Pot Stirring 1 - What do you look for in a Church Service?

[Elhanan]

Still haven't found this church service: ^"What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up". 1 Cor 14:26 As U2 would sing - I still haven't found what I'm looking for.

Edited May 1, 2013 by Elhanan

[Guest shiloh357]

I have a two part topic. After getting responses here to this one, I will post the second part as a second thread.

What do you look for in a church service? What do you most enjoy? What is most important to you in a church service?

Genuine worship. The church service should be a sanctified time when we come to church to worship the Lord. 70% of the theology you get in church is in the music. The remaining 30% is found in the preaching, Sunday School, Bible study groups, and any para-Church teaching ministry you might enjoy.

Worship should have substance. When we come to worship God, there needs to be a realization of to whom it is we are speaking. God isn't our buddy. He is our most dread sovereign Lord and Savior and that fact should give us pause as to how we approach Him. God allows for a certain amount of familiarity as our Father, but sometimes we abuse that concession by approaching Him in a flippant and irreverent manner.

The worship service is about Him, not about us and all that is done should be done in the service should be for His glory and honor.

[xero]

You are the church.

Acts 7:47 "But Solomon built him an house. 48Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,

49Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?

50Hath not my hand made all these things?"

Unfortunately I have to step out at the moment but when I get a chance Im going to elaborate on this passage.

[Fez]

What do I look for in a church service?

It's not that simple for me.

Many churches run a good service, with solid words and worship, and the Holy spirit anoints these services, but I tend to look deeper.

What is the foundation of the church from which the service emanates? Is it a "complete" church, or a country club with a good message and a good worship team? What do the pastor, elders and members do when they are not attending to a service? How is the greater community and beyond being fed the Word? As I said, it's not that simple.

[Guest ninhao]

Genuine worship. The church service should be a sanctified time when we come to church to worship the Lord. 70% of the theology you get in church is in the music. The remaining 30% is found in the preaching, Sunday School, Bible study groups, and any para-Church teaching ministry you might enjoy.

Worship should have substance. When we come to worship God, there needs to be a realization of to whom it is we are speaking. God isn't our buddy. He is our most dread sovereign Lord and Savior and that fact should give us pause as to how we approach Him. God allows for a certain amount of familiarity as our Father, but sometimes we abuse that concession by approaching Him in a flippant and irreverent manner.

The worship service is about Him, not about us and all that is done should be done in the service should be for His glory and honor.

hear hear !

[ayin jade]

I have a two part topic. After getting responses here to this one, I will post the second part as a second thread.

What do you look for in a church service? What do you most enjoy? What is most important to you in a church service?

Genuine worship. The church service should be a sanctified time when we come to church to worship the Lord. 70% of the theology you get in church is in the music. The remaining 30% is found in the preaching, Sunday School, Bible study groups, and any para-Church teaching ministry you might enjoy.

Worship should have substance. When we come to worship God, there needs to be a realization of to whom it is we are speaking. God isn't our buddy. He is our most dread sovereign Lord and Savior and that fact should give us pause as to how we approach Him. God allows for a certain amount of familiarity as our Father, but sometimes we abuse that concession by approaching Him in a flippant and irreverent manner.

The worship service is about Him, not about us and all that is done should be done in the service should be for His glory and honor.

And this leads to my second part of my topic.

[janiebeth]

1. The pastor must use the Bible primarily for the message.
   
2. He must exhibit better scholarship and study through the use of cross-referencing and historical context than I have. I enjoy thinking and learning new things.
   
3. He must be the type to visit members when there is trouble. I like to have someone I can trust when things get tough.
   
4. He must be decisive in leading and unafraid of crossing political alliances.
   
5. He must be a man. (You said you were stirring the pot )
   
6. If he dresses with lots of expensive suits and gold watches I am suspicious.
   
7. If he criticizes other churches that are Christian for not fully understanding, as he has a special message from God, I leave.
   
8. If he invites faith healers that ask repeatedly for donations, I leave.
   
9. The congregation must be warm yet not oppressive. I like warm, but I need my space. If I feel like I just walked on a used car lot or into a suicide prevention center, I hide.
   
10. The congregation must be able to pray fervently with a warrior spirit. I enjoy powerful prayer.
    
11. The congregation should have a spattering of many personal stories like maybe some that were once addicts, some that were born into Christian families, some that were of a different faith, some that are ethnically diverse or at least culturally diverse for me to feel comfortable. If everyone there was born into that denomination, and no one there is a new believer, this looks to me like a club more than a church.
    
12. The congregation should have social functions ever so often. I like doing fun stuff with believers. They should be a fun group, not just pastor appreciation or an Avon party.
    
13. The congregation should not have a bunch of strict rules interpreted from the Bible like no coffee, card playing, holding hands before marriage (i.e. legalistic). I wonder if they would try and tell Jesus not to have wine at His last supper.
    
14. The congregation must not be more than 75% elderly.
    
15. If the majority or a substantial part of the congregation says that their faith is a private thing, and they don’t speak about their faith to others, I leave.
    
16. If the congregation is in repeated and constant squabbling over power or vanity, I leave.
    
17. Size does not impact my comfort or decision, but a church over 300 would be a new experience so anything from 5 to 300 is great.
    
18. Accommodations like seating or nice restrooms do not impact my decision. I don’t even care if there is inside plumbing. Heating is nice though.
    
19. Music can sway me a bit if the pianist cannot transpose to keys that most people can sing. (Can’t do G, but like A and E best).
    
20. Personally, I really enjoy hymnal music that is fast. I like to clap when I sing.
    
21. I also like singing things I know, so if the music people change the songs every single last week, uhgh. No fun.
    
22. Music that is like monks chanting will impact my decision somewhat.
    
23. I like alter calls and invitations to come forward, but I have attended several churches where people not feeling led were pressured to do so. This makes bringing someone new difficult, and I will avoid inviting people if this happens.
    
24. I attended a couple of churches where the pastor had people dancing and singing while running around the church. I find this to be an invitation to unwelcome spirits and a dangerous practice, so I left.
    
25. One time I went to help a church in building. I showed up in jeans. The pastor’s wife walked me to the skirt room. I never went back.
    

[ayin jade]

Oh janie you missed my question lol. I asked what you looked for in a church service, not in a church. Im curious to know what is important to you in worship.

[janiebeth]

Oh janie you missed my question lol. I asked what you looked for in a church service, not in a church. Im curious to know what is important to you in worship.

Ya know, I probably read that and maybe did even understand that, LOL, but then got to really thinking about church in general. Okay, back on subject.... All the little things can really side track my worship, so I find having a "noise free" church service to be number one. By noise free I mean worshiping with others who are focused on Jesus and not each other, not on promoting something that is vain or self-serving, and not on trying to outdo the competition. This creates mental noise for me. If the worship challenges my mind to think deeper, which would mean that I start writing notes in margins, I connect fully. Another important factor in a "full-filling" worship service is a sense that 'worship' is not going to be the same each time. The synergy of the group determines this. Overall, I believe that worship for me is not as much the music or the amount of alter calls, but the feeling of fellowshipping with like minded people. Worship to me is a group effort. The dynamics of that group makes it or breaks it.

[Guest Butero]

I look for a very traditional style worship service, where the congregation still sings out of the hymn book, and not just praise choruses. I look for a congregation that respects the church, and doesn't treat it like a club, but as God's house. I look for a place where the true Word of God is preached from the KJV Bible. I suppose that what I enjoy most is learning something new from the Bible, something I hadn't seen before.