maybe just a Bible study?

[gr8grace3]

If there is a lack of scripture specifically separating two things, that doesn't mean that they are both necessarily the same thing. That's just common sense. There is no scripture separating horses from palm trees either. Read Psalm 150 for a nutshell example of what worship looks like. Does this sound like people are sitting down with written scripture in their hands and discussing the finer points of what it means, as is (or should be) done in a Bible study?

As for the comment that a "worship service" then shouldn't have a sermon... While I don't totally agree with that, I do agree that at least the sermon shouldn't be the primary focus, as it is in too many so called "worship services". It's not a necessary part of worship. And yes, I agree that "study" of scripture is not a necessary part of worship. Again, read Psalm 150. There is no mention of either studying or sermonizing anything.

Again, my point isn't that good sermons or Bible study aren't an important part of being a Christian. My point is that the "church" is a lot bigger than many Christians give it credit for and the Sunday morning "Worship Service" is just a part of it and it is a part that is different from other parts, such as education (Bible study, Sunday school, etc), outreach (missions, witnessing, etc), caring for each other in physical ways, etc, etc, etc. There are many parts of the church, and Bible study does not substitute for worship any more than prayer is a substitute for a church run clothing bank for the homeless. Sure, they are all part of the church and can be related, but they are not all the same thing. Not even if there is no specific scripture saying they are not the same thing.

A person who insists on shunning the church for only attending a "home Bible study", only watching "church" on TV, or any of the other excuses I've heard is missing out on a lot of chances to serve and worship God by avoiding the rest of the body of Christ who are active in local churches.

Ok, I am following ya a bit now. We are just 180 degrees apart on what the church(local assembly) should have as priority.

I believe the priority in the church(local assembly)should be~~
Psalm 138:2~~New American Standard Bible
I will bow down toward Your holy temple And give thanks to Your name for Your loving kindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word according to all Your name.

1 Cor 14:19~~New American Standard Bible
however, in the church I desire to speak five words with my mind so that I may instruct others also, rather than ten thousand words in a tongue.

2 Tim 3:16-17~~16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

We can't serve or worship God properly if we aren't properly equipped.

In my local area, the churches are Psalm 150. And we can't find one that teaches the word.

 

[Deborah13]

I dunno....plenty of people don't "fit in" churches. I'm a recovering "mental patient." Long story...my active madness has ended, but I'm just now (re)connecting to good ole Reality. Its awkward. I think "mental patients" have it rough wherever we go, lol. Right now, I'm supported by my (thankfully, "comfortable") parents. I also get disability. This raises issues with more conservative Christians, because I'm clearly unemployed, but my "people take good care of me," as people 'round here say.

I was thinking a Bible study, somewhere outside of a church, might be better...I do better in smaller groups, anyway, and it would spare me the awkward "so, what you do?" question, lol.

You have an honorable answer to that question. You are a student at Liberty University.

 

[Christ_empowered]

this is true.

 

[Obadiah]

Who says? Who made the rule that bible study can only consist of studying the scriptures?

.

LOL. I think it's because of what it's called. "Bible" = scriptures, "study" = well, to study something. Therefore "Bible study" = to study the scriptures. Really, that wasn't obvious? What else would you consider to be a Bible study that didn't consist of studying the Bible? I guess to ask who made that rule is like asking if you hire a roofing contractor to put a roof on your house, who made the rule that he is going to put a roof on your house? Would you expect him to cut your lawn instead?

 

[Gary]

LOL. I think it's because of what it's called. "Bible" = scriptures, "study" = well, to study something. Therefore "Bible study" = to study the scriptures. Really, that wasn't obvious? What else would you consider to be a Bible study that didn't consist of studying the Bible? I guess to ask who made that rule is like asking if you hire a roofing contractor to put a roof on your house, who made the rule that he is going to put a roof on your house? Would you expect him to cut your lawn instead?

So if you invite a bunch of friends over to do a bible study, all you would do is study the scriptures and when that was finished, everybody out? No coffee and snacks, no idle chitchat? "Take your stuff and go home, I'll see you next week".

That's pretty rigid.

.

 

[reba]

Do you think maybe home based Bible studies are better, for a lot of people, than organized churches? I'm beginning to wonder...

depends on who the people are..

 

[Abigail123]

What Obadiah has shared makes a whole lot of sense to me, it has caused me to reevaluate some terms and concepts.

With that being said worship is the most important act we can do for the Lord, and all we do should be a form of worship, our jobs, relationships, words,etc. Although there is nothing more powerful than a group of people raising their voices to the Lord!

A group of believers as in what we see in a church building has much more to offer than learning doctrine, after all haven't we all learned quit a bit from our own private studies?

On a grandeur scale we learn by our interactions with other believers and it takes the church, as in plural people, for the maturing of the Saints. We need those who are gifted in order to become the full stature of Christ. It's all good if a person is truly in a healthy home group, but what I have seen many times is the home groups are in worse shape than some church buildings.

 

[eddif]

Not that the exact words matter that much. Are some of you speaking of praise services?

eddif

 

[Obadiah]

So if you invite a bunch of friends over to do a bible study, all you would do is study the scriptures and when that was finished, everybody out? No coffee and snacks, no idle chitchat? "Take your stuff and go home, I'll see you next week".

That's pretty rigid.

.

As I said, you seem to have a penchant for reading a lot into what I said that was never there. This is just plain argumentative.

In like manner I guess I should respond with: So you consider Bible study to be idle chit chat over coffee and snacks?

That's pretty shallow.


Whatever. If you hate going to worship services in churches, so be it. That's your choice to miss out on what God has for you in those places if you want to. We have been gracefully given free will. Not that all decisions made with that free will are beneficial to us, but we have the freedom to make them nonetheless.

 

[Gary]

As I said, you seem to have a penchant for reading a lot into what I said that was never there.

It would appear that we suffer the same affliction.

In like manner I guess I should respond with: So you consider Bible study to be idle chit chat over coffee and snacks?

Whatever. If you hate going to worship services in churches, so be it. That's your choice to miss out on what God has for you in those places if you want to.

Who said I hated going to worship services?

We have been gracefully given free will. Not that all decisions made with that free will are beneficial to us, but we have the freedom to make them nonetheless.

If you feel my decision to forgo church is in error, why not discuss it with me instead of trying to make me feel like I'm missing out on something huge.......................I don't by the way.

That's pretty shallow.

.

 

[Fish Catcher Jim]

One benefit I could think of for a church is that you'd likely have more opportunity to be involved in or contribute funding towards ministries and missions.
Aside from that, the purpose of church is fellowship for a body of believers to learn and grow together, and that could be gotten from a home church or home Bible study just as well.

Praise God that is awesome Questdriven,
When I lived in Ohio I attended a church and we met at KSU for many years then rented a gym at this big school before buying an old movie theator place with several apartments above and offices.

Any way we had our regular church meetings on Sunday and had home group on wednesdays which was a bible study and fellowship in various homes and through out the months we would have a love feast and some times it was pot luck or a cook out and so forth and would get together and have fellowship fun. It was quite nice.

Blessings
Jim

 

[Jethro Bodine]

Do you think maybe home based Bible studies are better, for a lot of people, than organized churches? I'm beginning to wonder...

Only as long as they do all the same things an organized church does: Fellowship, prayer, praise and worship, study and discuss the Bible. And have godly, called and anointed leadership.

The fundamental problem with the organized, institutionalized church is the tradition of closed meetings.

 

[Obadiah]

Only as long as they do all the same things an organized church does: Fellowship, prayer, praise and worship, study and discuss the Bible. And have godly, called and anointed leadership.

This can be done and from what i've heard it is being done in some people's homes. But I would have to say that this isn't a home Bible study anymore. This is a home "church", more like what many of the early churches did.

The fundamental problem with the organized, institutionalized church is the tradition of closed meetings.

What's a "closed meeting"? I don't think any of the organized churches I've been to have these. Or are you referring to something like a board of elders meeting? I know churches I've been in have board meetings that don't normally involve the whole congregation (otherwise it would be called a "congregational meeting"), but those have always been open to anyone who wants to attend, and anyone who wants to know what was discussed is welcome to read the minutes or ask a board member.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

This can be done and from what i've heard it is being done in some people's homes. But I would have to say that this isn't a home Bible study anymore. This is a home "church", more like what many of the early churches did.

Exactly.......a church.
And get rid of the traditional style of meeting altogether.

What's a "closed meeting"?

A closed meeting is where no open discussion of the scriptures or personal problems and experiences takes place, but rather the pastor delivers a speech.

Every attempt I've seen or heard about to bring open fellowship, and worship, and Bible study to the body has been in these optional, extra-curricular meetings established outside of the Sunday meeting. The open meeting concept is not going to work until the traditional meeting is done away with in favor of these extra-curricular meetings.

The new movement we need in our churches is to do away with the traditional modes of meeting together and open 'em up. We can keep the same meeting days and times, the same buildings, even the same leadership if they're willing to operate the church in an open way. It will take skilled, anointed leaders to do this. It's not a job for just anybody. It's a gift.

I've encountered so many pastors that have found out that when they open their teachings up into semi-formal Q&A type meetings the anointing flows on both sides and they discover the inspiration that they as pastors have to have on a regular basis, but which is so elusive and hard to get when operating in the present traditions of our one-way, closed churches. And I've seen the failed attempts to introduce open meeting concepts into the church because they are added to the present tradition of closed church, instead of replacing that tradition.

 

[Obadiah]

A closed meeting is where no open discussion of the scriptures or personal problems and experiences takes place, but rather the pastor delivers a speech.

Oh, OK. Now I understand what you mean! I've been in one or two churches where the pastor didn't mind this kind of "meeting" at all and didn't mind his "sermons" being interrupted for this kind of thing. The problem was always that so many people are ingrained with the traditional thinking that this is a "bad" thing to do, that the congregation members would rarely do this, even when they were told it was OK! Even when they have been told to go ahead and ask anything they wanted to ask and that would be the subject of discussion, they would sit silently with dumbfounded looks on their faces! :yes

It's not only church leaders (in general) that could benefit from learning to be more open, but also congregation members who need to learn to be more open as well. Until both learn this, it just doesn't work well.

Of course, I've also noticed this has worked better in smaller groups such as small churches or small "home churches" where people are not only more comfortable opening up like this, but also because of the smaller number of people it's easier to keep it from descending into the chaos of several hundred people all trying to talk at once, usually giving a bunch of conflicting opinions many times not based on God's word at all! Usually this degrades into nothing more than a fight that angers and divides everyone. I think this is one of the main reasons in a lot of churches this kind of "open meeting" concept is encouraged more in their "extra-curricular" meetings (which are almost always smaller groups) rather than in a large worship service.

 

[jasonc]

well if my pastor did that and he does on Wednesday's and it was on times. well.

yeah it will be fun for me. dems gonna see matthew 24 in a new light.lol

 

[dianegcook]

Why most people go is, to get that "feel good" feeling when together, that you can get, gathered for a football game.
I sing, "What a friend we have in Jesus" and " Amazing Grace" when I clean the house, and Praise His name.
When Jesus was roaming the earth, He read from the books in the synagogues, taught outside on a hill, where ever.

It even said, Don't you have houses to eat?
1Cor.11:22

 

[jasonc]

Why most people go is, to get that "feel good" feeling when together, that you can get, gathered for a football game.
I sing, "What a friend we have in Jesus" and " Amazing Grace" when I clean the house, and Praise His name.
When Jesus was roaming the earth, He read from the books in the synagogues, taught outside on a hill, where ever.

It even said, Don't you have houses to eat?
1Cor.11:22

technically a scroll with the book of the prophet he wanted to quote. that is still done with the bar and bat mitzvah