Further questions about church

There were a few comments on last week's post about church. I'll narrow the point down further: What do you think the purpose of church services are?

For example: Is the purpose of Sunday Morning church to strengthen church members? If so, then those members are the ones who should guide the development, formation, and planning of the service. The manner of preaching should relate to how they live and what they understand, the music style should be what they are comfortable with.

Is the purpose of Sunday Morning church to win lost people to Jesus Christ as Lord? If so, then the thought processes of unchurched and unsaved people should be our determinant. What schedule will appeal to the world around us? What music? How do we preach?

Now, most of you are going to say that the church should both disciple the saved and evangelize the lost. But in a lot of these things, can you have it both ways? Are you discipling the saved by going over the elementary things of Christ every week? Are you reaching the lost by assuming on their knowledge? Or by demanding they show up at the same old time and in the same old place?

Then there's subject matter. There's no point in preaching to the lost that some are called to be prophets, teachers, evangelists, or about raising children to follow Christ, when they will have no basis to understand these things without a saving faith in Christ. So, what should we preach?

Now, try to fit all of that into an hour to an hour and 15 minutes. And you'll see why some preachers get stressed.

What do you think? Share your opinion, disagree respectfully. If you think it's Biblical but can't reference it, say so. Somebody else may be able to find it.

Thanks for taking the time to read! Doug Hibbard