Churches

I was thinking of all the churches I have been involved in over the years. 

The first one that I really remember was Country Bible Church in Blair, NE.  I did Awanas there from 4th-6th grade.  I also remember being in some plays.  In one play I got to be an angel. :)  That was cool.

I vaguely remember the room where I always went to Sunday school.  I remember one craft we did on the fruit of the Spirit.  We colored different kinds of fruit and glued them to a plate.  I guess that was the only craft I remember because I really liked it. :)

Then I was involved in the Junior High youth group there and had a lot of fun on retreats and camps with them. :)  I remember singing some really fun songs in worship.  I remember us all playing football in the rain once. lol

Then in high school I got really involved in Main Place Christian Fellowship.  At the time it was right next to my high school so it was very convenient.  I went there every day after school and it was fun being able to talk to my youth pastor every day about things. :)  I was on the leadership, missions and worship team.  I went with other members in the church to India when I was only 14.  I remember being in some plays and one time I sang a song in front of the church that I had written.  :)

Then I was involved in the Mariners youth group.  I went to Taiwan with them one summer.  I helped lead worship with Tim Timmons.  He's now famous and has a song on The Fish which is pretty cool.  I think it's called "Revival Song."  :)  And I went to Mexicali with them every Spring Break to lead VBS with kids. 

In college I started going to Rock Harbor Church.  I went to Taiwan with them also. :)  After college I was going to a Bible study pretty much every night of the week there for awhile.  There was one on learning about our personality traits, spiritual gifts, and where we would serve best in the church.  That was my favorite one and I got a lot out of that class. 

Then I went back to Main Place church.  I was involved in helping lead with the youth group.  I taught a pre-school Sunday school class.  I helped lead worship with the kids.  I was on the drama team.  Here's a video of a really funny skit/song we did.  I'm the one wearing the black jersey. :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdKLLUGPvC4  :)

Then I went back to Mariners church and got involved in the singles ministry.  I led a couple small groups, one on Revelation and one on Philippians with other adults.  Those were fun. :)  I also led a high school girls small group on inner beauty. 

After that I worked on a cruise ship for awhile, but what I missed most was being involved in a church.  So I stopped cruising :) and went to live with my brother in Omaha.  There I got involved in the church Christ Community Church.  They had a sexual abuse survivors class which I think helped me a lot work through my own abuse.  It was nice knowing I wasn't alone too. 

I started working with the kids too as soon as I moved there.  I led worship for the 4th-6th grade girls for their Wednesday night service.  That was really cool and a lot of fun.  I would make up hand motions to any worship song I could think of and they would follow me in them. 

Then I moved to Lincoln and went to a couple different churches.  There was a really good small group on Love and Respect at one church. 

Once I was back in California I went with my mom to all the Bible studies she was going to.  That was cool.  Then she started leading one and that was exciting.

Then I went to Australia.  I attended the Hillsong church out there but the small groups weren't running yet so I couldn't really get involved. 

Then in Kansas City I got my friend and I into a ton of small groups almost every night on different topics at her church.  We met a lot of new people. :)  I was also going to a church that was more in the inner city.  I went to a few groups at that one also.  I really love the people at that church. 

Then I met my husband.  We went to Vineyard church and another church that was closer to us.  I went to a women's Bible study for awhile about the power of our thoughts. 

Then we moved here to Texas and I'm involved in two churches, helping with the kids at one and in Celebrate Recovery at another one. 

So church has really always been a major part of my life.  It's what kept me going.  It's what keeps me positive and feelings like I have purpose and meaning to my life.  I love being in small groups and I love leading small groups.  I love working with the kids and I love worshipping with 2,000 people at a time. :) 

Pretty much every church I've been in was pretty big.  Well Country Bible was big for the area, considering Blair only had 7,000 people in it. :)  Main Place probably had about 1,000 people.  Then Mariners, wow, there were about 15,000 when I first started going there.  Now I'm sure their numbers are up to 30,000 or more.  Rock Harbor had about 3,000 I'd say.  Christ Community was about 5,000.  A church in Lincoln I went to was about 5,000.  And the churches I'm going to now each have about 4,000 I suppose. 

My experience has been that the bigger the church is, the more God is working there.  Growth is a good sign.  It means they are reaching out to the community and bearing fruit.  It shows that they are successful at what they do if that many people want to go there. 

I have found that the smaller the church is, the more cult like it can become.  Why?  Because there is less accountability.  There are less members to challenge what the pastor is saying or what people are doing.  There is more of a chance of religious abuse and the leaders trying to control and dominate their congregation.  A pastor wouldn't be able to control 2,000 people, but maybe 50 or so. 

My mom was involved in a cult like church called the Local Church for about 12 years.  I was in it from the time I was a baby till six, which was when my dad was molesting me.  It was very small and very controlling.  They didn't want their members to talk to their biological family because they taught that the church was your family now.  They were very strict.  I think that was a big reason for why my dad did what he did.  It's the same with Catholic priests.  When people get into these highly strict religious circles it actually makes them more reprobate.  They feel stifled so they want to act out even more.  They also probably feel they can't talk to anyone about inner struggles they are having so the problem festers in their mind until they act it out.  So beware of highly legalistic, small churches.  Sometimes they only make their people more sick rather than healthy.   

Hence, I try to stay away from the small churches and stick with the bigger ones.  I have seen God much more in bigger churches. 

It is also nice that they offer something almost every night of the week.  So it's not just church on Sunday but every day.  That is how it should be.  We need to be constantly fed with the word and always have fellowship, not just once a week. 

You can't eat once a week and expect to survive well the rest of the week.  You have to eat every day.  It is the same when it comes to fellowship and studying God's word.  We can study it on our own of course, but realistically few of us do and it's hard to be that self-motivated.  Getting into groups helps us to feed ourselves daily or more often. 

So if you're not involved in your church or a church jump in and find some groups to join.  You won't regret it and I'm sure it will be a lot of fun for you. :)  But choose the church wisely that you do get involved in.  God bless!