Here's another quote from Randy Alcorn's Heaven...
"It is characteristic of our Western cultural independence that we think of Heaven in highly individualized ways. But God also views us corporately, as Christ's bride, as part of a great eternal community in which we'll love our Lord together and undertake cooperative pursuits for His glory. We will always be individuals, but Heaven will not be a place of individualism.
"We aren't individual brides of Christ, we are collectively the bride of Christ. Christ is not a polygamist. He will be married to one bride, not millions. We belong to each other and need each ofther. We should guard not only our own purity, but each other's. We are our brother's keeper.
"The fact that countless professing Christians are not part of a local church testifies to our over-individualized spirituality. Scripture teaches that we need each other and should not withdraw from each other's fellowship, instruction, or accountability. It's unbiblical to imagine that we can successfully seek God on our own (Hebrews 10:25). Because we will be part of a community of saints that constitutes the bride of Christ for eternity, and because we will worship and serve him together, to prepare properly for Heaven we must be part of a church now."
If you're not in church, you need to be. Find a church family and stay in the word... and their fellowship!
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
--Hebrews 10:25
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I'd suggest perhaps this should say, "Preparing for heaven requires being part of the Church," as opposed to "going to church."
Some folk find their church community in different places besides a church building.
But perhaps that's a minor point...
While the people are nice, and the services are good, I have to say that it has been somewhat unfulfilling for me personally.
I keep encountering the same problems that drove me from church in the first place.
I have heard sermons on "Love", "Faith", "Hope", "Charity", and "Love" again...
Nothing about the Judgement of God, or the wages of sin, nothing about Hell, (I'm not even sure that the people at that church even understand the concept of "Hell"...) or Heaven either, now that I think about it...
Only about how we are supposed to "Be EXCELLENT to one another, and Party on, Dude!!"
I've about had it.
I would go to church, if I knew where that was...
But I refuse to join a "Feel Good Religion Club" just so that I can say that I am a member there.
If God is not in your church, you are better off at home.
The only people going to Heaven IS the Church. In terms of the passage's context, going to church is, or rather should be, a reflection of what our relationship to one another will be like in Heaven. No one NOT washed in the blood of Christ will enter into Heaven. It is therefore pointless for the unwashed to even think of 'Preparing'. Conversely, it is ENTIRELY the point that the 'washed' prepare themselves for their wedding day. What kind of bride does not prepare for her wedding day? One who is not worthy of the groom.
You see, not only will we be married to Christ, but to each other in the bargain. We will belong to each other every bit as much as we will belong to Him as He will belong to us. The Church exists, primarily, to worship God through our risen Lord, and to comfort, encourage, and guard each other, secondarily. We belong to each other. We are our brother's keeper.
I encourage you to find a small, denominational church that stands on the word of God, and preaches repentance, and the blood of Christ. If I had to choose for you I'd send you to an independent Baptist church; it is the safest, doctrinally, for a number of reasons; primarily because they are not beholden to larger organizations like the SBC, and therefore needn't worry about conflicts of interest, namely, choosing man-made doctrines over God-ordained doctrines-- just look at what's happened to the Episcopal church over female and gay priests.
I know from personal experience that it is far, far, far more difficult to live as Christ wants you to if you're trying to do it on your own. You need fellowship with other believers. You need their love, their guidance, their admonition, AND their accountability.
Find someplace small and take it slow; learn to feel comfortable in your Christianity.
If I can be of any help to you my email address is available in my profile.
I can think of no better place for B-Girl to be than in a good Church with Sunday School. And I'm not the least bit surprised that you sense a weight has been lifted off you because of it.
If I may, I'd like to suggest a few books for B-Girl... well, you AND B-Girl actually!
Raising Maidens of Virtue: A Study of Feminine Loveliness for Mothers and Daughters [If you can find it]
Raising a Christian Daughter in an MTV World
How to Bring Your Children to Christ & Keep Them There
With this last one you can download the first chapter for free.
Thank you very much for stopping by. You comments are always appreciated.
Well the reason I brought it up is that whole adding requirements on and strings attached to salvation idea. We are saved by God's grace. Not by going to a church building, not by jumping through hoops of this requirement and that requirement. God's grace alone (by accepting it, of course, since God won't force God's grace upon us).
I'm not disagreeing that it is a very good idea to have a community of faith, just that it's not one of the 100 requirements one must do in order to be saved.
Now, I know you didn't say "Being saved requires going to church..." and so I'm not being critical, just offering an opinion of how to better qualify what you had to say.
I'm with Tug, if I couldn't find a church in my area where I felt part of God's family, I'd probably keep looking and not go until I found one.
Just make sure that the smallness isn't indicative of a dead church. If the church isn't growing...it's probably dead.
I had been estranged from the church for several years, and I got scared.
So, I called my father, a deacon and lay minister in the Baptist church. His advice to me was, "get back in fellowship with the church" I did, and the fear dissipated.
We may not always agree with a particular church's doctrine or the Christianity they choose to cling to, but if your heart is right, it doesn't matter. Being in the fellowship of other believers, even if their own particular beliefs don't match yours exactly, is of paramount importance.
It invariably strengthens and edifies, regardless.
Going to church is not about salvation, it's about employing every God-given tool at ones disposal, within a Christ-centered church, to work out one's faith [Philippians 2:12], for reward, not for salvation. We are all in a race, as 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 tells us, and everyone who finishes well will receive awards. We run to please God, not to pay Him back, which is impossible.
I repeat, the bride who does not prepare for her wedding day is not worthy of the groom, and her slothfulness and indifference is evident to all around her. And in our case, why would we wish to hurt the very One who bought us... with His death. He is coming for us, and His reward is with Him --Revelation 22:12
By all means, Tug, be very careful in choosing.
Going to church DOES invariably strengthen and edify the believer, which IS of paramount importance.