Having a regular church is valuable for fellowship, but their set schedules are also good for staying on track. Perhaps not everyone has the same problem, but when we do home church, as with our Bible studies, things frequently get in the way. Our neighbor will decide to stop in for coffee, someone will call about eBay, since my wife has an eBay business, or something else will come up and it gets pushed back and sometimes forgotten altogether. When you are a member of a church, you know that it meets at 10:00 am and 6 pm each Sunday for worship services and at 7 pm on Wednesday for Bible Study, or whatever the schedule might be. While you are there, no one is going to drop by to distract you and, because you are in a service with other people, you are more likely to turn your phone off or to at least tell people that you can't handle whatever it is that they want right then. Plus, depending on the size and ambitions of the church, there are often other programs and things that you can take advantage of. When I was a member of a Grace Brethren Church in Anaheim, the church would regularly buy up a whole section for Angels games, and church members were invited to reserve seats for themselves, their family, and even to invite friends. Angels Stadium was only a few blocks from church, and it was very nice to be sitting with people you knew and to not have to deal with people spilling beer on you and so on. Plus, being able to offer a ticket to a professional baseball game (even though the Angles weren't any good) was an effective way of introducing people to the church.
Problem we had, just like when we Square Danced...…...if we took our boat out on Sunday morning to do some rainbow trout fishing and somebody ask us "where were you last Sunday?", and if we said "took our boat out for some fishing", the church people didn't necessarily like that reason for missing Sunday morning church. Same thing sort of happened if we had something else to do on a square dance night and a dancer would ask, "where were you last Saturday night? We didn't see you at the dance." Doing something else on a square dance night was not a good enough excuse not to attend the dance. And, believe it or not, this is all true. We were actually asked "where were you", by both church and square dancers..
Will share mine with you when dad remarried after mom passed well his new family were off the scale on religion waaaaaay off. 1st day meeting them 1st words were "Where do you go to church?" I said "when I go I go to xxx church" What this when you go thing, what's more important? We were about to eat, SO my turn may I speak? I came here tonight for 3 things, see my father, free meal and to meet you in that order, I have not got to do any of them due to you people, so dad put mine in the fridge and call me when they leave I am gone, looked right at them and said those like you are why I don't go all the time, how many others have you ran off? Dad never forgave me I would do again if needed only stronger words. I went from only child to do not exist. But never backed down.
My parents were Catholic and baptized me into membership in the Catholic Church too. I left that denomination in my early teens when I felt the Holy Spirit calling me out of that church. I went to church with friends of different denominations after that. Then I attended a Southern Baptist church which was my where my then husband had his membership. I raised my children for the most part in that denomination (mainly because they were being taught from the Bible). As the kids grew older I would attend non-denominational spirit filled churches which like @Joe Riley expressed in his post...opened my eyes to the fullness of being a child of God and all that encompasses. Just like there are no perfect people on this earth...there are no perfect churches on this earth either. As long as I can find one where God is really worshiped, God's Word is studied to learn His Truth, and there is no quenching of the Spirit...I am happy to go and gather with my brethren to worship our heavenly Father. But like @Bobby Cole I refuse to become a member because I have found to many times that's when a house of prayer and worship becomes a political and legalistic place instead. And just like Bobby said too....I fall under and submit to one authority...Jesus Christ my Lord and Shepherd of His Church. If I was ever to find an earthly church that does that full time too....then I would sign up for membership there. But I don't see that happening until I get to eternity where the one true church of Jesus Christ will be in full membership.
Now you know why I stay away from organized religion.Too much politics..and Lord knows the Baptist know everything I am beliver and I do most of my praying on the pot... God has never seemed offended. I am not a domination of any religion anymore.
Early Christianity had no denominations, but there were divisions and disagreements. Much of Paul's epistles were written to address them.
Much of the problem involves works versus grace and how each is perceived. Many church groups concentrate so heavily upon their works that they totally forget grace and then there are those which epitomize grace so heavily that their works are on the back burner somewhere. In one, if you do not speak in tongues there is no evidence of salvation and another dignifies baptism as total body immersion in water whilst another feels that a sprinkle or two is sufficient. Some absolutely insist that without baptism there is no salvation hence the hereafter pretty much sucks if you didn’t get dunked or sprinkled upon at some point. Then, there are the translation problems which née even more splinter groups and cults which I will not get into at this moment in time. It’s almost as if we, the children of God, somehow believe that we make the rules and God is supposed to follow them the best He can.
I was reading about the rules and rites of the early church (before the New Testament was codified) and baptism was held as the highest rite of the Church. According to what I read, it required total immersion in "Living Water" (flowing) and both the "baptizer" and the "baptizee" were to fast completely without food or water for three days prior to the ceremony. I guess you would have to be pretty dedicated to go through that. Obviously, no infants were baptized, as you could deprive an infant of food and water for that long without harming, or perhaps killing, the child.
Interesting. Seems to me that our Master did it backwards then. He spent 40 days of fasting but it wasn't until He was baptized first. Seriously though, I can see the relevance of fasting prior to a baptism or any kind of serious Christian event. The sacrifice of fasting with much prayer does bring about a great amount of focus and in many ways shows a sincere attitude and heart.
I was baptized as a Lutheran in 1948, at age 12. My parents took me to a Lutheran Church to have this taken care of. Since then, I do not recall going to a Church. Many years later, when I married my first wife in 1969, we went to the office of a Justice of the Peace. Twenty-five years later, in 1994, I married my second and final wife, also in the office of a Justice of the Peace. I have never seen the inside of church since then. Probably the chief reason for my non-attendance of Church services is that I find the sermons extremely boring. God Bless You All, Harold (Hal) Pollner
@Beth Gallagher I, too, "tried and tested" virtually all, though mentally and constitutionally only. My Dad early-on explained his own disdain for organized religion, but did not deny me the option of going to church with one of our neighbors, if I chose to do so. By nature not very gregarious, I declined. My Mother, raised Catholic, contributed little to the consideration. My fiance back in 1965 was Catholic, her parents shocked to imagine us being married outside of the Catholic confines. I consulted personally with 2 Priests and 1 Lutheran Pastor. I found the Priests to be hypocrites, one advising I simply sign the child-raising (Catholic) and forget about it, the other suggesting I find a Priest willing to waive it (he was, presumably for a few bucks more!). The Lutheran suggested his church as a pacification move to satisfy her parents, explaining little appeared different within the Lutheran domicile. We did that, her folks seemingly satisfied. That was the only time I was ever inside a church. Two years later our "new life" together was turned topsy-turvy by her parents' deaths. Frank