New Birth Christians
Is It Necessary To Go To Church?
This topic has suggested itself really. Quite a number of genuine seekers are very against any organised religion. They have had too many bad experiences. Then, a very recent message from Saint Francis of Assisi quite amazed me. Here is one of the favourite saints of the Catholic Church indicating his disaffection with organised religion. I was so surprised I went and read his biography.
To answer this question one has to proceed carefully, as there are a number of issues. Firstly, no one should consider for a moment that we should not pray. Indeed if you follow the Biblical minimum, and set aside an hour a week, I think that you are likely to be very underdone spiritually. So the issue then, is what benefit can we obtain by praying together, and sharing in spiritual matters.
The Bible also advocates praying in groups -
Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
And anyone who has participated in a group prayer with others will hopefully from time to time have actually experienced the very presence of the Holy Spirit. So, praying in groups is good.
This series of messages suggests that there are many congregations where the members are prayerful, and the minister inspiring. If you can find one of these, it will do you good. A lot of good. But if you cannot, you are better off praying alone. Which is something you need to be familiar with, as Sunday is but once a week!
| Author |
Title |
Date of Message |
| E. R. Hay |
Hay, a brother lawyer of Mr. Padgett’s, is wondering if the church of today has any value in helping man to prepare himself to properly live in the spirit world. |
March 19th, 1916 |
| John |
What is the reason that mortals will not seek the Love of the Father, rather than endeavor to believe in the creeds and sacraments of the church to which they belong or be affiliated with? |
June 4th, 1917 |
| W___ |
W____: All of the dogmas, creeds and apostolic succession in the world cannot bestow upon the souls of men the love or mercy of the Father. |
|
| Jesus |
Jesus attended the church service with Mr. Padgett and commented on the people’s belief. |
August 31st, 1915 |
| Helen Padgett |
Mr. Padgett and Dr. Stone go to a Presbyterian church for the New Year’s Eve service. |
December 31st, 1916. |
| James |
James writes about his visit to Church with Mr. Padgett. |
April 28th, 1918 |
| Jesus |
Advice given by Jesus in attending church service. Jesus was present with Mr. Padgett. |
August 29th, 1915 |
| John |
John - What should a man do who is not satisfied with any of the churches. |
October 19th, 1916 |
| Martin Luther |
Martin Luther on religious ceremonies. |
June 29th, 1916 |
| Helen Padgett |
In an early message Helen wrote that Mr. Padgett was too much taken up with his business matters and does not devote enough time to prayer to the Father to receive the gift of the spirit. |
November 3rd, 1914 |
| Jesus |
Sermon 6 - Misunderstanding the blood sacrifice. |
October 22nd, 1957 |
| Jesus |
Sermon 7 - The Christian rite called Mass. |
November 4th, 1957 |
| John |
John has written about a visit to a medium, although the spiritual forces were not too good, but the message from a four year child, Rosebud, that was attracted to Mr. Padgett and came home with him to tell him was absolutely true. |
October 28th, 1915 |
| Jesus |
The problems of organised religious groups. |
October 20th, 1996 |
| A high Celestial Spirit |
Problems of organised religious groups |
November 5th, 2000. |
| Seretta Kem |
Group Prayer Multiplies Blessings |
1st September, 2016 |
