I’m 19 and just started going to a PCA church for the first time in my life. I grew up in baptist and non denom churches. Never in my life have I felt so good worshiping. Being able to hear everyone’s voice harmonize to lift up beautiful praises to the Lord is one of the greatest things I’ve ever heard.
Heretical prayer: O Mother of Perpetual Help, thou art the dispenser of all the gifts which God grants to us miserable sinners; and for this end He has made thee so powerful, so rich, and so bountiful, in order that thou mayest help us in our misery. Thou art the advocate of the most wretched and abandoned sinners who have recourse to thee: come to my aid, for I recommend myself to thee. In thy hands I place my eternal salvation, and to thee I entrust my soul. Count me among thy most devoted servants; take me under thy protection, and it is enough for me. For, if thou protect me, I fear nothing; not from my sins, because thou wilt obtain for me the pardon of them; nor from the devils, because thou art more powerful than all hell together; nor even from Jesus, my judge, because by one prayer from thee He will be appeased. But one thing I fear: that in the hour of temptation I may through negligence fail to have recourse to thee and thus perish miserably. Obtain for me, therefore, the pardon of my sins, love for Jesus, final perseverance, and the grace ever to have recourse to thee, O Mother of Perpetual Help. This is a legit Roman Catholic prayer, look up "O Mother of Perpetual Help" if you want to know if it’s legit. This is super heretical. This doctrine of invoking departed saints doesn’t seem just like "hey it’s like praying to a friend.". .
And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. -Jeremiah 29:13 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. -John 3:16 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out. -Acts 3:19
You seem to be attending one of the entertainment worship services. Reverence comes from remaining silent and reverent, not shouting. That's adopted from the Pentecostal and Charismatic movement.
Hi Pastor Matthew, i left a church because of this, i used to serve in the projection/lighting/audio part of the church and i've heard things like "We need to do this to make people more comfortable to open themselves to God" or other things that were starting to make me feel really uneasy and unwilling to serve as I believe the Holy Spirit works as he wishes . I am now going in a PCA church and i am loving it. I had put forth my critique of the church that we perhaps were going too far on this to attract youngsters and unbelievers asking for the biblical perspective of why we did things that way and the answer that was given is that i was being prideful ( which sadly i am ) and i should stop looking at other people flaws. What I've seen is that these people while a lot of them love the Lord they have a misunderstanding of what is growth , they often look at Bethel as an example of success which is sad.
Heretical prayer: O Mother of Perpetual Help, thou art the dispenser of all the gifts which God grants to us miserable sinners; and for this end He has made thee so powerful, so rich, and so bountiful, in order that thou mayest help us in our misery. Thou art the advocate of the most wretched and abandoned sinners who have recourse to thee: come to my aid, for I recommend myself to thee. In thy hands I place my eternal salvation, and to thee I entrust my soul. Count me among thy most devoted servants; take me under thy protection, and it is enough for me. For, if thou protect me, I fear nothing; not from my sins, because thou wilt obtain for me the pardon of them; nor from the devils, because thou art more powerful than all hell together; nor even from Jesus, my judge, because by one prayer from thee He will be appeased. But one thing I fear: that in the hour of temptation I may through negligence fail to have recourse to thee and thus perish miserably. Obtain for me, therefore, the pardon of my sins, love for Jesus, final perseverance, and the grace ever to have recourse to thee, O Mother of Perpetual Help. This is a legit Roman Catholic prayer, look up "O Mother of Perpetual Help" if you want to know if it’s legit. This is super heretical. This doctrine of invoking departed saints doesn’t seem just like "hey it’s like praying to a friend.". .
And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. -Jeremiah 29:13 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. -John 3:16 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out. -Acts 3:19
They basically committed the fallacy of the abusive ad hominem. It's also called gaslighting. Instead of addressing your actual concerns they attacked you. This is a common tactic of the pragmatists. Smaller churches need your support more than these large churches where biblical doctrine gets marginalized and minimized.
Your description of the current shift among millennials/zoomers is spot on. I was raised non-denom charismatic, but shifted hard towards reformed theology over the last 2 years. I pulled my wife children out of the charismatic congregation I grew up in and were now memebers of a 1689 church here in town.
From the call to worship to the benediction we do not interrupt the worship of our Triune God with lesser things like announcements, acknowledgements, turning to your neighbor to greet or say anything and I am supremely grateful for that.
“Deep, meaningful, rich worship…” grounded in God’s word and preaching Him high and lifted up! Yes, and amen! Six-Flags-over-Jesus “churches” are not worshiping the Holy and sovereign God, sadly, they are mimicking the world to try to lure lost people to come in and enjoy the show, instead of coming together with repentance, reverence, and adoring praise as the Church… the body of Christ… the sheep… the family of God… 🙏 Thank you for this video.
Our Holy God is to be WORSHIPPED with reverence. A "GIG" is not respectively on any level. God does not need ROCK n ROLL on any level, he is Sovereign God the father, God tge Son and God the Holy Ghost. RESPECT.
I visited a Baptist church near me and visited again a few months later and the pastor remembered my name and people introduced themselves to me and invited me to sit with them. A man remembering my name months later made an impression. A nice pair of ladies asking me to sit with them and stay for the potluck made an impression. Both things were free.
On Thursday, Sept 7, I attended "Awe of God Night with John Bevere" at Victory Family Church in Cranberry. The "Praise and Worship" was so loud, my ears were in pain. On my new iPhone-14, I downloaded a Decibel meter, and recorded 110 dB. The legal limit in Pennsylvania is 75 dB.
I was nervous about serving in children’s church although I would only have to serve quarterly. I can barely get adults to listen to me… Much less children… Lol. 😊. And selfishly I did not want to miss the sermon. Our pastor announced several times that they needed volunteers for children’s church and school of discipleship. But selfishly, I was not moved by that… Much. But when the lady in charge of children’s church came up to me personally and said “hey, can you help us out” … how could I say no? I helped for the first time a few weeks ago and loved every second of it. If you win the heart of the father, you win the family. How true is that! Excellent video!
Hello. I attend a reformed fundamental Baptist church, and we sing hymns, have expository preaching done by the pastor of the church, And we used to Bible to deal with anything that goes on in our church.😊
Men’s ministry is a good aspect of growing a church. Love your idea of impromptu coffee. It would have been a treat to hear you preach here in FL. I moved to Pasco county after you already moved out. Currently go to CCWC but watching your videos I have became more and more reformed.
that is pretty neat Pastor Everhard ... with this method, you meet those who on their own would never approach you. Jesus met the woman at the well ... who would have never come into the temple at Jerusalem. awesome ... thanks ...
Our church, Covenant Bible Church, Georgetown TX, is growing like crazy. We sing hymns and psalms, speak scriptures, and hear expository preaching from pastor Joel Webbon, also of Right Response Ministries. We and those with us at the church are tired of weak churches that are scared of taking on the world and just want to be entertained.
This video is exactly what I have been searching for. Our church recently got a smoke machine and the music has been getting louder. We sometimes don't even read the Bible in our sermons.
The LORD is the one who grows the church as He sees fit. I am in agreement with you on a men's ministry, coffee with visitors is a great way to show a visitor that you care about them. Worshiptainment is hurting the local church, I'm also a old-fashioned hymnal guy.
Great video! I really appreciate what you are saying. Most of the stuff that is suggested to pastors is shallow (maybe even worldly). I appreciate what you are saying about men and visitors. I HOPE YOU WILL TALK MORE ABOUT EACH OF THESE POINTS AND OTHER CHURCH HEALTH ISSUES. I know I will end up watching this video many times. Very encouraging! P.S. Our church sings contemporary worship songs (but avoids worshiptainment). Churches like ours desire to hear more of what you're saying in this video too.
As a 28-year-old father of two, I wholly affirm your comment about the movement among young people wanting true and reverent worship. This is true of my wife and me, and also true of many of our friends. I grew up in a charismatic Arminian premillennialist environment, then when I started actually studying scripture, saw a disconnect and went to a baptist church. Immediately the reverence for the Bible astonished me. I’m now happy to be reformed in soteriology, amillennial in eschatology, and am searching the scriptures and church history to see for myself (as the Bereans in Acts) about the issue of infant baptism. Your channel has been immensely encouraging for me. Thank you for the ministry you so even through the “interwebs.”
There were many reasons I left our old church for many reasons but one was “worshiptainment.” The biggest danger I see with it is the danger of entertaining the goats vs. feeding the sheep.
I visited the Charismatic church I used to attend yesterday and it was wayyyyy smaller than it used to be and I barely recognized anyone and they had a fog machine and when I looked, it was almost entirely women in their 20s and 30s who looked poor and tired and they asked for money 4 times. The sermon was Matthew 3:5 and he talked about being hangry for the Holy Spirit and at the end of the service, he said he wasn’t going to apologize for making us more Biblically literate. I didn’t learn anything! The pastor’s wife led Communion talking about receiving healing for mental health and she wore a baggy T-shirt and sweatpants. The man next to her on guitar had a baseball hat. Multiple guys wore baseball hats. A woman had her hood over her head. It was a fraction of the size it was when I left 11 years ago. It was hot. It smelled like BO and cigarettes. Nobody greeted me. A woman giving announcements told people to scan a QR code on the screen. I didn’t use my Bible. It was a hot mess. It seemed like a group of poor people were there and most of them came late but they were talking and other phones and slumped over and getting up and not engaged. The guy next to me picked his nose and bit his nails and picked his ears. I don’t think anyone got anything out of it. As I was leaving, someone said the pizza just got there. Maybe people were there for the pizza. I don’t know.
This is partly how I happened upon the PCA, and became a member. I was a semi-pro drummer and audio engineer. And for many years, believed that being part of a big rock show production on a Sunday was the right thing to do. Well, it wasn't. It doesn't help the flock grow and fear the Lord... actually it reinforces the idea that being more worldly is okay, wanting non-believers to "like" you because, hey, our church is "cool".
🤟Good words! Thank God for Church! I appreciates what you are doing for our Lord Jesus. We all do our best to minister that God called us with His love. Indeed blessing and honor for our Lord Jesus Christ. We all are together to serve our Lord. Jesus is building His church. Like what Paul said in Eph. 4:1-6. Amen! praise God! Blessing that you are my one of many friends. Cheers in the Lord! 🤟🙏
I totally agree about that "generational" divide: wanting a service that "doesn't feel religious" seems like a Baby-boomer desire. I'm 40; though I love lots of the new music, even from my teens I've been attracted to more liturgical, historically-rooted, and reverent worship. The small town Southern church I pastor is growing with lots of children and young families; I've baptized new converts in recent months. Here is what we do: historic liturgy with the ancient creeds (and we really believe them); we sing hymns - with the occasional "praise song" included if it fits the theme; I wear clergy collar & vestments and we follow the liturgical calendar; we use a screen for announcements only - but it "goes away" before the opening prayer; I would not call my preaching "expository", but I aim to preach a message that brings out what the text is actually saying, rather than using it as a springboard to talk about something else - because I actually believe it is the Word of the Living God (and that comes through). Beyond worship, we focus on caring for our people, teaching the faith to children and youth (including getting them involved in service and mission), studying the Bible together, and practicing hospitality by inviting folks to share coffee or meals.
Your point about God deciding if and when a church grows or not is spot on. And no elephants painted ping inside the church. They fill the building, all right, but for the wrong reason.
I grew up in this one nondenominational church that had the rock set up (guitars, piano, drums, bass) but they played all traditional songs. But when I was about 11 years old, I and my family started going to more rock concert-like churches, and I always felt something was off, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I realize now that these churches distract people from God. I also have come to feel like the worship teams at these churches are extremely self-centered. I mean, they are moving around like they are having this otherworldly experience and singing these high notes no normal person can sing, or just going off and singing a bunch of stuff that they are coming up with on the spot that isn't on the screens. In other words, I feel like these people are having the time of their lives, and it's an experience they are creating for themselves and we are just there to watch. Does anyone else feel this way or is that just me being judgemental? Luckily, I now attend a PCA church, and wow! I never knew a service could be so spiritual! I support the existence of some of these churches as long as they don't take it too far because different things appeal to different people. But I see what you are saying about young people craving a real spiritual experience. I know a lot of agnostics who want to believe in something and have a powerful experience but they can't seem to convince themselves. I wish some of the bigger churches did a more traditional worship. Unfortunately, most of the big traditional churches teach pure heresy.
I left a Southern Baptist mega church because of worshiptainment (great word) In fact, we no longer attend a SBC church, we worship and serve in an Complementarian Evangelical Presbyterian Church
The Assemblies of God “has been consistently positive year over year growth over the last four decades” (sociologist Ryan Burge). Sunday Worship: We worship (contemporary) for about 30min. We preach for about 30min an encouraging and challenging message (kids ages kinder-high school are in different classrooms getting age appropriate teaching.) After the sermon we spend about another 30min in prayer asking the Lord to help us believe, act upon, etc.. what we just heard. Midweek Worship: We sing (normally from a hymnal). We go verse by verse through Pauline letters. Then, again, spend time in prayer for the Lord to help us believe, act upon, etc.. what we just heart. Ministries/Fellowship Saturday we get together and have “ministries(fellowship)”. Men, women and youth get togethers. One Saturday out of the month were go out into the community and love them, serve them, help them in different ways.
I don’t think I’m qualified to comment on this but I think one way to build part of your church and not compromise and actually affect growth and the future of the faith is to pour into the kids ministry. If you have a great kids ministry. A lot of people, even lukewarm or non believers want their kids to grow in a good environment. Also young adult’s Wednesday nights can be such a good place for youth to get together, church kids bring their friends from school to hear scripture and begin to fellowship. Often times kids will bring the gospel home in a very strong way and parents get saved, family and friends. Have seen a huge revival take place all through young adults at one church I attended. So much that bus loads of kids were bing brought in from a neighboring town and the church eventually planted another location there. It was crazy.
It can work and I’ve seen that method work. There are concerns though. It’s great that a church can develop a culture of serving but it can turn into a work culture real quick. I’m talking about a second job kind of vibe and judging people by their works or lack thereof. Burn out happens too if you don’t have the staff to offer a good rotation or burnout can happen because the momentum never ends (always about growth/ growth idol). It can work.
I am a boomer…and I wish I could attend your church!… I do catch you on the podcast😊🙏…I find if you practice 1 John 3:18 it really brings home the love of Jesus in a practical meaningful way❤️
Thanks Pastor Matt. As a Layman we’ve worked a year to resurrect our Men’s Group. We are beginning to see traction with results. Praising God for this! An off subject question. What do you have in the background? The walnut box caught my eye, then what I’m assuming are Edwards Resolutions. Then the question rose up in my spirit. If you’ve done a video on this before, my apologies. Live for Jesus Joe
I have a bit of a problem with the idea of what "works". It seems to me that what God is looking for is faithfulness not our clever scheming to find what works for some human metric.
This is one of the reasons why as a Baptist is going to a PCA church. It is stable or at least much more stable than most denominations or worse the "non-denominational" type of churches.
I'm a Born Again Christian. And I couldn't agree more with the distaste of worshiptainment. Did you mention Star Wars Themes, Lasers & Fog machines in church? YUK! I used to work in the entertainment industry. Those devices were par for the course and IMO have zero business in a house of worship. None! Zero! BTW, I haven't worked in "Show Biz" for several decades and I don't miss it a bit. What I see as a draw to a church is being called by God first and foremost. Secondly, here's a thought. feed the flock with the word of God. The Bible. That's what people are hungry for. They want their soul fed and answers to questions in their lives. They can get rock shows and special effects elsewhere. I want to know what God has to say to me, and what are the answers to questions I (and others) have regarding our walk with Jesus? Amazing how that will draw people in a church like nothing else. I live in an unchurched area of the U.S. the Pacific NW. People here are hungry for answers. You might be surprised by the tattooed ear-pierced new believers who want Jesus in their lives. So this is a long-winded comment agreeing with you on worshiptainment. P.S., One more thing. don't let my email address throw you off. What's a Creek Devil? One of many names for Sasquatch before the "Bigfoot" moniker became popular. Living in the PNW I do Bigfoot research with a team. That's it. I'm not overly fond of the team's name but I'm not in charge. God bless your channel and I'm pleased I found it.
Similarly, the Catholic church is experiencing growth, particularly among young people, in large part because they don't generally do worshiptainment in the mass.
I have to go into church late every week in order to avoid the Worshiptainment part of the service. The volume is so loud too just like a rock concert. Can't stand it. Been living through it since 1985 Its only been spiraling down in terms of good doctrine, biblical teaching and holiness. The way we been doing church has dumbed down the people to the point where sin and the world is accepted. A good part of the congregation applauds after someone prays. what's up with that? No one brings their bible to church anymore, They rely on power point. Hence the bible not personal to them anymore. And other things that move toward irreverence and non commitment.
Heretical prayer: O Mother of Perpetual Help, thou art the dispenser of all the gifts which God grants to us miserable sinners; and for this end He has made thee so powerful, so rich, and so bountiful, in order that thou mayest help us in our misery. Thou art the advocate of the most wretched and abandoned sinners who have recourse to thee: come to my aid, for I recommend myself to thee. In thy hands I place my eternal salvation, and to thee I entrust my soul. Count me among thy most devoted servants; take me under thy protection, and it is enough for me. For, if thou protect me, I fear nothing; not from my sins, because thou wilt obtain for me the pardon of them; nor from the devils, because thou art more powerful than all hell together; nor even from Jesus, my judge, because by one prayer from thee He will be appeased. But one thing I fear: that in the hour of temptation I may through negligence fail to have recourse to thee and thus perish miserably. Obtain for me, therefore, the pardon of my sins, love for Jesus, final perseverance, and the grace ever to have recourse to thee, O Mother of Perpetual Help. This is a legit Roman Catholic prayer, look up "O Mother of Perpetual Help" if you want to know if it’s legit. This is super heretical. This doctrine of invoking departed saints doesn’t seem just like "hey it’s like praying to a friend.". :)
And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. -Jeremiah 29:13 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. -John 3:16 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out. -Acts 3:19
You could retitle this video "If blasphemy doesn't "work", what does?" because much of what goes on in modern churches and is called "worship" is actually blasphemous.
Churches should embrace historic worship of the reformation/Exclusive Psalmody which is biblical and will distinguish them from all this will-worship garbage.
It really doesn't bring people in the faith, the majority that is - even broken clocks are right twice a day. In these services, if you look barely anyone is singing in the first place. Dead men don't praise. So the men goes, so does the church!
The regulative principle of worship needs to make a come back. Worship as entertainment is accommodation to culture. Entertainment is not the basis for true faith and doctrinal understanding. 2 Peter 3:18.
I find that I prefer to avoid clergy, even very sympathetic ones. I participate in worship, on Sundays and even during the week, especially on high holy days of the Church Calendar, but I don't like to converse with clergymen. I do like to consort with other parishoners, but I prefer to shun the clergy. Clergy are intrusive and authoritarian and I don't care to interact with that kind of man. When it comes to doctrinal, exegetical, and such subjects, I prefer to mull these things over in my own mind and prayer and Bible study life rather than to have a clergyman bear down on me. I believe in the authority of the pastor, but, dudes, please leave me alone. I'm not a rebel, but I just have an alergy to clergy people. I'll obey, but I won't talk.
And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. -Jeremiah 29:13 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. - John 3:16 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out. -Acts 3:19
Heretical prayer: O Mother of Perpetual Help, thou art the dispenser of all the gifts which God grants to us miserable sinners; and for this end He has made thee so powerful, so rich, and so bountiful, in order that thou mayest help us in our misery. Thou art the advocate of the most wretched and abandoned sinners who have recourse to thee: come to my aid, for I recommend myself to thee. In thy hands I place my eternal salvation, and to thee I entrust my soul. Count me among thy most devoted servants; take me under thy protection, and it is enough for me. For, if thou protect me, I fear nothing; not from my sins, because thou wilt obtain for me the pardon of them; nor from the devils, because thou art more powerful than all hell together; nor even from Jesus, my judge, because by one prayer from thee He will be appeased. But one thing I fear: that in the hour of temptation I may through negligence fail to have recourse to thee and thus perish miserably. Obtain for me, therefore, the pardon of my sins, love for Jesus, final perseverance, and the grace ever to have recourse to thee, O Mother of Perpetual Help. This is a legit Roman Catholic prayer, look up "O Mother of Perpetual Help" if you want to know if it’s legit. This is super heretical. This doctrine of invoking departed saints doesn’t seem just like "hey it’s like praying to a friend.". :)
I somewhat disagree with you in this respect. I run sound at my church and usually enjoy doing that quite a bit. I tend to listen to music differently than others, focusing on the quality of the playing, the arrangement of the song, the sound and impact of the instruments. An "old fashioned" piano/organ and hymnal sound is pretty boring to me as there is not much interesting happening. No musical changes, no buildups , etc. The fact that much contemporary church music dies not lend itself to congregational singing does not bother me, if the songs message speaks to me then that is the goal im trying to accomplish and enhance in my mixing. Even RC Sproul wrote about how interesting Jazz music was to him. I agree that much of contemporary music is simply pop music but not all of it. Also, stage lighting is supposed to be used to enhance the song and its message, while "fog" machines make the light beams visible, which again can enhance the song.
I wish criticism would be saved for those less obvious examples. Everyone knows the high hand blasphemy churches are wrong. What about those churches that aren't blasphemous though? But they aren't solid either? What do you do with those? I follow about 20 different pastors here and I rarely if ever hear about these churches. But in reality, most of us are stuck in those churches specifically, not these obvious examples that everyone throws out.
I’m 19 and just started going to a PCA church for the first time in my life. I grew up in baptist and non denom churches. Never in my life have I felt so good worshiping. Being able to hear everyone’s voice harmonize to lift up beautiful praises to the Lord is one of the greatest things I’ve ever heard.
Heretical prayer: O Mother of Perpetual Help, thou art the dispenser of all the gifts which God grants to us miserable sinners; and for this end He has made thee so powerful, so rich, and so bountiful, in order that thou mayest help us in our misery. Thou art the advocate of the most wretched and abandoned sinners who have recourse to thee: come to my aid, for I recommend myself to thee.
In thy hands I place my eternal salvation, and to thee I entrust my soul. Count me among thy most devoted servants; take me under thy protection, and it is enough for me. For, if thou protect me, I fear nothing; not from my sins, because thou wilt obtain for me the pardon of them; nor from the devils, because thou art more powerful than all hell together; nor even from Jesus, my judge, because by one prayer from thee He will be appeased.
But one thing I fear: that in the hour of temptation I may through negligence fail to have recourse to thee and thus perish miserably. Obtain for me, therefore, the pardon of my sins, love for Jesus, final perseverance, and the grace ever to have recourse to thee, O Mother of Perpetual Help.
This is a legit Roman Catholic prayer, look up "O Mother of Perpetual Help" if you want to know if it’s legit.
This is super heretical. This doctrine of invoking departed saints doesn’t seem just like "hey it’s like praying to a friend.".
.
And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. -Jeremiah 29:13
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. -John 3:16
Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out.
-Acts 3:19
You seem to be attending one of the entertainment worship services. Reverence comes from remaining silent and reverent, not shouting. That's adopted from the Pentecostal and Charismatic movement.
Expository Preaching is the foundation of Church growth. Its the ear tickling that leads to liberal "worship". "We preach Christ and him crucified"
Hi Pastor Matthew, i left a church because of this, i used to serve in the projection/lighting/audio part of the church and i've heard things like "We need to do this to make people more comfortable to open themselves to God" or other things that were starting to make me feel really uneasy and unwilling to serve as I believe the Holy Spirit works as he wishes . I am now going in a PCA church and i am loving it. I had put forth my critique of the church that we perhaps were going too far on this to attract youngsters and unbelievers asking for the biblical perspective of why we did things that way and the answer that was given is that i was being prideful ( which sadly i am ) and i should stop looking at other people flaws. What I've seen is that these people while a lot of them love the Lord they have a misunderstanding of what is growth , they often look at Bethel as an example of success which is sad.
Heretical prayer: O Mother of Perpetual Help, thou art the dispenser of all the gifts which God grants to us miserable sinners; and for this end He has made thee so powerful, so rich, and so bountiful, in order that thou mayest help us in our misery. Thou art the advocate of the most wretched and abandoned sinners who have recourse to thee: come to my aid, for I recommend myself to thee.
In thy hands I place my eternal salvation, and to thee I entrust my soul. Count me among thy most devoted servants; take me under thy protection, and it is enough for me. For, if thou protect me, I fear nothing; not from my sins, because thou wilt obtain for me the pardon of them; nor from the devils, because thou art more powerful than all hell together; nor even from Jesus, my judge, because by one prayer from thee He will be appeased.
But one thing I fear: that in the hour of temptation I may through negligence fail to have recourse to thee and thus perish miserably. Obtain for me, therefore, the pardon of my sins, love for Jesus, final perseverance, and the grace ever to have recourse to thee, O Mother of Perpetual Help.
This is a legit Roman Catholic prayer, look up "O Mother of Perpetual Help" if you want to know if it’s legit.
This is super heretical. This doctrine of invoking departed saints doesn’t seem just like "hey it’s like praying to a friend.".
.
And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. -Jeremiah 29:13
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. -John 3:16
Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out.
-Acts 3:19
They basically committed the fallacy of the abusive ad hominem. It's also called gaslighting. Instead of addressing your actual concerns they attacked you. This is a common tactic of the pragmatists. Smaller churches need your support more than these large churches where biblical doctrine gets marginalized and minimized.
“Greeters dressed up like Ewoks” really got me 😂😂. Excellent explanations! I have to share this with my pastoral team.
Your description of the current shift among millennials/zoomers is spot on. I was raised non-denom charismatic, but shifted hard towards reformed theology over the last 2 years. I pulled my wife children out of the charismatic congregation I grew up in and were now memebers of a 1689 church here in town.
Like I always say, “the worse the music, the more solid the preaching!”.
From the call to worship to the benediction we do not interrupt the worship of our Triune God with lesser things like announcements, acknowledgements, turning to your neighbor to greet or say anything and I am supremely grateful for that.
Thank you so much. I have sometimes visited a Southern Baptist or Lutheran church just to have some reverent worship.
“Deep, meaningful, rich worship…” grounded in God’s word and preaching Him high and lifted up! Yes, and amen!
Six-Flags-over-Jesus “churches” are not worshiping the Holy and sovereign God, sadly, they are mimicking the world to try to lure lost people to come in and enjoy the show, instead of coming together with repentance, reverence, and adoring praise as the Church… the body of Christ… the sheep… the family of God… 🙏 Thank you for this video.
Well said!
Our Holy God is to be WORSHIPPED with reverence. A "GIG" is not respectively on any level. God does not need ROCK n ROLL on any level, he is Sovereign God the father, God tge Son and God the Holy Ghost. RESPECT.
I visited a Baptist church near me and visited again a few months later and the pastor remembered my name and people introduced themselves to me and invited me to sit with them. A man remembering my name months later made an impression. A nice pair of ladies asking me to sit with them and stay for the potluck made an impression. Both things were free.
On Thursday, Sept 7, I attended "Awe of God Night with John Bevere" at Victory Family Church in Cranberry. The "Praise and Worship" was so loud, my ears were in pain. On my new iPhone-14, I downloaded a Decibel meter, and recorded 110 dB. The legal limit in Pennsylvania is 75 dB.
🙉
Why did you attend in the first place?
@@cranmer1959 Long Story... not really pertinent.
I was a Pentecostal/Charismatic for almost 10 years in the late 80s and early 90s. I would never go back like a dog to the vomit.@@KenPotter
I watch all your vids, and this one is without a doubt one of my favorite.
Thanks so much!
I was nervous about serving in children’s church although I would only have to serve quarterly. I can barely get adults to listen to me… Much less children… Lol. 😊. And selfishly I did not want to miss the sermon. Our pastor announced several times that they needed volunteers for children’s church and school of discipleship.
But selfishly, I was not moved by that… Much.
But when the lady in charge of children’s church came up to me personally and said “hey, can you help us out” … how could I say no? I helped for the first time a few weeks ago and loved every second of it.
If you win the heart of the father, you win the family. How true is that!
Excellent video!
Hello. I attend a reformed fundamental Baptist church, and we sing hymns, have expository preaching done by the pastor of the church, And we used to Bible to deal with anything that goes on in our church.😊
Men’s ministry is a good aspect of growing a church. Love your idea of impromptu coffee. It would have been a treat to hear you preach here in FL. I moved to Pasco county after you already moved out. Currently go to CCWC but watching your videos I have became more and more reformed.
that is pretty neat Pastor Everhard ... with this method, you meet those who on their own would never approach you. Jesus met the woman at the well ... who would have never come into the temple at Jerusalem. awesome ... thanks ...
Our church, Covenant Bible Church, Georgetown TX, is growing like crazy. We sing hymns and psalms, speak scriptures, and hear expository preaching from pastor Joel Webbon, also of Right Response Ministries. We and those with us at the church are tired of weak churches that are scared of taking on the world and just want to be entertained.
Watching from Australia 🇦🇺
same from WA
This video is exactly what I have been searching for. Our church recently got a smoke machine and the music has been getting louder. We sometimes don't even read the Bible in our sermons.
The LORD is the one who grows the church as He sees fit. I am in agreement with you on a men's ministry, coffee with visitors is a great way to show a visitor that you care about them. Worshiptainment is hurting the local church, I'm also a old-fashioned hymnal guy.
Great video! I really appreciate what you are saying. Most of the stuff that is suggested to pastors is shallow (maybe even worldly). I appreciate what you are saying about men and visitors. I HOPE YOU WILL TALK MORE ABOUT EACH OF THESE POINTS AND OTHER CHURCH HEALTH ISSUES. I know I will end up watching this video many times. Very encouraging!
P.S. Our church sings contemporary worship songs (but avoids worshiptainment). Churches like ours desire to hear more of what you're saying in this video too.
As a 28-year-old father of two, I wholly affirm your comment about the movement among young people wanting true and reverent worship. This is true of my wife and me, and also true of many of our friends. I grew up in a charismatic Arminian premillennialist environment, then when I started actually studying scripture, saw a disconnect and went to a baptist church. Immediately the reverence for the Bible astonished me.
I’m now happy to be reformed in soteriology, amillennial in eschatology, and am searching the scriptures and church history to see for myself (as the Bereans in Acts) about the issue of infant baptism.
Your channel has been immensely encouraging for me. Thank you for the ministry you so even through the “interwebs.”
I recently found a church like yours in my area.
Love the shirt! I want that one
Here it is: cassidycraftcorner.com/products/1646
You’re a true pastor Matt and I’m so grateful for you even from a distance! We need many many more like you! 1 Cor. 15:58
Appreciate this so much, Matt. Praying for Gospel Fellowship. Appreciate the Ministry that you all are doing there.
Why does Gospel Fellowship adopt the church growth method of re-titling your church instead of clearly identifying the church as Presbyterian?
There were many reasons I left our old church for many reasons but one was “worshiptainment.” The biggest danger I see with it is the danger of entertaining the goats vs. feeding the sheep.
I visited the Charismatic church I used to attend yesterday and it was wayyyyy smaller than it used to be and I barely recognized anyone and they had a fog machine and when I looked, it was almost entirely women in their 20s and 30s who looked poor and tired and they asked for money 4 times. The sermon was Matthew 3:5 and he talked about being hangry for the Holy Spirit and at the end of the service, he said he wasn’t going to apologize for making us more Biblically literate. I didn’t learn anything! The pastor’s wife led Communion talking about receiving healing for mental health and she wore a baggy T-shirt and sweatpants. The man next to her on guitar had a baseball hat. Multiple guys wore baseball hats. A woman had her hood over her head. It was a fraction of the size it was when I left 11 years ago. It was hot. It smelled like BO and cigarettes. Nobody greeted me. A woman giving announcements told people to scan a QR code on the screen. I didn’t use my Bible. It was a hot mess. It seemed like a group of poor people were there and most of them came late but they were talking and other phones and slumped over and getting up and not engaged. The guy next to me picked his nose and bit his nails and picked his ears. I don’t think anyone got anything out of it. As I was leaving, someone said the pizza just got there. Maybe people were there for the pizza. I don’t know.
Wonderful advice Pastor!
Great one! Very helpful even for a female, married, lay person with two kids!
Bro Matthew, Magnificent video. Thank you.
This is partly how I happened upon the PCA, and became a member. I was a semi-pro drummer and audio engineer. And for many years, believed that being part of a big rock show production on a Sunday was the right thing to do. Well, it wasn't. It doesn't help the flock grow and fear the Lord... actually it reinforces the idea that being more worldly is okay, wanting non-believers to "like" you because, hey, our church is "cool".
🤟Good words! Thank God for Church! I appreciates what you are doing for our Lord Jesus. We all do our best to minister that God called us with His love. Indeed blessing and honor for our Lord Jesus Christ. We all are together to serve our Lord. Jesus is building His church. Like what Paul said in Eph. 4:1-6. Amen! praise God! Blessing that you are my one of many friends. Cheers in the Lord! 🤟🙏
I totally agree about that "generational" divide: wanting a service that "doesn't feel religious" seems like a Baby-boomer desire. I'm 40; though I love lots of the new music, even from my teens I've been attracted to more liturgical, historically-rooted, and reverent worship. The small town Southern church I pastor is growing with lots of children and young families; I've baptized new converts in recent months.
Here is what we do: historic liturgy with the ancient creeds (and we really believe them); we sing hymns - with the occasional "praise song" included if it fits the theme; I wear clergy collar & vestments and we follow the liturgical calendar; we use a screen for announcements only - but it "goes away" before the opening prayer; I would not call my preaching "expository", but I aim to preach a message that brings out what the text is actually saying, rather than using it as a springboard to talk about something else - because I actually believe it is the Word of the Living God (and that comes through). Beyond worship, we focus on caring for our people, teaching the faith to children and youth (including getting them involved in service and mission), studying the Bible together, and practicing hospitality by inviting folks to share coffee or meals.
Your point about God deciding if and when a church grows or not is spot on. And no elephants painted ping inside the church. They fill the building, all right, but for the wrong reason.
I grew up in this one nondenominational church that had the rock set up (guitars, piano, drums, bass) but they played all traditional songs. But when I was about 11 years old, I and my family started going to more rock concert-like churches, and I always felt something was off, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I realize now that these churches distract people from God. I also have come to feel like the worship teams at these churches are extremely self-centered. I mean, they are moving around like they are having this otherworldly experience and singing these high notes no normal person can sing, or just going off and singing a bunch of stuff that they are coming up with on the spot that isn't on the screens. In other words, I feel like these people are having the time of their lives, and it's an experience they are creating for themselves and we are just there to watch. Does anyone else feel this way or is that just me being judgemental? Luckily, I now attend a PCA church, and wow! I never knew a service could be so spiritual!
I support the existence of some of these churches as long as they don't take it too far because different things appeal to different people. But I see what you are saying about young people craving a real spiritual experience. I know a lot of agnostics who want to believe in something and have a powerful experience but they can't seem to convince themselves. I wish some of the bigger churches did a more traditional worship. Unfortunately, most of the big traditional churches teach pure heresy.
Just saw this. Excellent ideas!
Thanks!
No problem! Thanks so much!
I left a Southern Baptist mega church because of worshiptainment (great word) In fact, we no longer attend a SBC church, we worship and serve in an Complementarian Evangelical Presbyterian Church
Thank you for your suggestions. Could you please send us a image link showing how your visitor’s card looks? That would be most helpful. Thank you!
The Assemblies of God “has been consistently positive year over year growth over the last four decades” (sociologist Ryan Burge).
Sunday Worship:
We worship (contemporary) for about 30min. We preach for about 30min an encouraging and challenging message (kids ages kinder-high school are in different classrooms getting age appropriate teaching.) After the sermon we spend about another 30min in prayer asking the Lord to help us believe, act upon, etc.. what we just heard.
Midweek Worship:
We sing (normally from a hymnal). We go verse by verse through Pauline letters. Then, again, spend time in prayer for the Lord to help us believe, act upon, etc.. what we just heart.
Ministries/Fellowship
Saturday we get together and have “ministries(fellowship)”. Men, women and youth get togethers. One Saturday out of the month were go out into the community and love them, serve them, help them in different ways.
My understanding is that it's not about what "works", but what's faithful to God and His Word.
I don’t think I’m qualified to comment on this but I think one way to build part of your church and not compromise and actually affect growth and the future of the faith is to pour into the kids ministry. If you have a great kids ministry. A lot of people, even lukewarm or non believers want their kids to grow in a good environment. Also young adult’s Wednesday nights can be such a good place for youth to get together, church kids bring their friends from school to hear scripture and begin to fellowship. Often times kids will bring the gospel home in a very strong way and parents get saved, family and friends. Have seen a huge revival take place all through young adults at one church I attended. So much that bus loads of kids were bing brought in from a neighboring town and the church eventually planted another location there. It was crazy.
That's smart but not original.
@@dfpolitowski2well..you know there is nothing new under the sunzz😅
It can work and I’ve seen that method work. There are concerns though. It’s great that a church can develop a culture of serving but it can turn into a work culture real quick. I’m talking about a second job kind of vibe and judging people by their works or lack thereof. Burn out happens too if you don’t have the staff to offer a good rotation or burnout can happen because the momentum never ends (always about growth/ growth idol). It can work.
I am a boomer…and I wish I could attend your church!… I do catch you on the podcast😊🙏…I find if you practice 1 John 3:18 it really brings home the love of Jesus in a practical meaningful way❤️
Thanks Pastor Matt. As a Layman we’ve worked a year to resurrect our Men’s Group. We are beginning to see traction with results. Praising God for this!
An off subject question. What do you have in the background? The walnut box caught my eye, then what I’m assuming are Edwards Resolutions. Then the question rose up in my spirit. If you’ve done a video on this before, my apologies.
Live for Jesus
Joe
Watching. Good morning!
Yes! This is what I'm looking for. I, unfortunately, am currently at Star wars church.
RUN... RUN AWAY!
This was great
The main thing Christianity offers is the TRUTH. Preach the Truth and the Lord will send them.
I have a bit of a problem with the idea of what "works". It seems to me that what God is looking for is faithfulness not our clever scheming to find what works for some human metric.
The BCP has worked fairly well but folks still find a way to mess that up
This is one of the reasons why as a Baptist is going to a PCA church. It is stable or at least much more stable than most denominations or worse the "non-denominational" type of churches.
I'm a Born Again Christian. And I couldn't agree more with the distaste of worshiptainment. Did you mention Star Wars Themes, Lasers & Fog machines in church? YUK! I used to work in the entertainment industry. Those devices were par for the course and IMO have zero business in a house of worship. None! Zero! BTW, I haven't worked in "Show Biz" for several decades and I don't miss it a bit. What I see as a draw to a church is being called by God first and foremost. Secondly, here's a thought. feed the flock with the word of God. The Bible. That's what people are hungry for. They want their soul fed and answers to questions in their lives. They can get rock shows and special effects elsewhere. I want to know what God has to say to me, and what are the answers to questions I (and others) have regarding our walk with Jesus? Amazing how that will draw people in a church like nothing else. I live in an unchurched area of the U.S. the Pacific NW. People here are hungry for answers. You might be surprised by the tattooed ear-pierced new believers who want Jesus in their lives. So this is a long-winded comment agreeing with you on worshiptainment.
P.S., One more thing. don't let my email address throw you off. What's a Creek Devil? One of many names for Sasquatch before the "Bigfoot" moniker became popular. Living in the PNW I do Bigfoot research with a team. That's it. I'm not overly fond of the team's name but I'm not in charge. God bless your channel and I'm pleased I found it.
Worshiptainment....great coinage
Thank you
Similarly, the Catholic church is experiencing growth, particularly among young people, in large part because they don't generally do worshiptainment in the mass.
The question of 'what works' might better be replaced by the question 'what does the Word require'? Your talk here seems to imply this.
I have to go into church late every week in order to avoid the Worshiptainment part of the service. The volume is so loud too just like a rock concert. Can't stand it. Been living through it since 1985 Its only been spiraling down in terms of good doctrine, biblical teaching and holiness. The way we been doing church has dumbed down the people to the point where sin and the world is accepted. A good part of the congregation applauds after someone prays. what's up with that? No one brings their bible to church anymore, They rely on power point. Hence the bible not personal to them anymore. And other things that move toward irreverence and non commitment.
The Word of God works. Period.
For sure. People who are being called will respond to the word and the power it brings.
Heretical prayer: O Mother of Perpetual Help, thou art the dispenser of all the gifts which God grants to us miserable sinners; and for this end He has made thee so powerful, so rich, and so bountiful, in order that thou mayest help us in our misery. Thou art the advocate of the most wretched and abandoned sinners who have recourse to thee: come to my aid, for I recommend myself to thee.
In thy hands I place my eternal salvation, and to thee I entrust my soul. Count me among thy most devoted servants; take me under thy protection, and it is enough for me. For, if thou protect me, I fear nothing; not from my sins, because thou wilt obtain for me the pardon of them; nor from the devils, because thou art more powerful than all hell together; nor even from Jesus, my judge, because by one prayer from thee He will be appeased.
But one thing I fear: that in the hour of temptation I may through negligence fail to have recourse to thee and thus perish miserably. Obtain for me, therefore, the pardon of my sins, love for Jesus, final perseverance, and the grace ever to have recourse to thee, O Mother of Perpetual Help.
This is a legit Roman Catholic prayer, look up "O Mother of Perpetual Help" if you want to know if it’s legit.
This is super heretical. This doctrine of invoking departed saints doesn’t seem just like "hey it’s like praying to a friend.".
:)
And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. -Jeremiah 29:13
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. -John 3:16
Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out.
-Acts 3:19
You could retitle this video "If blasphemy doesn't "work", what does?" because much of what goes on in modern churches and is called "worship" is actually blasphemous.
Churches should embrace historic worship of the reformation/Exclusive Psalmody which is biblical and will distinguish them from all this will-worship garbage.
Have you listened to black gospel music? It’s great.
A Link for the shirt??? Very cool looking.
Here's that shirt! cassidycraftcorner.com/products/1646
It really doesn't bring people in the faith, the majority that is - even broken clocks are right twice a day. In these services, if you look barely anyone is singing in the first place. Dead men don't praise. So the men goes, so does the church!
Has anyone been to a PCA or reformed church that has good, somewhat modern sounding music?
Or is the only acceptable style Of music from the 18th centurty?
The regulative principle of worship needs to make a come back. Worship as entertainment is accommodation to culture. Entertainment is not the basis for true faith and doctrinal understanding. 2 Peter 3:18.
Idk, maybe the gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit doing His work on our behalf?
I find that I prefer to avoid clergy, even very sympathetic ones. I participate in worship, on Sundays and even during the week, especially on high holy days of the Church Calendar, but I don't like to converse with clergymen. I do like to consort with other parishoners, but I prefer to shun the clergy. Clergy are intrusive and authoritarian and I don't care to interact with that kind of man. When it comes to doctrinal, exegetical, and such subjects, I prefer to mull these things over in my own mind and prayer and Bible study life rather than to have a clergyman bear down on me. I believe in the authority of the pastor, but, dudes, please leave me alone. I'm not a rebel, but I just have an alergy to clergy people. I'll obey, but I won't talk.
And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. -Jeremiah 29:13
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. - John 3:16
Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out.
-Acts 3:19
Heretical prayer: O Mother of Perpetual Help, thou art the dispenser of all the gifts which God grants to us miserable sinners; and for this end He has made thee so powerful, so rich, and so bountiful, in order that thou mayest help us in our misery. Thou art the advocate of the most wretched and abandoned sinners who have recourse to thee: come to my aid, for I recommend myself to thee.
In thy hands I place my eternal salvation, and to thee I entrust my soul. Count me among thy most devoted servants; take me under thy protection, and it is enough for me. For, if thou protect me, I fear nothing; not from my sins, because thou wilt obtain for me the pardon of them; nor from the devils, because thou art more powerful than all hell together; nor even from Jesus, my judge, because by one prayer from thee He will be appeased.
But one thing I fear: that in the hour of temptation I may through negligence fail to have recourse to thee and thus perish miserably. Obtain for me, therefore, the pardon of my sins, love for Jesus, final perseverance, and the grace ever to have recourse to thee, O Mother of Perpetual Help.
This is a legit Roman Catholic prayer, look up "O Mother of Perpetual Help" if you want to know if it’s legit.
This is super heretical. This doctrine of invoking departed saints doesn’t seem just like "hey it’s like praying to a friend.".
:)
I somewhat disagree with you in this respect.
I run sound at my church and usually enjoy doing that quite a bit.
I tend to listen to music differently than others, focusing on the quality of the playing, the arrangement of the song, the sound and impact of the instruments.
An "old fashioned" piano/organ and hymnal sound is pretty boring to me as there is not much interesting happening. No musical changes, no buildups , etc.
The fact that much contemporary church music dies not lend itself to congregational singing does not bother me, if the songs message speaks to me then that is the goal im trying to accomplish and enhance in my mixing.
Even RC Sproul wrote about how interesting Jazz music was to him.
I agree that much of contemporary music is simply pop music but not all of it.
Also, stage lighting is supposed to be used to enhance the song and its message, while "fog" machines make the light beams visible, which again can enhance the song.
The Holy Spirit works.
I wish criticism would be saved for those less obvious examples. Everyone knows the high hand blasphemy churches are wrong. What about those churches that aren't blasphemous though? But they aren't solid either? What do you do with those? I follow about 20 different pastors here and I rarely if ever hear about these churches. But in reality, most of us are stuck in those churches specifically, not these obvious examples that everyone throws out.
Q🎉2
Big screens. Tight jeans smoke machines. It is all fruit cocktail