Church and the Movie Theater (video)

Hebrews 10:24-25

24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Acts 2:42-47

42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

1 Corinthians 1:9

9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Matthew 18:20

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

Is going to church truly fellowship?

Is there any difference between going to church and going to the movies?

Resources:

Forsake Assembly 

https://www.livinggodministries.net/living_god_ministries/radio_archive/audio_files/hebrews_41_ch10_25_foresake_assembly.mp3

Church and the Movie Theater 

https://96tolife.blogspot.com/2008/11/church-and-movie-theater.html?m=1

Are Christians commanded to go to church?

 

"And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching (Hebrews 10:24‭-‬25)." Is church attendance true fellowship? What is the foundation of fellowship? Resources: https://96tolife.blogspot.com/search/label/Fellowship?m=1 https://www.livinggodministries.net/living_god_ministries/radio_archive/audio_files/hebrews_41_ch10_25_foresake_assembly.mp3

Encouraged by a Mutual Faith

"For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established-- that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me (Romans 1:11-12)."

I was raised as a Catholic. In my teens I stopped attending Mass and pretty much didn't go to church at all for years; although I still would have called myself a Christian if asked. In hindsight, I was not a Christian. After I was saved and had the desire for fellowship with "like-minded" believers, I attended a few different churches. I tried going back to the Catholic church for a while, but that didn't last long. I eventually settled in a non-denominational church that would fall under the "Word of Faith" label. After a few years I left that church and didn't attend a regular church for a couple years. Yes, on occasion, I would visit a church with a friend or just as someone seeking fellowship, but nothing stuck. Eventually, I found my current church and have been there for over ten years. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of denominations and churches under the banner of Christianity. The main reason there are so many is because they don't all teach or believe the same things. I don't mean they won't proclaim that Jesus Christ is the savior of the world, but the things they believe in support of that belief are different. For example, I believe in giving, but I don't believe the Bible teaches that Christians are commanded to tithe. Yet, the vast majority of Christian churches teach that we should tithe. Therefore, I would not be comfortable attending a church that teaches Christian tithing with any regularity.The same may go for someone attending my church. There may be things that are taught there that they do not believe.Therefore, it is probably best that they don't attend. If you do not have much in common with a group you won't be encouraged by continuing to be around them. But, when you do find a group of like-minded individuals, your "mutual faith"  will be an encouragement to you.

That is what I believe the Apostle Paul was getting at when he was writing to the church in Rome. He specifically speaks about his desire to visit them in order to be encouraged by their "mutual faith." Paul wrote on a few occasions about "my Gospel" (Romans 2:16; 16:25, 2 Timothy 2:8). I believe he said this because what he proclaimed about Jesus Christ and how we live as Christians wasn't shared by many in the early church. In Galatians 2, Paul told about confronting Peter because, "before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision (Galatians 2:12)." Obviously, James was teaching something different than Paul and fear of the men he taught caused Peter to be a hypocrite in their presence. Paul even spoke of "false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage) (Galatians 2:4)." Here we see supposed brothers in Christ trying to undermine Paul's teaching and put him and others back under the law. These are just a few examples of how naming the name of Jesus doesn't necessarily equate to Christians having a "mutual faith." But, that is okay. If we all agreed the same on every subject then we would be complete in our growth and maturity. Therefore, the Lord's work in us would be finished and that is far from the case. I do not want to sound as if we should all simply stay in our churches and never come out. I have visited other churches over the years for various reasons and will continue to do so. I would even encourage you, if you're a Christian, to do the same. It helps you to experience what others believe, to share about the Lord and to be open to learning about the faith, growing in your faith and, perhaps, discovering something you believe is incorrect. My prayer is that all Christians will learn to trust in and depend on the Lord, through the Holy Spirit, to lead us into all truth and find encourage among the brethren who share that "mutual faith."

Final Greetings

“These are the only Jews among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have proved a comfort to me (Colossians 4:11).” It is often overlooked or, at best, skimmed through, but the end of the letters in the New Testament, specifically those of the Apostle Paul, hold some telling information. For example, at the end of his letter to the Colossians, Paul writes about people like Tychicus, Onesimus, Aristarchus, Justus, Epaphras, Demas, Nympha and Archippus. While they are Christians and have been blessed with having their names immortalized in the pages of the Bible, at the present time they are not much more than hard to pronounce names of people who lived nearly two-thousand years ago. However, to Paul, they are dear brothers (and a sister), faithful ministers and fellow servants in the Lord Jesus Christ. It has been my experience that in modern day Christianity too much focus is placed on going to church at the expense of developing relationships with fellow Christians. In Hebrews 10:25 we are told to “encourage one another” and “all the more as you see the Day approaching.” The best way to encourage each other is by first getting to know each other and then supporting one another through the daily events of life. Paul was writing his letter to the Colossians from prison. I doubt there was time for weekly fellowship at a local church. 

Furthermore, Paul didn’t have the use of modern comforts like cell phones to talk and text with, or computers to write and email. There wasn’t Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or Snapchat to instantly post pictures or write posts informing others of the intimate details of his life. He didn’t even have a post office to quickly deliver his letters. Lord only knows how long it took to write a letter much less send it.  The times of loneliness and despair had to be frequent. Is it any wonder Paul grew close to Aristarchus, his “fellow prisoner”? Obviously, the time Paul spent with those individuals he mentions, in particular Aristarchus, is how Paul grew close to them, became friends with them and how they were able to be a comfort to him. True friendships are difficult to build once a week at a predetermined time and place where most of what you do is sit and listen to someone else preach. No, true friendships are built by daily interaction as you share experiences with each other and go through the ups and downs of life together. When is the last time you reached out to a brother or sister in Christ in order to encourage them or tell them how they encouraged you in the Lord? More importantly, do you have anyone to reach out to? The Apostle Paul, in my opinion, was able to name those close to him because they may have been the only people he had in his life to name. While we know there are millions of Christians around the world we only know and, dare I say, only need a few “fellow workers” to be a comfort to us. Perhaps one day many years from now someone will be reading what you wrote to your friends and be encouraged by your loving words to them.