reminder. A reminder of the things we easily forget, things like:

You are loved.

You aren’t alone.

You don’t need to change in order to be accepted.

You have people in your life who support you and want to help you.

It’s okay if life sucks sometimes. 

It’s okay if you’re depressed.

If you need to be reminded of those things, we are here. If you don’t need a reminder, that is great! No one will be mad at you or disappointed with you, including God, if you don’t need a weekly reminder. It’s that simple.

I firmly believe that belonging to a community is beneficial, but I also firmly believe that you don’t need to attend church weekly. Those two ideas are not mutually exclusive.

[cjharrisone]

Community was a vital part of the early church. It's a part of the solution to what we saw yesterday in #Charlottesville. I believe we are about to see The #Church move into a place of Unity and Power and Influence like we've never seen before! In Acts 2:46-47, we're told, "Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." The need for community is embedded deep within the human heart because God put it there. We're not perfect people, but we need community with others who have been saved by grace! Real community that is focused on Jesus is very attractive to the world. So, if you posted about Charlottesville yesterday, go to church today. #EngageCulture #InspireWisdom #WisdomForLife #WisdomOfTheDay #WisdomTeacher #TemporaryAssignments #MultiDimensionalMinistry #Growth #PicOfTheDay #Leadership #Leaders #InstaPastor #Pastors #ExecutivePastors #Motivation #Encouragement #DailyInspiration #Disciple #Wisdom #ChurchAttendance #Reconciliation #RacialJustice #MultiEthnicMinistry http://ift.tt/2w2s4u7

[tiqtalk]

Something to consider

[rednecktheology]

Do I Have To Go To Church