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What Should a Church Meeting Look Like?
I know a lot of people in the Church of God, just like in other Pentecostal churches, believe in spiritual gifts, tongues, interpretation, prophecy, words of knowledge, words of wisdom, and of course healing, and various other gifts.
But what do you think about a church meeting where someone stands up and continually shares words of knowledge and prophecies (detailed, which seem to be spot on) without opening the Bible?
Or there is a ‘sermon’ but the message doesn’t include a text of scripture, just testimonies, etc.?
I was watching a few YouTube videos recently, and I saw that. I know growing up Pentecostal, it did seem like you usually just had to have a sermon. But occasionally, we might have a night service where we just sang, prayed, and praised the Lord. Maybe a few tongues and interpretations were given.
I’ve also spent a little time, when I was on the US mainland for brief periods of time, where I’d go to a prophetic movement or signs and wonders type church for a while. A lot of these churches do have some preaching that uses scripture, but they seem light on exegesis and expository preaching. I get the sense that eschatology is not taught on enough in detail for the people who go there to articulate an eschatology, at least not the same one as others who go there, or not one they got at church. But they are into prophesying. And it does seem like some of these people do actually prophesy, get words of knowledge, etc.
It does concern me that in some of these churches, the use of the Bible is kind of ‘light.’ Honestly, I’ve heard some old timey sounding Pentecostals who are heavy on enthusiasm, opinion, and religious cliches and light on the Bible in the past as well.
I do notice that in the Bible, Paul seems rather positive toward the idea of all prophesying when the church come together. The same passage, I Corinthians 14, does mention every one of you having a ‘doctrine’ as well. Other passages emphasize the importance of teaching the word as well. I wouldn’t want to condemn a church for having a whole meeting full of prophecies and words of knowledge. I do believe we need a balance, and that not ever having any teaching of doctrine would be rather unhealthy.
What do you think about church services where there is no sermon?
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