Church, yeah this is a bit different. - 18 eighty 5's Blog

18 eighty 5's Blog

Church, yeah this is a bit different.

Posted on October 15, 2012 at 01:40 AM.

Went to church for the first time in a while yesterday morning. Though I have known church culture pretty well in the past it was really something coming back after being away from it all. It almost felt like seeing things for the first time all over.

Experiencing a heap of people in contemporary style worship singing the name of Jesus frequently was a little weird. Weird not in a bad or uncomfortable way, but in a way that had me thinking why do they keeping singing about Jesus so much? Obviously it was a Christian church passionate about Jesus. Or at the very least, His name.

I loved the worship. It was an experience. Not something to merely observe but something tangible, on some level I feltl it sweeping through the auditorium gently stirring more than mind. Spirit perhaps? Yes, spirit I am sure of it and it was great.

The main thrust of the message was on belonging, that togetherness is deeper than singleness. The emphasis upon rising together to become more Christ like.

My understanding of church is that this is not always practiced. Sometimes religious communities are the worst perpetrators of divisive, segregated community. But this is nothing new, the letter to the Corinthians, the first one, tried to address noxious notions of division. This just tells me that the first churches and the first Christians really did believe in a deep sense of belonging, for all types, though carrying that out is not so easy.

I liked being there yesterday. After two difficult years of personal challenges it was good to shake off the solitary wolf visage and dare to enter a warm community of people celebrating life together. To belong eh?, what a life giving thing.

Comments

# 1 bigdoc85 @ Oct 15

1 Corinthians 1:10.

Good stuff. Hope you make it back next Sunday!

# 2 18 eighty 5 @ Oct 15

Thankyou bigdoc. It was a reminder that life is every bit as much a spiritual thing as it is physical and cerebral. I think pride in our humanity has us all too often believe in nourishing the physical and cerebral parts of ourselves and the spiritual is left to lack.

What a beautiful directive 1 Cor 1:10 is. Thanks for this. You have just triggered a thought I had about going to church the other day I didn't include in my blog. Stepping into the church was like stepping through a portal. In there it was different, the language different, the feel different. But just outside tyres doors lay the whole world. There was a noticeable demarcation between the two. I am not commenting either way whether this is a good or bad thing because I that is too hasty a step to take and only polarises the observation. And that is all it is for me at the moment, an observation to ponder, to draw out and not rush to black and white, informed judgements.

Yes, I want to go back. Hehe, I want to be there now.

# 3 18 eighty 5 @ Oct 15

Sorry, that should read uninformed judgements. Typing on my phone makes for interesting reading when I can't edit out the mistakes.

# 4 bigdoc85 @ Oct 15

Just remember that no church is perfect and none of us (other than Christ) is perfect so don't let the actions of individuals or an imperfect church deter you from seeking The Truth. For what it's worth, Romans 12:2 has been in my mind and heart a lot lately so maybe that will shed some light on your 2nd post in this blog. If you want to share any more about your spiritual journey, by all means feel free to reach out.

# 5 18 eighty 5 @ Oct 16

Romans 12:2, that is brilliant stuff!! Thank you and thanks for the offer.

# 6 xxSTEELCITYDxx @ Oct 16

awesome blog doc!,glory be to God it blessed my soul to see this on here this morning, 18 eighty 5 I hope you make it back bruh what you experianced was church and how it should be and what I mean is church should be an experiance not just something you do every sunday and it should be field with his love and his spirit. without his spirit the church is dead and it means hes not there so yes its beautiful to hear talk about your experiance at church the people was singing about Jesus because without him there is no church and it is getting to know him for yourself and experiancing him in your life that makes you want to sing is awesome name! It is the one place on earth were titles and checkbooks don't matter to were everybody is looked at the same in Gods eyes no matter what there issues and there is a risen savior who loves us unconditionaly.I agree with bigdoc22 there is no perfect church but this sounds like its pretty awesome!sry for the length of this thats what jesus does when you start talking about him!

# 7 thescoop @ Oct 16

I two recently started going back to church too. I was having something difficult in my life and something called me to go. The message that morning could have been just for me and helped snap me out of my funk. I'm glad to hear you've gone back to church as well. For me it has been very positive and helped my outlook on things.

# 8 xxSTEELCITYDxx @ Oct 16

glad to hear it man may the Lord continue to build you back up and strenghten you!

# 9 bigdoc85 @ Oct 17

Here is my church -- got some good podcasts if you ever want to check it out online:

http://www.onechurchcolumbus.com

# 10 18 eighty 5 @ Oct 18

Thanks bigdoc. I have downloaded some podcasts from the church I attended on the weekend. They are good to listen to whilst driving to work. But I will look up your church. I am enjoying the new found hope and excitement that is coming with inclining myself toward learning again.

Hey scoop, what a great thing when a message brings home some truth. I hope it keeps going well for you.

Steelcity, I think for me I am happy to be one of the anonymous in the crowd at the moment. I like your comment that checkbooks and titles don't count in church. I am happy to be attending, to just being amongst it, to just be there. What is that verse, better one day in your courts oh Lord than a thousand anywhere else. I may have that a bit muddled, but I recall something along those lines.

In fact, it is quite something the number of times scripture has just come back to me in different situations. I count myself very fortunate just for that.

# 11 18 eighty 5 @ Nov 7

This morning before work I asked a fellow Christian colleague to come and pray together. It was great. The main thing was just acknowledging Jesus and asking that whatever the day had in store that we would grow in love and wisdom and learn. We also asked for hope and peace and good things for those we work with. We closed the day with a simple happy declaration of thanks. Nothing ceremonious or typically pious, only earthy and happy words shared out aloud.

It feels like life being refreshed, taking in new oxygen. I dont mean to annoy anyone with this but I just want to tell it because it is freakin fantastic to get some of the beautiful stuff of life going again and be involved in it.