This sermon was part of the series ‘A People of Word and Spirit’. Key Parts included: Discussion about the church at the bottom of the fiery mountain (Mount Zion), the gathering of Gods people fascinated by the sight.
Compared this verse to the same mountain referred to later on in the bible that mention that off Mount Sinai burning with God commanding none to come near. 2. Outline the key message of the service making reference to the Bible passage that was spoken on. The key message spoken in this sermon was the idea of, ‘what church is’. It is not a building or a certain place but it is any gathering of religious people to talk about God and the Bible. The Mountain that was not to be walked on by anyone other than God, so people met at the bottom, the base of the mountain became church.
Those who followed God came to meet and listen and be preached too. Part B: Reflecting on the experience, answer questions 3-4. 3. If a friend asked you what church was like what would you say? Your answer should include things that where unusual, surprising or familiar to you and why. (300 words) Church was not a new experience to me, I have been to church multiple times threw my life but this was the first ‘new style’ or ‘younger based’ church I had been too. The experience was good, it opened my eyes to the new sermons and ideas that I hadn’t heard before.
When first walking in to find so many teens and young men and women involved in the services I was very surprised, and the sheer number of people that showed up was also surprising. I was expecting to be greeted by men in casual suits and women dressed up ‘postal’ but the whole session/sermon was very relaxed. The sermon was much more broader topic in comparison to Chapel conducted at Shore, it went for around an hour and brought up many questions in my and everybody attendant’s minds that where later on answered.
As the sermon was based on preaching to already Christian people, as much explanation was not deed for the repeated churchgoers as there would be if the same sermon was conducted in School chapel. To sum it up id say my trip to SST Thomas’ church was very different than expected, and it changed my whole view on Churches. The chilled approach appealed to the younger age groups which could be seen by the age of the people attending (which would be around late teens early 2(Yes on average) and I believe it was much better than what I had even hoped for. 4. Discuss the likelihood of you choosing to attend church in the future.
Explain your reasoning. (200 words) This recent trip to church has given me some motivation to go to church, although will not be attending every week, a once a month or so trip to SST. Thomas’ may be on the horizon. Although I have experienced church before, the new style and more relaxed attitude is what drew me in, it made church more of an experience than a compulsory activity. SST Thomas’ church was very relaxed compared to my past experiences in churches and this experience has changed my view on the Christian lifestyle. The people who attended where all very friendly and easy to talk too about the
Christian lifestyle and everyday lifestyle. Very much enjoyed the first two thirds of the sermon, I listened very carefully and understood it, finding it very interesting. But my opinion changed on this when Chase Kuhn started the discussion of all unbelievers go to hell, it felt almost like a forceful attempt to get the people there who do not believe to change their mind. Part C: Answer question 5 based on both your church experience and your own investigation. 5. Why do you think that people gather together for church services? Some starting passages are Hebrews 10:19-25, Acts 2:42-47.
You will need to reflect on what the Bible teaches about church and give concrete examples of how this was seen or not seen in the service you attended. (300 words) The bible defines church as the meeting of Gods people with no particular place or goal but just to discuss there beliefs, this definition has changed over time to being a certain place where people gather. The reason people gather is to talk about different ideas about Christianity, like the way they should live their lives, the way they should prey or even view God. In the sermon attended the idea of church was the key message.
The discussion as about the first church, on mount Zion, and how it was just a gathering of people trying to listen to God and Jesus preach and teach. In Acts 2:47 it says that the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved, it is referring to the growing Christian population and how this means there are more and more people in the world being saved. This is reflected even through modern day life and in assessments like such, peoples views of church are different to what church is really like and a compulsory visit can open peoples eyes to this such as mine. The Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
