Where is the church as found in the New Testement ?

Question

I live in the NE of Scotland, I've been a Christian a number of years now. I've been to many churches but can't find the qualities of what I read about in the NT. What I do find is emphesis on is tithing, (which is old covenant and not relevent now), going to church as much as you can, getting involve in "churchy" activities and the mentality of not having anything to do with other churches as the church you are in is the only real church. What I expect to find is love, miricles, healing and an emphesis on reaching the lost......what has gone wrong with the church ????

I Look forward to your replies

Andrew

Answer 1

This is the worst misconception that most of our world has reguarding The old Testiment and the New Testiment. Just because there was a New Testiment does not in any way cancel out the importance of the old Testiment. We still have to obey the commandments which are in the Old Testiment, as well as the rest of what the Bible tells us to do.

Just because we now have a New Testiment does not mean we can now pick and choose only certain parts of the Old Testiment to conform it to our lives today. The Old Testiment led up to Jesus birth, life, crucifixion, and ressurection, and the New Testiment gave us a look as to what God has instore for us to get us ready for Jesus return. It is all revelent.

Find you a Church that teaches the true word of God and does not dismess any of it's teachings. God will lead you to where He wants you to be.

Answer 2

I think Nici hit on something pretty significant. To answer your question, "what has gone wrong with the church ?" Well we have. She is absolutely correct, if man is in the church then the World and Satan to an extent has an impact on the church. Christians are impacted, influenced and tempted by Satan and worldly things all the time. That will most assuredly have an impact on the way churches are run, and the damage that we as lay people will have on it.

Don't let that stop you from attending church though. Now that you understand what part of the problem is, it is up to you to strive to live by the laws that God the Father ordained and the Christ Himself fulfilled and to be the example to everyone you encounter.

Tithing is very much an act of faith.... Notice that not all church pastors are driving around in a new Lexus every year. (Yeah... some are) Money collected from faithful tithers goes toward paying the church staff, keeping the lights on, supporting missions and ministries, reaching to and caring for the lost, etc. Want to see a real miricle? Gather up some food and go to where the homeless congregate and feed them and share Christ with them...

Answer 3

The New Testament description of the early chruch is helpful you should keep searching.

Unfortunately since there are so many denominations that rely on the Bible the search may take a long time.

If you are looking for the truth the best place to find it is directly from God. The same way that yhou know the Bible is true is how you can recognize the true church you will feel it. So ask god to help you find the true church study out religions you encounter and pray about them. If your goal is to learn and do god's will then you will find the truth.

Answer 4

The "church" are those people who believe, not the different denominations or the buildings. There are many who think that just attending the services of a local gathering, large or small, is all that is required of them. They do provide fellowship with other believers, but the primary concern of the church should be on fellowship with God. The love, miracles and healing are from each individuals relationship with Him, an overflowing of His love through us to others. It is dependent on us and our will to do His will. It is by His power and strength, not ours. We are called to be the vessels, the branches from which the fruit can be supported and allow God's love to nourish it. That is the true spiritual church, and those who believe this can be found in groups of believers in various physical churches and Christian denominations everywhere. Pray that God will lead you to find such group of loving souls in your local area. God bless.

Answer 5

First, the bad news. The type of church you seem to be looking for (miracles, healing) is very much into tithing!

The good news is that God knows those who are his, and if you are his, he wants you in fellowship with other saints. The Body of Christ is the Bride of Christ, for whom he died, and denomination just does not come into it. Could it be possible that if you are setting out on this search with preconceived notions of what YOU want to find, you will be blinded to what GOD wants you to find? I had to leave the faith I was brought up in when I discovered it to be false, but God graciously led me straight into fellowship with local Christians. However, some 15 years down the line, developments in that chuch caused me to seek God, who showed through scripture that I was to leave. This I did, looking all around for somewhere else to go. A year later, he made it clear that a denomination I would never have selected for myself was where he wanted me to be. I've been there ever since and it has been a tremendous blessing to me. Although I still don't agree with everything about them, that is not the point. I am where GOD wants me to be! Have you ever considered just getting down on your knees and saying, "Lord, I've tried everywhere, but I just cannot find a church I'm happy with. Forgive me. Please lead me to the church YOU would be happy to put me in."

May God bless you abundantly - your Scottish sister (contactable through Yahoo e-mail)

Answer 6

Churches are organisations run by people who want power over other people. If you want miracles, love, healing... you have to look inside yourself, you have to commune with your god, and you have to reach out to other people. It's a mistake, imo, to elevate another human being to the point where he can tell you what to believe and how to praise your god. Only you can know what your god wants of you. If you believe someone else can tell you that, it's an easy way to find disillusionment and dissatisfaction.

Answer 7

You are right in your observation. It shows that you have an independent mind and that you are not afraid to face the truth. The sad truth is that Christian practice moves away from the Bible.

It all started from the Garden of Eden in Paradise. Adam died in a spiritual life with GOD where eternal life is possible. He was banished into a life of flesh and blood which Satan rules and which is due for destruction. The purpose of the Mission of Jesus Christ has, sad to say, eluded almost all Christians. The essence of His Rescue Mission or Salvation is in His Resurrection. Baptism, when properly done, unites one with Jesus Christ in His death and resurrection. Romans 6:3-10. The power of baptism to bond and the promise of GOD to save us are in the New Covenant, Matthew 26:17-30. Unfortunately, Christians have ignored this. If baptism is correctly performed, one is born of water. That one is reconciled with GOD in the spiritual and can now be born of Spirit, that is led by the Spirit to do the will of GOD, to become a son of GOD, to have the righteousness of GOD by faith. As Jesus Christ says, that one shall enter into the kingdom of GOD. 'Give your life to Christ' is not the word of GOD. It is meaningless and it achieves nothing.

The purpose of the Mission of Jesus Christ is to enable us to worship the Father in spirit and not in flesh and blood. He says that even the Temple in Jerusalem is no more a suitable place of worship. Solomon says at its dedication: "But will GOD really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!" 1 Kings 8:27. Remember, His words are spirit; flesh counts for nothing, John 6:63. Paul says: "The GOD who made the world and everything in it is the LORD of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else." Acts 17:24&25.

Jesus says: "But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' " Matthew 9:13. As GOD now lives in us by His Spirit, we cannot give him anything except we give ourselves. The only option left is to show mercy to those who deserve it.

Jesus Christ warns that whoever puts new wine in old wineskin will loose both. I agree with you that tithe is in the Old Testament.

Answer 8

unfortunately, man has been running the church (of Christ) for over 2,000 years, which means the enemy has been in there messing things up for 2,000 years.
Many people don't believe it, but the church has been conforming to the world instead of the world conforming to the church.

They are out there...........it will take some time and effort to find one

Answer 9

Any church you go to will have long standing members and thier families in it. They all have thier own little "cliches", or groups, within the larger group. I generally felt like an outsider, when I went. Its kind of like a social gathering, and they want "donations" to pay for it.

Answer 10

There are some issues to evaluate while your finding for the church that's best for you. First you a minimum of have your precise standards, it might desire to be as on the area of conceivable to following the hot testomony. Now of direction you maximum possibly understand which you will on no account stumble on a church that's perfect, as though my assumption (forgive me of direction for doing so) which you think in biblical innerrancy as a divinely inspired textual content textile. notwithstanding if churches are of fellows and lady and notwithstanding there is sturdy to be recent in church of direction, no church can truly ever connect as much as the factors which you seek for from the textual content textile. additionally its significant to confirm the existence type ameliorations you will be finding at with a view to stay with the textual content textile as heavily as you seem to seek for. the 1st century roman empire replace into an fairly different international than the single we are living in immediately. in case you elect to attempt and undertake a matching existence type to the single in that timeperiod that's for sure your perrogative yet few churches can undertake the existence variety of that element era. Many reformed custom churches furnish purely slightly an ancedote that i think of you could discover thrilling notwithstanding it might desire to be exterior of your conventional attitude by interpreting your question. that's not our interest to have confidence interior the bible, yet somewhat to have confidence the bible. If we have confidence interior the bible we are raising it to a level that's above the point of a compliation produced by men. in case you think the bible replace into dictated word for word from God (as areas have been to Moses) that's one element, yet once you think men had a hand interior the paintings it might desire to be significant to realize some particularly "bible believing" churches border slightly on a legalistic fringe of Christianity. purely one thing to evaluate. notwithstanding if many human beings have presented sturdy suggestion, you may desire to attempt and few different churches and denomonations and discover what you experience is mind-blowing for you and brings you closest to what you think God asks of you.