Last night at T.I.M. (youth group) we had a time of teaching where the kids did some skits. There were five teams that demonstrated various types of churches to the rest of the group. There was the Movie Theater church where people go for entertainment. The people who go to this church for what they can get from the service not for what they can bring. There is an attitude of "I can't wait to see the latest music video on the screen" or "My church is so cool because we sing only the newest songs . . ."
The Country Club church was where people go for social reasons - who they can see or to be seen. Those who go to this church tend to have a philosophy that by going to church (the right church) that their social circle will be better and their standing in the community is therefore somehow better.
Then we had the Supermarket church. Now this church has it all, a group for everything - the moms with wet babies group, the dads with pink slippers group, the teens who have siblings group, and on and on . . .the list was endless to the special groups formed so that there would something for everyone.
The Museum church was interesting. This was a very traditional church. Stuffy and orderly. Everything at MC had to be just right and the children were to seen and not heard. There was no joy in worship and no spontaneity because if it was not in the "Order of Worship" well, it just did not happen. The Holy Spirit was not even allowed permission to move in the MC.
Then we find the Hospital church. On any given Sunday at HC you will find people with their many problems and issues. Here at HC people come only when tragedy strikes. When one loses a job, off to HC to pray for God to help them get a job. When a family member faces a life threatening illness, off to HC and pray. You get the picture, the people who go to HC only go when they want something from God and then once the trial is done they might not attend church until the next challenge.
Now of course I do want to downplay the hurts and the losses people face on a regular basis but I do want to make a point.
That point being, that God is not a genie in a bottle. He is not in the business of offering you entertainment or a place to go to meet people and make friends. He does not find great pleasure in people who seek to control the church or His Holy Spirit.
When people go to God only when there is something is wrong - then something is really wrong because God is not there to take care of the temporary problems we all face everyday. No God is so much more than that.
Going to church is about worship. John 4:24 "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."
When our lesson was near the end, one young man asked a very important question - "What kind of church is this?"
It was the best question to ask. I had to think about it a moment and my response was this: "This is whatever the people who come into it make it." I'm sure we have aspects of each church listed above at various times. The reality is that First Baptist Church is not perfect, nor will it ever be. One thing that we can do though, is strive to honor the Lord while we live in this world.
1 Peter 2.1-8 teaches us that we are the church, the living building blocks, a spiritual house that make up the body of Christ. We are the temple of God (2 Corinthians 6.16) and as such we are the church. In light of all of what we have in God's Word we must ask ourselves . . . What kind of church is this?
The Country Club church was where people go for social reasons - who they can see or to be seen. Those who go to this church tend to have a philosophy that by going to church (the right church) that their social circle will be better and their standing in the community is therefore somehow better.
Then we had the Supermarket church. Now this church has it all, a group for everything - the moms with wet babies group, the dads with pink slippers group, the teens who have siblings group, and on and on . . .the list was endless to the special groups formed so that there would something for everyone.
The Museum church was interesting. This was a very traditional church. Stuffy and orderly. Everything at MC had to be just right and the children were to seen and not heard. There was no joy in worship and no spontaneity because if it was not in the "Order of Worship" well, it just did not happen. The Holy Spirit was not even allowed permission to move in the MC.
Then we find the Hospital church. On any given Sunday at HC you will find people with their many problems and issues. Here at HC people come only when tragedy strikes. When one loses a job, off to HC to pray for God to help them get a job. When a family member faces a life threatening illness, off to HC and pray. You get the picture, the people who go to HC only go when they want something from God and then once the trial is done they might not attend church until the next challenge.
Now of course I do want to downplay the hurts and the losses people face on a regular basis but I do want to make a point.
That point being, that God is not a genie in a bottle. He is not in the business of offering you entertainment or a place to go to meet people and make friends. He does not find great pleasure in people who seek to control the church or His Holy Spirit.
When people go to God only when there is something is wrong - then something is really wrong because God is not there to take care of the temporary problems we all face everyday. No God is so much more than that.
Going to church is about worship. John 4:24 "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."
When our lesson was near the end, one young man asked a very important question - "What kind of church is this?"
It was the best question to ask. I had to think about it a moment and my response was this: "This is whatever the people who come into it make it." I'm sure we have aspects of each church listed above at various times. The reality is that First Baptist Church is not perfect, nor will it ever be. One thing that we can do though, is strive to honor the Lord while we live in this world.
1 Peter 2.1-8 teaches us that we are the church, the living building blocks, a spiritual house that make up the body of Christ. We are the temple of God (2 Corinthians 6.16) and as such we are the church. In light of all of what we have in God's Word we must ask ourselves . . . What kind of church is this?
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