When Should You Leave a Church?

The other day we looked at the impossibility of finding a perfect church. In that blog and another one I suggested what to me, are the essential points to look for in a church. But when should you leave a church and move on to look for another spiritual home? It is a problem we have come up against several times in our lives. In our home bible study group we’ve been studying John’s letters. Last week we looked at 2 John and John’s love for those who were ‘walking in truth’ verse 4, as some in the church were. … Continue reading →

Laziness part 4- In Service and Church Life

Moving house and church can be a time to take stock and review what activities God would have us involved in, so we found. Maybe you have too? Or do you think you’ve done your bit and it’s time to retire from God’s service? Since my husband retired from work, which prompted our move, we could have used it as an excuse to retire from serving God in our church as well. But God’s work doesn’t have an age when we must or should retire. So we knew we needed to be doing something but what? Instead of jumping in, … Continue reading →

God’s Spoilt Children

We’ve probably all met spoilt children. How does a spoilt child act? They are demanding selfish, insisting on their rights and their own way and show little regard for the feelings of others. But what about ‘God’s spoilt children’ as a friend of mine calls them. ‘God’s spoilt children’ who are they? So often I hear from pastors and others in full time ministry about the expectations laid upon them by others. Sadly, I don’t just mean those outside the church who come knocking at the door at all times of the day and night, bringing their needs. Of more … Continue reading →

Making The Old New Again

Church music can create problems, largely because everyone has their own ideas about what is good and appropriate music for church and what is not. Just take a look at the forum on church music and see how different people’s ideas are just within our families.com community. I admit that though I like the newer songs written for church, I also appreciate and love to sing some of the older hymns like, ‘And Can it Be,’ ‘I Cannot Tell,’ and ‘To God Be The Glory,’ etc. What is interesting is when the old becomes new again -in other words, when … Continue reading →

Finding the Right Church – Part 1

How do you go about finding the right church? Is it like finding a new house that you have a list of essential criteria to tick off? But sometimes when house hunting you just walk into a house and fall in love with it. It feels right for you. Can it be the same with finding a church? When we were house hunting before our move, we had a list of criteria of what was essential and another list of things that would be nice but not critical. When looking for a church a similar checklist is good. What I … Continue reading →

Is Your Church a Lifeboat?

Recently in Jervis Bay, a boat was capsized by one of many whales stopping off in the bay on their way back south with their calves. Ideally a lifeboat would have been handy to scoop them up and take them to shore. But there wasn’t one around. However, the fishermen were able to swim to shore and safety. Back in June this year Andrew Heard, pastor at Central Coast Evangelical Church visited the church I was part of at the time. This is the question he asked our congregation, ‘Is your church a life-boat that saves those who are drowning?’ … Continue reading →

How To Handle Differences Of Opinion In Church

Today we’re going look at a church in New Testament times. As you read, think about how your behavior and your church stacks up against this model in Acts 15:1-35. There are always those who come into a church situation seeking to cause trouble. This is exactly what happened here. Men, possibly Pharisees, came down from Antioch and started to teach Gentile believers that they had to be circumcised, verse 1. These men wanted to add extra conditions to the gospel message. This brought them into dispute with Paul and Barnabas, verse 2. There are those today who want to … Continue reading →

Visiting Church

Yesterday coming home from Sydney, after spending time with family, we decided to call into a church on our way, instead of arriving home and then going to evening church as we sometimes do. We walked into St Peter’s, Anglican Church Glenbrook to find a congregation of predominately people of retirement age and older. First impressions could have been this was an aging and lifeless church. Nothing could be fruther from the truth. What a blessing the morning turned out to be. People welcomed us and chatted to us before the service and after. The preaching on 1 Peter 1:13-25 … Continue reading →

Separation of Church and State

There have been many of drawn out debates even among Christians regarding the separation of church and state. Initially the separation was intended to keep the government from establishing a statewide religion, not to keep religion and faith out of the state. Many argue it’s a fallacy that the United States was founded on Judeo-Christian principles, but I very much disagree and believe the proclamation of this belief to be a ploy of the enemy to break down the moral fibers of our nation and ultimately remove God. Just see what some of our founding forefathers had to share about … Continue reading →

The Sunday Bulletin

Every Sunday morning we are usually in such a rush to get to church that by the time we arrive, songs have already broken out and I don’t take the opportunity to read my bulletin. Sometimes my bulletin serves as a coaster for my tea and becomes an object for sermon notes and, I admit, doodling. Since our pastor usually makes announcements of upcoming events from the pulpit, I typically don’t think to look through the bulletin since our church also has a website should I become forgetful about a specific event date. When visiting a church for the first … Continue reading →