Reply to We are Christians and I love Jesus and want my family to also but church on Sunday is killing me

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Some Protestant churches also have Saturday night services - or Sunday evening.

Agree that Sunday morning with little kids is hard.  When my kids were little, they loved going to Sunday school because they got lemonade and crackers.  We lapsed as they got older, Sunday school was less fun, and they started to have conflicts on Sunday mornings.  it is what it is - we are trying to get back into going now that they are teens, but it is hard.  God is much less judgmental than church doctrine might lead you to believe.[/quote]

It’s extremely hard to get kids to accept church again if you took a “break” when they are little.  Teens aren’t going to cooperate if they’ve been sleeping in every Sunday![/quote]

I was the first poster who mentioned the value of pushing through, and this is why.

That said, I imagine pushing through initial resistance with teens is also valuable. There's always value in church - even on a day when the pastor preaches a dud, the choir/lead singer is out of tune, the pianist is off, and there's a person who smells like BO sitting right in front of you raising their hands every song. Honest.[/quote]

You've mentioned several things that decrease the value in going to church, but not what makes it valuable nonetheless.  What is it?[/quote]

Lots of things:

1) even if the sermon is a dud and the music is miserable, there's usually something in the service I need to hear. In my case I'm a liturgical Protestant, and I know there's stuff in the prayers we pray every week (or that week every year) and the creeds and such that are really valuable. But I learned during the pandemic that it's not just knowing that content that helps - I can do that reading those prayers at home, right? It's being in a group of people who are passionate about Jesus saying/singing things together. There's nothing like watching an 80-something who can barely stand raise her hands as she sings with a transported look of joy on her face about the truth of God's love. When you get a whole group of people who have been through most trials imaginable and they all are there, showing you how much Jesus matters, it makes you realize Jesus can get you through your trials too.

2) Given that God is in charge and all-knowing, he knows what I need to hear every week. Whether it's some piece of the liturgy that jumps out or the way the dud of a sermon will make me remember a good sermon from the past that I need to remember, even on the bad weeks I always walk away thinking something about God I wouldn't have otherwise. And on the good weeks? On the good weeks I walk away knowing how I need God to transform me and feeling more love for him than ever!

3) There's that time before and after church when you can connect with the congregation - at our church there's coffee and donuts. Seeing friends, going over your week, it's how you build those ties that eventually make you comfortable developing relationships that hold you accountable to living the way you should. Or if you already have those relationships, that 10-20 minutes after church where you chat can be a time to connect without having to set up a lunch date or coffee, or a time to set up a longer time to connect.

4) Tithing matters. There's something that trains the heart about dropping a check/bill in the offering plate on Sunday, that reminds you that your ultimate allegiance is to God. I mean, you could also just give online but little rituals/habits form who we are as people. They help drive our hearts, and what we love is who we are. Supporting God's work helps us love him more, it just does.

5) Singing and saying liturgy, yes even when the piano is out of tune or something, is another habit that helps form heart patterns.

6) Even if the sermon is a dud, someone's still reading the Bible to you. God promises his Word always does his work, and I trust that promise.

I could keep going on and on.[/quote]

Unfortunately, God is imaginary.[/quote]

Whoa whoa whoa…. forget St Augustine, St Sebastian, St Bernadette, and the faith led soup kitchens. Call it in boys. DCUMer says it’s all a farce. Dang. Thanks tho [/quote]

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