Church Services To Go...

If pagans come to church it will usually be Christmas and Easter. So they cut out fifty percent of the time some might be in a chruch in an entire year. Make sense for evangelism? Zero.

 

One of the Chicago biggy churches did a similar thing with a dvd according to the news.

At least there will be some family time, if they can fit the dvd in between the ball games and drum sticks

 

Or record something else on the DVD. I use the CDs AOL sends as fuel for the fire in my wood stove. They burn nicely.

 

It doesn't surprise me that churches are being closed on Christmas Day. It just shows that we are getting closer and closer to the Lord's return. Apostasy is escalating at top speed.

Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. (2 Timothy 4:2-4)

Offering a DVD is a sorry excuse for not having worship service on Christmas Day. Why close the church doors for worship services on Christmas Day because it falls on a Sunday? Isn't Sunday the Lord's Day? Do churches close on Easter Sunday? Who knows, maybe that is coming down the road and we will see Easter DVDs being offered as a "substitute" for worship services.

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)

 

Well you hit the nail right on center Sister Linda 64! What more can you say about this?
I was in church this morning at Discover Christian Church. I am about to become a member there while retaining my membership at Licking Baptist.

 

It doesn't surprise me about this either, but it does sadden me.

I do wonder what these people would answer to Hebrews 10:25, like Linda mentioned.

Sidenote: It also makes me wonder about what people think the true church is, and I'll be looking for what people here think. More reading to do!

 

Let me look at the other side for just a moment. I'm not sure what I think of all this, so please don't hit on me for thinking out loud!

A take home DVD with scrolls and such...

I can see where, used properly, this could really increase family time in worshiping together -- something most families I know are sorely lacking in! It could be interrupted for dirty diapers. It could accomodate sick kids or mom or dad. It could encourage discussion with visiting family members who are not Christians and who might not go to church and thus keep other parts of the family home in order to keep the peace for the holidays.

Church is NOT an evangelical organization. It is supposed to be a place where those who are already Christians come together to worship and learn and pray for one another. We then go out into the rest of the week and our lives themselves are supposed to be an evangelical outreach.

Many of those, like my parents used to, who go to church twice a year do so out of a sense of duty. Nothing said in church is going to make any difference to them. It is the lives of churchgoers which make the difference.

So if they can't go to the church of their choice on a Christmas or Easter, what will they do? Either breathe a sigh of relief or find another church so they can feel good about the fact that they attended church!

In the meantime, there might be something very positive about this pastor's idea. The more I think about it, the more I like it. Not for every Sunday, or even for most. On the other hand, what a wonderful tool for those who are shut-ins or those with so many little ones that making it to church every Sunday makes Sunday morning the most dreaded time of the week? Again, I have been there. I remember those days. If I could have stayed home with my zoo once a month, maybe, and been able to participate in the relative quiet of a time of my own choosing and with just the older kids or something like that, I think I would have been grateful!

Not every Sunday....but sometimes. Flu season. Christmas. That sort of thing...

Barry is standing over my shoulder reading this and mentioned that this sort of thing would have been a huge help to his ailing mother and sister during the last years of his mother's life when she could not get out of bed due to her heart condition (and Barry's sister is a high-functioning autistic epileptic who could not go to church). Barry had very little chance to be in church during those years, and this kind of outreach to members who have a hard time attending would be extremely gratefully received, we are sure.

 

Helen, I think I understand your points (and Barry's too!), but I think there's a big difference in what you're describing, and what actually happened in this case. You're talking about using a DVD as a ministry tool for shut-ins, which is a great ministry. Northshore Christian Church is using them in lieu of attending services on Christmas Sunday, which makes no sense. If Christmas is to be about Christ, then having services on Christmas Sunday makes the most sense.

Exactly.

 

Let me present you with this scenario. It is all true.

I was raised in a non-Christian family. I think most of you know that. Nevertheless, Christmastime, while my mother was alive (until two years ago) was a time for family gathering. Because we had six kids and therefore the largest house, it was not uncommon for our home to be the gathering place. I do not remember Christmas being on a Sunday during any of those times, but if it had been, we would have been between a rock and a hard place. The logistics of dealing with a brother, a sister-in-law, two more sisters, one of them having a boyfriend several times, three nephews, a niece, my mother, and our six -- it got 'interesting.' Special, but interesting.

How wonderful would it have been to have a DVD service in our home which some might have actually watched and commented on, when I KNEW there was no way they would go to church! That WOULD have been an outreach!

How special to have it for others who might have dropped by during the week.

Maybe a small service for those who wanted to come to church AND the DVD? That's an awful lot of work for the pastor, and a lot of you men would know that more than anyone.

Nevertheless, the idea of it is not a bad idea in my own, very fallible opinion. Having raised a large family and having come from a non-Christian family, I can see a lot of positive aspects to what that pastor decided to do.

But I really don't want to argue about something I really know next to nothing about. I just saw some positive aspects and wanted to mention them. Thanks for letting me have my say and being kind about your disagreements!

 

And it usually will be to see a show. Still not much time for evangelism. Still, church is for believers, not pagans.

 

Recorded sermons are great, but are no substitute for visitation.

 

I think the issue is not whether people should go to church on Christmas Sunday but whether a church should offer a service that day -- and I say, "Yes!" They should offer the service for those who want to attend.

These churches could cut down to just one service, like our church did (we normally have 3 services and had just one on Christmas and will have just one on New Year's Day).