Going to church

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     As many of you know, I have been struggling with my relationship with the church.  I want to have a connection with God's people.  I also want to have a strong relationship with God and to feel his presence in church.  The problem is, that often I don't feel His presence there.  Often I come out of the service just as tired as I was when I entered.  I'm asking myself these days what do I need from church and how will I know when I have finally found my church home?

     We went to a church this morning and the pastor said that he had been in that church about 3-4 weeks.  He was very excited and you could tell that he was still in the "honeymoon" period where things were going well and things are new.  I hope that he keeps his enthusiasm.  I hope also that the church stays behind him.  He seemed to say that, for him, he experienced God's presence in the service, which was billed as a "healing prayer" service.  I'm glad that he had an encounter that was meaningful to him.  I felt mainly distance and like an outsider.

     Having said that I believe that God does heal.  One of the verses that was read that I was thinking about was James 5:16 which says "confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much."   It can accomplish much, because that person is praying by faith.  And with faith, we know that God can move mountains.

    

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