The Artifact- We all know about it (personally it’s the one thing I dread each Sunday morning), the greeting of the guests. Greeting of the guests is at some point in a Church Service (usually around the beginning of a Sunday morning service) the Pastor, or Music Minister will direct the congregation, specifically church members to go out and specifically find someone who is visiting, target them out and begin talking to them. I will look into the positive and negative aspects of this practice, and what the church should or shouldn’t do in practicing this event every Sunday morning.
The Message- It can be very tricky, because people can interpret the greeting of guests in a number of different ways. You can interpret it as genuine kindness; however it seems that not a lot of people outside of the Church look at it as that. As Believers, we mean no harm and are only trying to hand out greetings to those that made it to the service, but in the eyes of a lost person, they see this event as a chance for the Christians to point out all the non-believers, and you would feel like a terrible outcast. As all believers know we are always under temptation by the devil, and I feel that the greeting of the guests gives us ample opportunity to sin or parade ourselves in front of others, damaging the view of what non-believers observe from time in Church. This opens the door for Will to Power, a movement that is sweeping through our current post-modern culture. The Will to Power is defined as the idea of human reason and objective truth, along with all institutions and their value systems and human relationships, and the art and ideologies they produce, all these things are expressions of the primal will to power. Everything is a mask ...
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...gregation will probably fall into the category the non believer has set up. So if he is greeted by a self-absorbed man only concerned about himself and his accomplishments, that from the visitor’s perspective, he will feel empowered to declare everyone at the Church a self-absorbed person. Christians cannot go around claiming acts of greatness that we have achieved, we should instead hold ourselves responsible to giving all credit to the eternal God who breathes life into us and sustains us while we spend our time here on earth. If an unbeliever comes into the church, initiate conversation with him, rather than waiting on the pastors command. We must remember the words of Christ, to “go out into the world” but rather than making a mighty name for our selfish ambitions, make known the name of God and its majesty, that all may know of his greatness.
In a survey conducted in 2012, LifeWay.com inquired about the importance of evangelism among members of the Christian faith. The results of the survey showed that 80 percent of people who claimed to follow Jesus Christ and had openly devoted themselves to the teaching of Christianity, felt that they had a “personal responsibility to share their religious views and beliefs about Jesus Christ with non-christians” (Wilke, LifeWay.com). Surveys such as this reflect the Christian doctrine of evangelism and the weight it holds within the Christian faith. As can be seen back in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus Christ commanded His followers “to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19).” However, Jesus never told His followers how doing this.
This experience was really out of my comfort zone. It was hard to be an outsider and not prepared for what was to come and not speaking one of the languages used to understand the entire service. This service learning project gave me the opportunity to try a new church and gain a deeper respect for a different religion. Everyone at the service was very educated on speaking the sacred texts and participating in the rituals practiced. I hope to have gained a better understanding for those who are new to religions and are nervous to come to a worship service. I will make more of an effort to be welcoming and accommodating to those who are new to our church.
Venturing inside, we all noticed two things very quickly: we were at once wearing entirely too much clothing to be comfortable in the sweltering heat, and entirely too little to fit in with the rest of the congregants assembled. And yet we were welcomed with open arms. We had arrived, the Reverend Rogers L. Pruitt emphasized as we filed into the sanctuary, on a very special day. As he distributed bulletins and hearty handshakes to the rest of the group, I noticed that the front of mine read "Fragment Day." As I looked around the modest sanctuary, I wondered what the service had in store for us.
Christianity is one of the largest religions in world with believers spreading across barriers of language and culture. Christianity can come in many forms with beliefs on different subjects varying wildly, but there is one practice that remains relatively the same: church attendance. The ritual of getting up every Sunday morning and attending a church service including a sermon by a pastor and sometimes a smaller, more focused lesson given during what is called “Sunday School”, is something that is practiced by many faithful Christians across the world and the United States, in particular. Attending church is a practice that is integral to the Christian faith as it is shown in the Bible. It informs and impacts the lives of many believers of
Many people believe that today’s Christians are too sheltered and oblivious to the real world around them. When asked, many outsiders compared today’s Christians to “The Titanic - a ship about to sink, but unaware of its fate” or “a hobby that diverts people’s attention” (Kinnaman 120). It is important Christians to not just stay secluded in one group (church group), but to be talking to others (outsiders) so we are aware of the problems and thing that are going on in the world around us. As Christians we are called to be disciples of Jesus by reaching out to those in need, praying for those around us, and calling people to become the church. In “Unchristian” David Kinnaman outlines three main things we as Christians should include in our lives: accepting responsibility, not being fearful, helping the desperate, being prepared, and keeping a balance.
As the sunrises over the crisp fall horizon, followers begin to surround the sacred space in anticipation for what is about to take place. The sacred space is soon surrounded by people who are dressed in the sacred colors, some wearing necklaces of their totem, while others wear headdresses that adorn with their sacred symbol. People begin to drink, play music, and prepare a banquet feast for each other, creating a festival atmosphere in hope that today’s ritual will be a success. As the ritual gets set to begin followers begin to crowd into the sacred space, surrounded with pictures and names of those who have reached greatness. As the ritual begins, music is played in order to bring everyone together and prepare for the events that are about to unfold. It is now that the followers have a very simple focus, to aid in the success of the ritual. Those who celebrate the ritual take there places in the middle of the sacred space, with the followers surrounding them; now that the ritual has begun the celebrants begin to perform and focus on certain actions in order connect themselves with the transcendent sacred. The followers who look on begin to aid by chanting, allowing themselves to also transcend. In hopes that the ritual was a success, everyone does their part until the last second of the ritual is completed, it is only then that it can be decided if the ritual was a success and they can either celebrate or grieve by signing in their most sacred song, bonding them once again with each other.
The human relationship perspective shows it is clear that nonbelievers that are together will do things that are immoral and ungodly. This is something that is likely to occur with someone that has a secular worldview. Paul writes about the dangers of turning away from God with the sins that include unnatural sex acts, perversion, depraved minds and in Romans 1:29, “They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are filled with envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice.” Christians following the biblical worldview must develop relationships together that reinforce their faith in God and that Jesus Christ is the redeemer. Romans 5: 1-2, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into his grace in which we now stand. We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” I see the importance of developing relationships with people that have the same worldview. Developing relationships and working with others that hold the same ethic, values, and morals within the Christian community is important. Practicing my faith in Jesus with others in the Church is a practice that will enhance my relationship with
· Hello – that is when the priest says welcome to the mass and tells
On Easter Sunday, a dozen adults and half that many children gathered at the Perry City Friends Meeting an hour before their usual worship time. They came, bringing plates of food for a time of fellowship before worship. The children had an Easter egg hunt, while the adults visited over coffee and snacks. After a while, the group moved to the meeting room for a time of singing. The meeting room, a plain room with a stage at one end and a few small tables holding brochures along the wall, has simple benches arranged in a circle around a central space. Someone had put a small table with a vase of fresh picked daffodils in the middle. Music is not a part of the worship at this meeting which is unprogrammed, so this time of singing together was special for the Easter holiday. One person played the piano, while people looked through the hymnal for their favorite hymns. Anyone was free to suggest a hymn, as no one is in charge of planning a worship service. When worship time approached, the hymnals were gathered up and put away, and one adult led the children downstairs for First Day School. Without announcement, everyone lapsed into silence. The silence at Meeting for Worship is not a passive silence; it is the deep, comfortable silence of people accustomed to joining together this way. It was not broken when a few more people entered the sanctuary to join the group. The silence continued for about an hour with each worshiper communing with the Holy Spirit in his or her own way, not interrupted when the children reentered to join in the silent worship. One man broke the silence to say a few words about the simplicity of Jesus’ teachings, and then the silence returned. At the end of the hour, without announcement, one woman turned to gr...
On Sunday, December 3 I attended the Solemn Mass at the Church of the Advent, in the North End. Now, you have to understand that I am religiously challenged, at best. I’ve been to my share of weddings and funerals, but growing up I averaged one regular church service every year or two. When I did go, it was either to Hardshell Baptist or Dunkard Bretheren services, with my father or mother’s side of the family, respectively. Both these denominations focus heavily on simplicity and egalitarianism. The churches are usually one room, wooden affairs with a simple lectern. The music draws heavily on the English folk tradition, and the service is delivered in a straightforward manner.
If these primary goals are accomplished, then worship will not be empty and simple-minded. Instead, the worship atmosphere would be held to a higher standard and, she believes, both pleasing to God and attractive to those who do not know God. " Reaching Out without Dumbing Down" is a book intended for church leaders, elders, or pastors who are considering altering their current worship style to attract more unsaved people. The author provides excellent standards to help pastors and worship leaders plan, execute, and evaluate worship services. These same standards also provide a great opportunity to educate the church family on the reasons behind the use of certain worship elements.
...varied greatly. In addition, they were exceedingly sympathetic not only towards me and my fellow State University student but to the world in general. They prayed for the well being of not themselves or their community alone they prayed for peace in the world. I agree with much of what was said in the service even though I do not share their faith. Nonetheless, I find their values and their love for God admirable. I did not feel like a stranger amongst them I felt like I was making friends with people I would have probably never dare to approach before. That is the most valuable I obtained; to have an open mind and an open heart to others because regardless of how different we may be, there is always something precious we can learn from each other.
The first cultural immersion activity that I participated in was going to St. Charles Catholic Church on Ash Wednesday (March 5, 2014). I had a friend who was catholic attend the church with me so I would have a better understanding of what to do and not stand out so much. In addition, I asked my friend to attend with me so I would not do anything in church that was disrespectful. Before going to the church, I thought that I would have to dress up in dress clothes but my friend told me that it is not necessary to dress up for a catholic church, which surprised me. When we first got there, my friend used the holy water and kneeled before entering the pew. I did not do these things because I felt like I would mess up and it would be disrespectful to the religion to mess up those things. Another thing I noticed was when everyone was entering after they have found their seats they would kneel and pray. Later I asked my friend what everyone was doing and she said it was praying to catch up and talk to God about things that has happened since the last time you talked to him.
The human relationship perspective shows it is clear that nonbelievers that are together will do things that are immoral and ungodly. This is something that is likely to occur with someone that has a secular worldview. Paul writes about the dangers of turning away from God with the sins that are stated in Romans that include unnatural sex acts, perversion, depraved minds and in Romans 1:29, “They have become filled with every kid of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are filled with envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice.” Christians following the biblical worldview must develop relationships together that reinforce their faith in God and that Jesus Christ is the redeemer. Romans 5: 1-2, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into his grace in which we now stand. We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” I see the importance of developing relationships with people that have the same worldview. Developing relationships and working with others that hold the same ethic, values, and morals within the Christian community is important. Practicing my faith in Jesus with others in the Church is a practice that will enhance my relationship with
At no time in my life, likely because I was typically surrounded by other Christians, have I been questioned about my faith. As I become more social with people, who come from diverse backgrounds I encounter individuals who do not identify as Christians. The most challenging questions I have received are ‘why do you believe” and ‘how could you believe in something so exclusive.’ Often in conversation with millennials, I find their largest objection to Christianity is the thought that their friend or loved one who is essentially a good person will be unable to go to heaven solely because they do not believe in Jesus Christ or God. While I admire their solidarity, I am often unequipped to offer a satisfactory answer to their