Get Connected at Church *

 Fellowship and Serving at Church 

Church is not about you going and singing songs and saying hello to a few people, listening to a message, and perhaps eating a potluck together, and then going home.  

Christians, the born again ones, the redeemed of Christ, are part of the Kingdom of God and are members of the Family of God. We gather at the church to worship God, worship and praise and thank Jesus, grow in faith, and serve God there. We fellowship with one another, serve the brethren, serve God and learn as well. 

Look at your church website to see all that is offered in way of serving the saints and God at the church, outreach opportunities to go and share the gospel in the world, and classes you can take to strengthen your faith and study specific areas you need to grow in, sermons as well that help you gain clarity on topics, verses and books of Scripture as you study the Word at home during the week, and other resources to help you grow in the faith such as home devotionals with family, devotions for couples, Bible studies and books and resources for those courting for marriage, seeking to marry, preparing to marry, finding a saved spouse, helping men mature in faith and mature as a man and lead your family, and love your wife, and being active in your marriage and with your children, helping women mature in the Word and in faith to be a good wife and mother, and help you weather storms and be victorious over sins, and to learn how to share the gospel and answer questions to help plant seeds, water the truth and lead souls to the foot of the Cross. How to live in this fallen world, how to conquer sins, how to live a Christian life and much more. The church is a family that belongs to God and it is our home base for preparing and living out our faith every week to persevere in the faith and continue to grow and keep our eyes on Jesus. It is not a social club. It is not a passive place to just go hang out. There is fellowship there, but it is not the main reason believers are there. 

While there, when you join a church and are plugged into fellowship groups and interact with those who are calling themselves Christians there, you have to also remember that there are many in the church who are not saved, and those who are false converts. God has told us this is and would be happening, and today it is even worse than in the past. Many name the name of Christ but they are not saved. Eventually some will be revealed as false converts and others will walk away "for they were not of us". 

While you are a member of a local congregation of believers you would do well to find those in the church who are mature believers, and who are always active at church and always faithfully attending. Connect with those ones, and there will be less of a chance running into the false converts. 

Only 46% of the religiously affiliated attend services every week, with another 35% saying they go 1-2 times a month, and 18% reporting they go seldom to never. Among Millennials, the number is much lower; only about 27% attend services weekly. - Pew Report

You can be friendly towards the others who are at church, and be a godly witness to them, a blessing and kind to them, but it is best to stick with those who are mature believers (in faith, not age). Even though we know only 37% of pastors hold to a biblical worldview and stand on the authority of Scripture, if you find a church through the church search link here on this site, and interview the pastor and deacons, you can be fairly certain the church you joined is led by a biblical pastor. So those whom are in the pastor and deacons or elders circle and teachers at church are higher to be likely to be saved believers, and are the best ones to befriend there, as they are more likely to actually be the redeemed ones. 

Pay attention to those who are at church every week without fail & involved, (unless emergency or on vacation etc), and avoid those who are gone due to children's sports, and those who's children are in public schools, and think of a few other kinds of people who might be focusing on the things of this world rather than focusing on Christ and the Heavenly, and avoid those ones. You certainly can kindly and lovingly encourage those other ones to reprioritize their lives to the eternal as they walk in this life, but few might listen. Just be cautious and careful about who in the congregation you affiliate with. And even if some you though were solid Christians turn out to be false converts or apostates who walk away from the faith, you can be sure that you did your best to find and connect with those who were and are most likely to be true Christians. 

You would also do well to find out from the pastor and deacons, who are the ones in the membership who have health issues and are stuck in the hospital, or are at home bound due to injury, cancer, coming home from giving birth, just went through major surgery, and cannot attend for now or long term. 

Find ways to help them. 

• Gather people from the church to cook pre cooked frozen meals for that person or family (checking with them for food allergies & things they cant eat or need special nutrition designed meals).  Decide how many of those meals they will need and can use. Find out when it is best to deliver the care package blessing: have it delivered either before they go into a scheduled surgery, or deliver it when someone is home before they are discharged. Perhaps send a meal to be delivered to them the night or afternoon of their return, and let them rest, then deliver the package the next day at a decent time. If they have no room in the freezer or are in a small apartment, perhaps have the congregation take turns delivering meals for the day that can fit in their fridge. And also ask if you can take their trash outside to the bin for them.  If they are a solo person at home perhaps you can heat up the meal and prepare it for them before you leave. 
• Some need their mail picked up at the street or offsite location, others need packages brought in on a scheduled day of delivery, or others get their mail at a pick up location or post office. If post office or postal address place, make sure they have a notary come to their home to give you authorization to pick up their mail from x date to x date time frame, so theres no issues collecting boxes behind the counter. Some have personal or business mail, so at those locations that power of attorney doc "for mail pick up" will be needed. 
• For those also find out if they will need help or like help for basic things they do at home regularly that you can help do for them to remove those burdens. Some have animals that need walking, or let out for the bathroom and ensure they come back in, others might want their kids to be supervised playing out side or take them to the park or to church for Sunday service. Others need normal household chores taken care of. Some might not have laundry room and need laundry taken out for cleaning. Some might need a same sex person to help them to shower. There are a lot of things that people do at home that these folks might need help with to feel a bit more normal while they are going through this time. Some might not have anyone to care for them nor the govt to assist, and perhaps some need help getting around their home or apartment, and to the bathroom so someone who is at home during the day might be helpful to go assist that homebound one temporarily or in rotation with others. 
• Some might be exhausted with their newborn and need someone to watch the baby so the mom can sleep or the parents can get a good sleep. Whether a few hours nap during the day or for a full night every now and then. 
• There are lots of ways you can think of that someone might need help, and are good ways to serve the Brethren in the Congregation. 
• Should there be another pandemic in the future, these vulnerable folk will need help with all these things. Just make sure you do a covid test or test kit for that virus before you go there and have an alternate avail if you "have it". That alt will need to be tested too. In advabxe make sure they buy or you order in time: Bring them a n95 mask to protect them if you are taking them to a hospital apppointment or pharmacy visit, and perhaps swimming goggles or goggles for over glasses to help them be safe outside. *remembering to "love one another" and "treating them as you would want to be treated" in their situation. 

You would also do well to find out from the pastor and deacons, who are the elderly ones in the membership who are now home bound or are in care facilities or being looked after at home and cannot attend anymore... you might want to make it part of your ministry to believers to go and interact with those during a home visit either with a deacon or the pastor or with another believer who cares about the displaced elderly believers. You can minister to them, fellowship with them a bit, brighten their week, perhaps provide some assistance for helps they might need. Maybe even find out if they would like an in home study fellowship night once a week, every two weeks or once a month at their place, and then commit to it [even if it rotates through other members at the church who are committed to assist and are reliable to follow through]. Ask them what kind of music instruments they like and perhaps at some of those gatherings you can play music from a playlist that they would like and/or bring someone who plays soft guitar melodies or violin or something for when you sing hymns there. 

Perhaps you might find those folks are not saved, if not, you can lead them to salvation. Many folks go to church their whole life because it was the normal societal thing to do back in the 1930s, but perhaps many of these are also not saved and you could be the ones to help bring them to salvation through the clear Gospel. And find ways they can then serve others in the congregation such as praying for those on the prayer list, pray for the unsaved on the prayer list gathered once a month from the congregation, prayers for outreach events coming up, and happening daily among those who share the Gospel regularly, and other things they can pray for, including praise reports, and prayers for needs at the church that God would provide for those needs. And other things that can be prayed for both locally, in the state, and nationally that are godly prayers. God hears the prayers of his people and if they are not able to use the internet to share the gospel on social media, or a bit of a few other things elderly might be able to do, at least they can be prayer warriors.  

Perhaps you could also reach the people on that persons street for Christ. Both the neighbors, and surrounding area. You can leave door "gospel and church" fliers. You can leave some light weight tracts with the elderly homes for them and their family to put in their bills when mailing out their monthly as well as in letters to family and friends and for in holiday cards. It gives them opportunities to share the Gospel. Perhaps even help them create a written testimony letter that can be shared. And maybe do a gospel testimony video of them and include photos from the past and stories where they can inform those they know but never had opportunity to do so, or for it to be a new content for others to see online whether from the church, family and friends, or strangers online who might come across it through someone else sharing it on social media or seeing it on youtube.  Perhaps do a life advice video from several elderly from your church who are mostly home and from among some at the church still, and at the end add a simple and clear gospel message from you. And now you have more content to get out there to try and reach the world for Christ. There are lots of ways you can help the elderly who are home bound or mostly cant come to church much anymore. 

Figure out what you can do to serve the redeemed at church, and reaching the lost during the week, and where to schedule in classes for your spiritual growth, as well as putting your daily Bible reading and daily prayer on your calendar schedule as well as appropriate quality time with your spouse and family, and with the church, ministering time, Sunday School, mid week and Sunday evening service, and with your extended family (parents and relatives). Put all of that on your calendar so your day is busy for the Lord and serving your family, before other things. We reprioritize our life for serving the Lord, and when we plan and schedule out our week and month then we are more equipped to follow through with that and our priorities shift to the godly and eternally worthy of our time.