Which denomination do you belong to and why? Or what does Church mean to you?

Hi, like I said in the title I would like to ask which denomination do you belong to and why?

Or what does Church meant to you in case you don’t agree with it being a “building”? How would you explain it?

Thanks
 
Dear brother Peki;

Title of this thread, "Which denomination do you belong to and why? Or what does Church mean to you?"


"I have accepted Jesus Christ as the only begotten son of God who is our lord and saviour." Quote by Peki

I was blessed to read your testimony and is the same answer Peter gave Jesus when He posed the question, Matthew 16:15, 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” - ESV

Jesus wanted Peter to confirm his personal denomination, one of the meanings is "an autonomous doctrine belief of the Christian church." Peter gave free will what he believes in his heart, proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of the living God - Matthew 16:16, 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” - ESV

I serve in the Southern Baptist church. Our doctrine believes in the authority of the Bible, freedom of religion and freedom of Church and State. These are the reasons I follow Jesus, His Word, the free will God has given me to believe in His only Begotten Son, and to evangelize the Gospel despite what the State may impose against my faith.

As far as the church being a building, the first church buildings where worship was held was back during the 3rd century. Before the first buildings the early Christian church met in homes, thus home church (upper room) - reference Acts 1:15-26 which was considered the first gathering of Christians who prayed, sang, heard the Word, discussed issues and anointed the new Apostle Matthias. Later Pentecost followed.

This is a fundamental teaching that church teachers should disciple new Christians and distinguish the difference of "church and church" in their new Walk with Christ. Its perfectly fine to use the word church, meaning to worship God in the sanctuary "building" in that sense.

But the church Greek meaning ecclesia or ekklesia and Koinonia is an assembly or communion of fellowship and like believers, in this sense, unity followers of Christ Jesus.

Back in 2011 bobinfaith held a home church worship of prayer, singing, delivering the message, but after worship, instead of Pentecost the brothers and sisters had coffee, tea, donuts, and upside down cake. Alot has changed since A.D. 30.

God bless you, Peki, and your family.







 
Wow you had donuts? Here we have scones with cream and jam.

I don't really go for church for the food, but I must admit, it's a small part of why I stick around after the service.

Church for me means a gathering of believers who worship, pray and eat together. It doesn't need to be the same people all the time, or the same location, but whenever it happens, its a good thing. It can be just two or three, or it can be 10, 50, 500.

The church building is mostly so people don't get wet, cold or sunburned when we gather.
 
I’m not Wised up on denominations just yet.

is there a church where everyone is basically decent human beings where we all work together like our lives depended on it and help each other and the planet as best we can?

well I’m part of that one lol

xxxx
 
I was raised in the Greek Orthodox church learning, studying, speaking modern, and classical (Koine) Greek. I agree with a vast majority of those teachings, but there many practices in both Eastern Orthodoxy, and Catholicism I disagree with greatly. My Christian evolution included the study of world religions, how those spiritual beliefs influenced modern cultures, and the visiting of many different denominational Christian churches. While I find that some "warp" scripture to suit their personal agendas more than others, I also find not one denomination is blameless. Through much deliberation, investigation, and study I prefer Southern Baptist churches, for they suit my personal spiritual philosophies closely. I do enjoy a Greek Orthodox service, as well as a Catholic one for they show such wonderful reverence and glory to our Father in heaven. I simply remember what I choose to practice for myself, and I do not have to adhere to the traditions of men or the rudiments of this world.

Our spiritual 'walks" are a very personal, distinct, and beautiful journey. The same scriptures speak to us each differently, because we have been all made unique with the freedom of will. Therefore not one size fits all. We can all simply agree that we are all sinners. Eternal life is a free gift. God loved the world so he gave us Christ, and those that believe in him shall be joined in eternity. If we confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts God raised him from the dead, we shall be saved. We should all come to repentance for our sins, and have received the holy ghost. In the name of Jesus Christ when we confess our sins we are forgiven them, and we are cleansed from all unrighteousness.

Love and peace to all my brothers and sisters in Christ, cause in the end we are a Family of Believers~ ox'
As of late I find church buildings have lost their usefulness in society, as they do not reach all those that really need teaching.
The internet has become a much more useful tool.

Hello thenami;

When we teach a Bible study, give the message, sing a praise song or meditate on a poem, we receive a message from God.

In your study and learning of the modern and Koine Greek, can you share how this study helped the church evangelize others for Christ?

In our New Testament studies, we touched briefly on the Koine Greek and it was emphasized as common Greek. Paul used Greek to write to the Gentiles.
Thats about the length of my knowledge. It was interesting.

Your thoughts?

God bless you, sister.
 
Hi, like I said in the title I would like to ask which denomination do you belong to and why?

Or what does Church meant to you in case you don’t agree with it being a “building”? How would you explain it?

Thanks

I was born a sinner, alienated from God.

I was brought up in the Charismatic Pentecostal denomination.

Church is the body of believers in Christ Jesus as our Lord and Saviour.

I am now and have been for may years in the Southern Baptist denomination because IMPO, they are more aligned with the Scriptures than is any other denomination.
 
I find the study of scripture in Greek humbling, through reverence as to it's historical age. It is as close as we can get to what was originally written in the new testament. Quite a bit cannot be translated, for there are no words in English that accurately define what gets lost. When there is, both Greek and English words often have several meanings which does cause confusion. I find it humorous (as do many others), when some try to inaccurately reference, pronounce, and use words in classical Greek without understanding their surrounding verbiage. Ive also learned never to try to correct anyone even when they ask, as they get very offended (especially if they have a PhD). There is nothing worse than minister with a wounded ego, as they never forget the offense. Alas, they are just as human as anyone else alive on this earth. I would rather be remembered for something else.

How my study helped others spread the word of Christ, cannot be defined by language. It is translated by the holy spirit into words those whom need witnessing hear through personal outreach, and testimony. We are all different, and therefore so is everyone's approach. I do not make reference to the Greek often, except maybe in prayer. Certain prayers have a much more speedy affect when words are spoken in Greek, as I can feel the spirit in me.

My conclusion is it is not the language, but the man himself whom interprets scripture in their own hearts. We all get a different message from the same words :)

I understand what you are saying and it makes perfect sense. I have however wondered what the official language of heaven will be.

How about Hebrew?????
 
See how we believe in the same message, but we have had different upbringings. I was raised baptist, and now i am Pentecostal. It doesnt matter the upbringings we have as long as the core messages we believe in are the same. That Jesus is the centre. Islam has 3 sects, Christianity has at least 7 from my thinking. It has more than 7 sects. The bible is powerful and really does divide soul and spirit. In that it can give people hope and understanding to be more spiritual, it can also edify the soul.
 
See how we believe in the same message, but we have had different upbringings. I was raised baptist, and now i am Pentecostal. It doesnt matter the upbringings we have as long as the core messages we believe in are the same. That Jesus is the centre. Islam has 3 sects, Christianity has at least 7 from my thinking. It has more than 7 sects. The bible is powerful and really does divide soul and spirit. In that it can give people hope and understanding to be more spiritual, it can also edify the soul.

As long as the message is found in the written Word of God and is proven to be "Contextually" correct, then I would agree with you.

However.....over the years, many denominations have begun NOT because of what the Bible teaches but what a man has taught.

Some denominations claim to be Christian when they are not Christians at all. I can not list them here because of site rules but it is not difficult for you to find out by going to ...........https://carm.org/list-cults-and-non-christian-groups

I am a Southern Baptist because of several reasons some of which are-----

#1.
IMPO, the larger of the Southern Baptists believe that the Bible is the word of God and contains no errors. It is the sole rule of faith. For this reason, Southern Baptists embrace a literal interpretation of biblical stories.

#2.
They work to find out what the Bible actually says instead of making up something which some people want it to say.

#3.
They believe that salvation is ONLY by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ plus NOTHING.
 
I've been with baptist church too but in NZ we don't have a split between northern and southern baptists.
There's just one baptist church denom.

If it was in terms of location I would be northern because I live in the North Island but, even though our country has North and South Islands separated by water I don't really feel like we are two separate countries with different churches on each island!

Baptist churches I find are very scripture based, but the adherance to scripture can vary from church to church depending on the pastor's preference or version they read from. Actually with some baptist churches they can be a little TOO Wordy for people's comfort and go a little overboard on the exegisis (i think that's the word. like explaining the same point over and over and over again like a stuck record)

I don't really have any issues with that, cos that's how lots of people learn. But it might not be everyone's cup of tea.

I think the only problematic thing can be with the structure of some churches but it might just be how big a church is as well, and how they organise themselves. Some churches are better at working together than others and some have an established hierarchy or system where you need to have a degree and approval of a board before doing anything, while others are more kind of DIY, where everyone takes turns.
 
See how we believe in the same message, but we have had different upbringings. I was raised baptist, and now i am Pentecostal. It doesnt matter the upbringings we have as long as the core messages we believe in are the same. That Jesus is the centre. Islam has 3 sects, Christianity has at least 7 from my thinking. It has more than 7 sects. The bible is powerful and really does divide soul and spirit. In that it can give people hope and understanding to be more spiritual, it can also edify the soul.

There are probably 20, 000 denominations stemming from 5 basic sects (?
1603200437639.png
 
I notice there's always a first church in a town of something or other but nobody wants to be the second church.
Hi Lanolin;

I thought about that also at one time but later learned there are Second and Third Baptist Churches of San Francisco, and around the United States.

"Southern Baptist" is a denomination in the United States established in 1845. There was a split within the Baptist denomination that formed the Northern and Southern. These were for reasons of political and slavery back in the 19th century. Later the American and Independent Baptist Churches would form for various reasons that had to do mostly with "differences in doctrine."

In New Zealand the Baptist church would be considered the "Baptist" church. In Africa one of our members at Christian Forum Site formed a Baptist church in 2018 but could not use "Southern" for its new church plant name. Both in New Zealand and Africa, "Baptist" is correct, unless there is an additional name to the Baptist denomination that I'm not aware of. I have always had an issue with denominations formed because of a difference in doctrine or political.

I've been with baptist church too but in NZ we don't have a split between northern and southern baptists.
There's just one baptist church denom.
 
I googled 'second church of Auckland' and came up with.... Church of Scientology. ?!

There actually is a Westgate Baptist Church ...west of where I am.
 
Hi Lanolin;

I thought about that also at one time but later learned there are Second and Third Baptist Churches of San Francisco, and around the United States.

"Southern Baptist" is a denomination in the United States established in 1845. There was a split within the Baptist denomination that formed the Northern and Southern. These were for reasons of political and slavery back in the 19th century. Later the American and Independent Baptist Churches would form for various reasons that had to do mostly with "differences in doctrine."

In New Zealand the Baptist church would be considered the "Baptist" church. In Africa one of our members at Christian Forum Site formed a Baptist church in 2018 but could not use "Southern" for its new church plant name. Both in New Zealand and Africa, "Baptist" is correct, unless there is an additional name to the Baptist denomination that I'm not aware of. I have always had an issue with denominations formed because of a difference in doctrine or political.

Reminds me of the 5th 3rd Bank!
 
Used to have just two tv channels, then we had tv3, and tv4 and after that there were so many they started calling themselves different names so there was never a fifth channel.

Here are some bizarre church names


I like ain't Peter's church
 
Hi, like I said in the title I would like to ask which denomination do you belong to and why?

Or what does Church meant to you in case you don’t agree with it being a “building”? How would you explain it?

Thanks
I answer that by saying am a Christian, Baptist, who holds to Calvinist theology.
 
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