For those who attend church; may I inquire what you get from this attendance?

Gaer

Gaer

"Angel whisperer"
Location
New Mexico U.S.A.
Believe me, I am in no way being facetious. I respect your faith and beliefs. I'm wondering what is the motivation to attend a church?

Is it to :
Be with others of the same beliefs in a congenial social atmosphere?
Show to others your faith?
You feel this is what a person of goodness should do?
You have done this since childhood?
To insure a place in Heaven?
Meet nice people?
You feel this brings you closer to God?
Do you feel you should have a religion?
You want to learn more about God and Heaven?

The particular church I attended as a child was visible to me as full of falsity, so I quit the church at the age of eight and never returned to any religion.
I mean this question in all sincerity. I'm extremely interested in your opinions on this. Do you find fulfillment when you attend church?
My publisher told me there seems to be no interest in Angels anymore. This distresses me.

Sirs and Ladies, This is not a "God doesn't exist" post. This thread is directed to those who attend a church
and/or are deeply involved in a religious practice. please. I thank you.
 

Dear Gaer,

Let me begin with these qualifiers - I'm not a theologian or taken any biblical classes. My answer is based on my interpretation of why I go to church. I also feel a little vulnerable exposing my beliefs here, but at the same time, I believe you are a kindred spirit. :)

I think all the above that you listed are possible reasons for people attending church. But not all in that order or alone. Sometimes it could be a number of other reasons, including a wedding, baptizing one's child or going to a funeral. Or even helping out after church for a bake sale. It's also a feeling of being part of a community, or a family. Many people in my church feel like family. We're all working together toward a common goal. Matthew 18:20 "For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them."

Feelings are based on faith - this deep yearning to be close to God, without having seen Him or heard Him. That depends on faith, and to me, this feeling is so powerful that I want to be close to my brothers and sisters in church. I want to hear the gospel, and pray together, and sing together, and sometimes I have tears in my eyes because of the deep feelings that arise from praying and being in church. I can imagine how much oxytocin, the feel-good hormone, is released during church service!!!

Now, mind you, the pandemic has really affected my attendance, as compared to the past. Although I have attended online faithfully, it's not the same thing, but I still feel part of the community. I still read the Bible on Sundays. I still sing along and I still pray.

PS One more thing, after my husband died, I visited an Orthodox monastery and the nuns there were very peaceful and made me feel welcome. The elder suggested I read the book "How Our Departed Ones Live" by Monk Mitrophan. The author believes in the immortality of the soul. We are still connected to those who have died. Powerful reading and it gave me peace, which I greatly needed. :)
 

palides2021 said:
Dear Gaer,

Let me begin with these qualifiers - I'm not a theologian or taken any biblical classes. My answer is based on my interpretation of why I go to church. I also feel a little vulnerable exposing my beliefs here, but at the same time, I believe you are a kindred spirit. :)

I think all the above that you listed are possible reasons for people attending church. But not all in that order or alone. Sometimes it could be a number of other reasons, including a wedding, baptizing one's child or going to a funeral. Or even helping out after church for a bake sale. It's also a feeling of being part of a community, or a family. Many people in my church feel like family. We're all working together toward a common goal. Matthew 18:20 "For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them."

Feelings are based on faith - this deep yearning to be close to God, without having seen Him or heard Him. That depends on faith, and to me, this feeling is so powerful that I want to be close to my brothers and sisters in church. I want to hear the gospel, and pray together, and sing together, and sometimes I have tears in my eyes because of the deep feelings that arise from praying and being in church. I can imagine how much oxytocin, the feel-good hormone, is released during church service!!!

Now, mind you, the pandemic has really affected my attendance, as compared to the past. Although I have attended online faithfully, it's not the same thing, but I still feel part of the community. I still read the Bible on Sundays. I still sing along and I still pray.

PS One more thing, after my husband died, I visited an Orthodox monastery and the nuns there were very peaceful and made me feel welcome. The elder suggested I read the book "How Our Departed Ones Live" by Monk Mitrophan. The author believes in the immortality of the soul. We are still connected to those who have died. Powerful reading and it gave me peace, which I greatly needed. :)
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Thank you. That's a beautiful and heartfelt answer! We are all growing towards God in our own way, on our own paths.
You derive as much satisfaction from church attendance as I do communing directly with God in my aloneness.
I appreciate your response so much!
 
As a boy, I was dragged to (Presbyterian) church by my parents who could not explain why we should go there, other than that it was what people should do. What did I get out of it? A questioning mind that soon rejected any notion of a 'god' and a distrust of the church as an organisation.

Roll on many years. We retired and returned to Scotland where Mrs. L suggested that in spite of being atheists we might occasionally attend church to 'blend in'. Church? nobody here worries about these things. Most churches have closed, I don't know anyone who goes to worship and Sunday is just another day. There are pockets of religion in some areas, but they are gradually being eroded.
 
I go for fellowship with like-minded believers. Our small church allows folks to get to know each other well. Attending prayer meeting on Sunday night is helpful in that we prayerfully share each others burdens. It really helps to get together with church members outside of church for some sort of ministry, a home bible study, or just a dinner or activity. I have done jail ministry with one member and we have attended dinner gatherings at another members home - those are the folks we are closest with too. So, you want to do a little more than just Sunday morning.
 
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palides2021 said:
PS One more thing, after my husband died, I visited an Orthodox monastery and the nuns there were very peaceful and made me feel welcome. The elder suggested I read the book "How Our Departed Ones Live" by Monk Mitrophan. The author believes in the immortality of the soul. We are still connected to those who have died. Powerful reading and it gave me peace, which I greatly needed. :)
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Yes, that book is very powerful, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it also.
 
What attending a service in a place of worship represents is the commandment: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days thou shalt labour, and dost all thine work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God."

Interesting that in the world of Islam, Friday is the Sabbath, but in Judaism, Saturday is the Sabbath and in Christian belief, Sunday is the Sabbath. Pick the bones out of that.
 
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Gaer,
I use to go to church to see other people & hear a good sermon. Then my minister left & they got a new one that I went to sleep when he talked. Also, the music was so loud you could hear it in the next county.

So now I'm doing my worshiping here at home till I get my right knee fixed where I can travel to churches to find another one.
The minister that left took verses from the bible & related them to things that were going on nowadays. A lot of them are coming true also. I could go on & on but this is my short Version.
 
Michael Z said:
I go for fellowship with like-minded believers. Our small church allows folks to get to know each other well. Attending prayer meeting on Sunday night is helpful in that we prayerfully share each others burdens. It really helps to get together with church members outside of church for some sort of ministry, a home bible study, or just a dinner or activity. I have done jail ministry with one member and we have attended dinner gatherings at another members home - those are the folks we are closest with too. So, you want to do a little more than just Sunday morning.
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I think that's wonderful Michael Z! We have similar outreach programs at our church! One year I was involved in helping with building a house for the Habitat for Humanity (I didn't hammer or cut anything, I provided the tools!), and another year with feeding the poor in our community (helped cook the meals, and someone else shipped them to the families). There's always someone in need.
 
Capt Lightning said:
As a boy, I was dragged to (Presbyterian) church by my parents who could not explain why we should go there, other than that it was what people should do. What did I get out of it? A questioning mind that soon rejected any notion of a 'god' and a distrust of the church as an organisation.

Roll on many years. We retired and returned to Scotland where Mrs. L suggested that in spite of being atheists we might occasionally attend church to 'blend in'. Church? nobody here worries about these things. Most churches have closed, I don't know anyone who goes to worship and Sunday is just another day. There are pockets of religion in some areas, but they are gradually being eroded.
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...agree totally....same thing in all of the UK...
 
I am a preachers kid. My parents dragged us from church to church. All Christian. Except Catholic. There are so many ways Christian folks practice there faith in the name of the lord it’s almost funny but it is surely confusing to those who are not into it. I hated Sunday school, and the delivery of some preachers who shouted about everything folks did was wrong. Some churches had awful customs of putting people out of the church if they did certain sins, dictating what people could wear, making you stand up and announce your “sins” to the congregation. Going to a meeting every. Single. Night.

I enjoyed singing and when we found a minister that spoke eloquently and truthfully it was great. But people move, die and grow differently. I stopped attending church because I’ve never found a place the made me feel comfortable.

When I paid more attention to religion and history and the grief religion and churches bring to the world I can’t seem to find the desire strong enough to go back. How can Christian folk say to love your neighbor and hate people that are born gay? How can religious folks say they serve a God that is love and fight others because they worship the same God differently?

I didn’t like how the religious folks treated native Americans or the Hawaiians or any of the islanders in the name of religion. Or those folks who thought it a good idea to enslave Black folks and didn’t want them to read or write . But that same Bible they didn’t want them to read taught them slaves could be free.

These days I believe in the Creator more deeply than ever. But not because of church but despite of it.
 
Each in His Own Tongue
by William Herbert Carruth (1859–1924)

A fire mist and a planet,
A crystal and a cell,
A jellyfish and a saurian,
And caves where the cave men dwell;
Then a sense of law and beauty,
And a face turned from the clod —
Some call it Evolution,
And others call it God.

A haze on the far horizon,
The infinite, tender sky,
The ripe, rich tint of the cornfields,
And the wild geese sailing high;
And all over upland and lowland
The charm of the goldenrod —
Some of us call it Autumn,
And others call it God.

Like tides on a crescent sea beach,
When the moon is new and thin,
Into our hearts high yearnings
Come welling and surging in;
Come from the mystic ocean,
Whose rim no foot has trod —
Some of us call it Longing,
And others call it God.

A picket frozen on duty,
A mother starved for her brood,
Socrates drinking the hemlock,
And Jesus on the rood;
And millions who, humble and nameless,
The straight, hard pathway plod —
Some call it Consecration,
And others call it God.
 
I suspected not many church going members would be pulled into commenting on this thread as religious arguments either way in such a public environment would likely lead nowhere and only encourage disparaging comments from the more vocal.

Within the New Testament are several vague references to a church, one can easily web search for. But those verses follow from the below three scripture verses. It may be argued that the overwhelming primary goal of being a Christian is eternal life for we otherwise mortal organic creatures, eternal non-existence. Obviously that people ought meet together in some way for that end is common logical sense that need not be argued though how to do so and when as formally applied by different denominations is an open issue.

Matthew 16:18
18 And I tell you that you are Peter,and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

Matthew 18:20
20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

John 6:53-58 53 Jesus said to them, "Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever."
 
ohioboy said:
Each in His Own Tongue
by William Herbert Carruth (1859–1924)

A fire mist and a planet,
A crystal and a cell,
A jellyfish and a saurian,
And caves where the cave men dwell;
Then a sense of law and beauty,
And a face turned from the clod —
Some call it Evolution,
And others call it God.

A haze on the far horizon,
The infinite, tender sky,
The ripe, rich tint of the cornfields,
And the wild geese sailing high;
And all over upland and lowland
The charm of the goldenrod —
Some of us call it Autumn,
And others call it God.

Like tides on a crescent sea beach,
When the moon is new and thin,
Into our hearts high yearnings
Come welling and surging in;
Come from the mystic ocean,
Whose rim no foot has trod —
Some of us call it Longing,
And others call it God.

A picket frozen on duty,
A mother starved for her brood,
Socrates drinking the hemlock,
And Jesus on the rood;
And millions who, humble and nameless,
The straight, hard pathway plod —
Some call it Consecration,
And others call it God.
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Interesting poem! I looked up William Herbert Carruth, and apparently he had a PhD from Harvard and taught Comparative literature. Never read his poetry before, so thanks for sharing this.
 
palides2021 said:
Interesting poem! I looked up William Herbert Carruth, and apparently he had a PhD from Harvard and taught Comparative literature. Never read his poetry before, so thanks for sharing this.
Click to expand...
I had a copy of this book I read it in. Rudyard Kipling's "If": Poe's "The Raven": Alfred Noyes "The Highwayman": Edwin Markham's "How the great guest came" + Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, many others.

"One hundred and one famous poems".
 

One Hundred and One Famous Poems: With a Prose Supplement​

​

by
Roy Jay Cook (Compilation),

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Contributor),

William Shakespeare (Contributor),

Walt Whitman (Contributor),

Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. (Contributor),

Phillips Brooks (Contributor),

Eugene Field (Contributor),

William Wordsworth (Contributor),
more…
4.25 · Rating details · 1,365 ratings · 192 reviews
Nature, man and human history are reflected on in the verse of English and American poets and such prose works as the Gettysburg Address and the Declaration of Independence.

GET A COPY​

 
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Michael Z said:
I go for fellowship with like-minded believers. Our small church allows folks to get to know each other well. Attending prayer meeting on Sunday night is helpful in that we prayerfully share each others burdens. It really helps to get together with church members outside of church for some sort of ministry, a home bible study, or just a dinner or activity. I have done jail ministry with one member and we have attended dinner gatherings at another members home - those are the folks we are closest with too. So, you want to do a little more than just Sunday morning.
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My feelings exactly. The Church I attend now is quite large. I prefer the small church I attended when I lived in Center, Texas. My best friend still lives there and we do the same devotionals each day. She with her tea and me with my coffee. I don't go as often as I used to but I still practice and observe the traditions of the faith. I miss the bible study, etc at the small church and the Wednesday night pot lucks.
 
I’m a Southern Baptist preachers kid and besides the fact my mother, two brothers and I were expected to attend church in support of the preacher, I would hold such animosity and contempt toward so called chosen one’s. I go to church nowadays to be there with my wife. My wife likes church, but if it weren’t for her I would not attend church.
 
I attended Sunday school and church pretty much all my growing up years. However, as I grew older, and became more "observant" I couldn't help notice some of the hypocrisy displayed by some of the members....they were "holy" on Sunday, then reverted back to their ways on Monday. It also seemed that the most important part of the service was the passing of the "collection plate".

I fully believe that we are guided by a "power" far too superior for our limited intellect to comprehend. However, there is no shortage of those who lead virtually every religion and use their power to enrichen themselves.
 
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Mr. Ed said:
I’m a Southern Baptist preachers kid and besides the fact my mother, two brothers and I were expected to attend church in support of the preacher, I would hold such animosity and contempt toward so called chosen one’s. I go to church nowadays to be there with my wife. My wife likes church, but if it weren’t for her I would not attend church.
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Happy wife, happy life. 😁
 
My Mom had me attend Halakha which was more intimate with ten or less in attendance since my blood was considered not pure enough to attend any of the Synagogues in Crown Heights. My Dad had me attend The Temple Vodou in East Flatbush where I was considered an outcast. My oldest sister dragged me to various Catholic Churches where I never knew where to splash that oil coming and going, when to sit down, when to get up, when to kneel or go get the wafer and drink that grape stuff.

The Latin really got to me and one Sunday I told my mom that I would run away if I had to go there again. My middle sister and I quite never seemed to make it to the Baptist Church since she figured the money our Mom gave us to put in the collection plate would better serve us at the candy store then off to her boyfriends house to watch TV. Well I watched TV and chewed Bazooka bubble gum.

My older brother was never invited to attend any house of worship with anybody in the immediate or extended family since he demanded that nobody is to utter the Sabbath's name on Sabbath Day. This from a guy that would tell every boss that dare hire him how to run their own successful business long before he was around. You can't make this stuff up. Later in life I pretty much avoided houses of worship that would pass the collection plate around more then three times, made the congregation stand up for at least half the sermon or established a hypocritical pecking order.

Now since COVID-19 and being a reconstituted grampa I usually watch Televangelist like Joel Osteen and Joseph Prince. Stinky is teaching Kirin her version of the stars, the Sun, the Moon and all things Heavenly. My experiences over half a century boils down to religion is what you make of it. Nothing more, nothing less. thanks for reading.
 
Gaer said:
I'm wondering what is the motivation to attend a church?
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For me, it's to gain a blessing

Wrote something about it;


Didn’t happen today, yet still....it made me happy today

It’ll make me happy tomorrow if I think about it


A while back, wife and I went to church

It’s refreshing, sometimes, to attend a church

Sometimes

Anyway, there was a song service
I don’t sing
Can’t
Tried
It’s not considered singing
So, there I was, mouthing the words.

A few rows back, a middle aged gentleman was singing his heart out.
A tenor, I believe.
I also believe he was a butcher by trade.
Cause he was doin’ a job of it on that song.
His voice, his voice literally hurt my good ear.

Seems there are several stanzas to ‘He Lives’.
He got louder with each one.
At the last of the chorus to the last stanza I looked back...

Had to

There he was, tears streaming down his face.

Yet,

His face....beaming

He wasn’t a good looking guy

He literally wrecked the hymn




I’ve seen a lot of beauty
A lot
In nature, mostly

But this

This was the most beautiful thing

I have ever seen
 

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