New Fellowship

Hi Saints,

I have written about this topic before, but I am asking for your prayers. If you know any sermons, scriptures or books on this topic, please share.

We are called to be the body of Christ and to reach the lost. But what if the church you attend now has a female senior pastor, preaches more about prosperity and healing than the gospel.

This is the situation I am in. I am praying. I am asking. I have spoken to an elder.

I am asking the Lord what to do. I am spiritually hungry for sound doctrine, fellowship with saints that are gospel focused.

Doug

Hi Doug-

Why are you reticent to leave your fellowship? I would have the same concerns you have and wouldn’t be able to stomach it and I have left a church with similar red flags(except for the female pastor).

Hi Todd,

I had to look up the word reticent; meaning - "not revealing one's thoughts or feelings readily."

The male senior pastor died in November of last year and his wishes was that his wife would become the senior pastor. But current there are also 2 female pastors and 4 male pastors. The last online service was about finances and the blessings of God. I cant stomach this anymore. Its all about health and healing and the blessings of God and being wealthy and I could go on. I would rather not go to this church for a season and ask God to lead me to the right body of believers. But I know that's not good also, but the past 2 1/2 months there have only been online services because of the virus issue.

I am meeting with a teaching elder tomorrow morning to express my heart again. The gospel as the central teaching is nowhere. I do believe God heals and I do believe God wants us to be generous and working hard, but they have twisted scriptures and I'm so confused and it's not good for my family either.

I simply want a gospel centered life and the church is not helping. I am to blame because of my own lack of study of the Word, but the last year God has helped me to see truth in His Word which is contrary to what our church teaches. Charismatic? Yes. I do believe the Holy Spirit is real, but it's all just signs and wonders.

Hi Doug-

I should have said "reluctant” not "reticent.” My bad.

Nothing wrong with charismatic fellowships as long as the focus is right. We previously attended two; one got weird so we left and the other was much more Biblically sound but was a long drive.

It sounds like you know what you should do and it is good you are meeting with an elder before you do make a decision. I don’t expect they will change their focus, however.

I requested a meeting with the female senior pastor to share my heart before I make any decisions to leave. Thanks for your prayers.

I have been part of home fellowships from the time I am born again. Even in our fellowship which is 100% Biblical, people still find faults. It is because people come from different backgrounds. One would want us to do holy communion every week another would expect us to do miracles in meetings etc! But this is what we tell them, God has given us a direction on how to run a fellowship, if you do not like this direction then please move on. Do not try to change our direction. It is like getting into a bus when you find that the bus is going to some other destination, then you will not try to change the direction, instead get down and go. Why can we not follow the same discipline in the Churches we attend?

Once a girl in my office who was attending some other CHurch, told me that the Pastor's son who is also an active Youth Pastor and a married man, is having an affair with her friend. The Youth Pastor still continues to speak in the Church and no one seems to be bothered. I told her the same illustration, get off the bus, and leave. Do not talk to anyone about the adultery. What if the adultery that she is talking about is her imagination? Then if she goes on spreading this to other people in the Church then it becomes a Gossip.

We are called to be a bride of Christ. A bride will simply walk out of a church if her groom is not there. But I see people leaving Churches for reasons other than Jesus! Mostly because they cannot adjust and fellowship with someone there. Mostly it is issue of them humbling and fellowshipping with people whom they think are less spiritual than them!

Thanks for sharing Sree. I see what you are saying and I did share with the teaching elder that I don't want to be a division maker. He said I wasn't doing that. The senior female pastor isn't an imagination issue as it's been brought up and some families have already left because of this. I need to decide which bus to get on after speaking with the pastor and the Lord.

Hi brother,

We are indeed living in difficult times and need the guidance of the Spirit and the Word more than ever before,while not ignoring the council of truly wise godly men.

What I have learnt is that we are called to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and , when we do this, we are baptised into the "universal" spiritual body of Christ.
We are, therefore, a part of the "church" whether we want it or not.

Also remember, that any group claiming to be a christian church, are dealing with Christ's body, not their own little kingdom. Christ is Lord and no man or woman and we are all to serve one another in common reverence for Christ and are all called to submit ourselves to His word and the teachings as laid out so clearly by the apostles in the epistles.

If the teaching of the church or their leadership clearly opposes the above, well......?

The challenge comes with the physical expressions of the church, where imperfect human beings at different spiritual levels come together, to teach and be taught, to worship, and to serve one another

You must decide for yourself, by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, whether the fellowship you are in is one in which you can contribute and also, receive spiritual encouragement, and whether your conscience allows you to put up with the things you disagree with, for the sake of the gospel and of Christ and your own spiritual well being

Of course, certain deal breakers are things like; false teaching and blatant heresy, the denial of the core tenets of our faith etc.

In the end, I usually turn to one of my favorite life passages from Proverbs:' Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not to your own understanding. Acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will make your path straight'

In conclusion, commit this to God in prayer, ask for His wisdom and guidance and trust that He will guide you according to His will

I know how frustrating this can be so I pray the above prayer in agreement with you

God bless,

William

Bro Williams,
This is sound counsel you've given dear sir. We should all be reminded that whenever we take time to address an issue here, we are encouraging not just the individual who presents the issue but the brethren at large. And our words could give counsel to many more in the future. God bless you.

Thank you brother Emmanuel,

Certainly we are here to encourage and support one another with the grace of the Spirit of our Lord Jesus.

Be greatly blessed!

If you remember this post I started, please keep me in prayer. I met with the pastor and one elder on Friday and she believes she is doing the Lords will and all five male elders voted in agreement that this is the senior pastor. It was very hard and sad. I shared with a brother who I was close to and it didn't go well. He felt that this was legalism and under the law. Just a difficult time. I'm now seeking the Lord on where He wants me to fellowship. Please pray as I lead my family through this also.