I cannot go to church...what to do?

[Jeffrey2011]

Please pray for me to get this right. Advice is welcome. Here's the situation: I was saved about a month ago, and the Holy Spirit has been with me, I've been walking with Jesus, and life has been great. I went to a Baptist Church and arranged to be baptized on Christmas. I ended up backing out because of a problem I have. Please understand this before you judge me. I have limitations. I suffer from a mental illness that makes me very paranoid and afraid of groups. I just can't let people in that I don't know for a long time, and my paranoia won't let me go to church. I've been stable on medication for about 8 years, so I am functional in most ways, and I'm okay, but being surrounded by people, even my family at holidays is terrifying to me. A girl that I met here has told me that as long as I walk with The Lord and give Him my heart, that He will direct me where to go. I feel like He's been telling me, "It's okay. You don't have to go to church. I am in your corner no matter what, and you can worship me wherever and whenever you want" So, I've been reading the Bible, talking to friends, listening to gospel music, and worshiping alone, but I'm not part of a fellowship, so my only concern is that I remain unafilliiated. Is this good enough? I feel that it is, but like I said before, I am mentally ill and do not always have the ability to apply reason for my actions. I just don't want to miss out, but I am disabled and therefore I am solo. Praise Jesus. Thank you for reading. I look forward to any responses you have.

 

[juliet84]

Hi Jeffrey,
Watch Church Online as my signature stated below. You can fellowship online with the people through chat also while watching the service. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

 

[woodl]

Please pray for me to get this right. Advice is welcome. Here's the situation: I was saved about a month ago, and the Holy Spirit has been with me, I've been walking with Jesus, and life has been great. I went to a Baptist Church and arranged to be baptized on Christmas. I ended up backing out because of a problem I have. Please understand this before you judge me. I have limitations. I suffer from a mental illness that makes me very paranoid and afraid of groups. I just can't let people in that I don't know for a long time, and my paranoia won't let me go to church. I've been stable on medication for about 8 years, so I am functional in most ways, and I'm okay, but being surrounded by people, even my family at holidays is terrifying to me. A girl that I met here has told me that as long as I walk with The Lord and give Him my heart, that He will direct me where to go. I feel like He's been telling me, "It's okay. You don't have to go to church. I am in your corner no matter what, and you can worship me wherever and whenever you want" So, I've been reading the Bible, talking to friends, listening to gospel music, and worshiping alone, but I'm not part of a fellowship, so my only concern is that I remain unafilliiated. Is this good enough? I feel that it is, but like I said before, I am mentally ill and do not always have the ability to apply reason for my actions. I just don't want to miss out, but I am disabled and therefore I am solo. Praise Jesus. Thank you for reading. I look forward to any responses you have.

Jeffrey, your body is the temple. As long as you have Jesus Christ in your heart and you have a personal relationship with him you are saved. I love going to church because I get refuel everytime I go but you can get refuel right here on christian chat. There's a lot of good christians here and you can have good fellowship here and there's a lot of places on line where you can go. One I like is jimmy swaggart.com and click on sonlite bradcastings. Without good fellowship the chance of satan pulling you back down is almost 99.9 %. Where ever you go just make sure they tell the story of Jesus because that is the greatest gift that God gave to man kind. God bless you in your walk with Christ.

 

[Kyouken]

You don't have to physically be in a church to go to church (other people may disagree, but whatever). Like juliet84 suggested, you could watch it online. Or, you could watch it on TV, but the online option sounds better because of the fellowship. In my experience, fellowship is awesome!

And even if you don't go to church, God doesn't love you any less because of it (and it looks like He's already told you that !)

Oh, and also... Test everything you hear from a sermon (or anywhere, really) with the Word of God. That's deathly important.

 

[keep_on_smiling]

Praise God that you have given your life to Him. That is so precious and exciting! I understand to some extent what you are going through, groups of people can be so horrifying. I think you need to remember one thing, that is that the Lord speaks to you and you hear it. Whether you hear it from your reading of the bible, from songs, or listening to sermons ect. Trust that you are hearing Him. If God wants you to be somewhere in life, He is going to tell you. If you feel at peace with what you have right now, then don't worry about making it to church. He may one day call you to go to church and heal you from this disorder. I wouldn't put it past our magnificent God.

I think you have gotten some great suggestions so far. Kyouken is right, don't just believe everything you hear, pray about it. I do have another recommendation. You say you don't do well with groups of people, perhaps you would do well in a small home church setting OR even having a bible study with another person. There seem to be churches that can set these up for you if you let them know. I recommend these two things because the encouragement and sharing is personally a precious thing to me.

You mentioned that you were going to be baptized on Christmas and that you were unable to be. If you still have the desire to be baptized, then I would say to you, don't let the enemy keep you from doing so. Baptisms don't have to be done in front of many people, it could be a private thing done with you and a couple of others.

Just a few things to think about.

Keep seeking God! He loves you so much! He will tell and show you what you need to do. God bless

I will be praying for you. CC is a great place for fellowship and it's wonderful you were able to share your request.

 

[ElizaBeth]

I pray that you be freed from your fear/paranoia and be allowed to share with others your heart and your praise. Pray in Jesus name for this release... I do not think it is in any way wrong for you to worship alone, however, I feel from your message you do wish you could have fellowship and that this is a stressful/isolating way to live so I wish for you to be healed and be free of your affliction.

 

[resurrection33]

Please pray for me to get this right. Advice is welcome. Here's the situation: I was saved about a month ago, and the Holy Spirit has been with me, I've been walking with Jesus, and life has been great. I went to a Baptist Church and arranged to be baptized on Christmas. I ended up backing out because of a problem I have. Please understand this before you judge me. I have limitations. I suffer from a mental illness that makes me very paranoid and afraid of groups. I just can't let people in that I don't know for a long time, and my paranoia won't let me go to church. I've been stable on medication for about 8 years, so I am functional in most ways, and I'm okay, but being surrounded by people, even my family at holidays is terrifying to me. A girl that I met here has told me that as long as I walk with The Lord and give Him my heart, that He will direct me where to go. I feel like He's been telling me, "It's okay. You don't have to go to church. I am in your corner no matter what, and you can worship me wherever and whenever you want" So, I've been reading the Bible, talking to friends, listening to gospel music, and worshiping alone, but I'm not part of a fellowship, so my only concern is that I remain unafilliiated. Is this good enough? I feel that it is, but like I said before, I am mentally ill and do not always have the ability to apply reason for my actions. I just don't want to miss out, but I am disabled and therefore I am solo. Praise Jesus. Thank you for reading. I look forward to any responses you have.

Well, I am no doctor, so my advice has to be taken for what it’s worth.

I am skeptical about your mental illness. Normally I think of drugs as a bad thing—not a good thing—though as I said, I am not a doctor.

By skipping church you miss out on the fellowship and support of the church family. There is much to be learned from a church family, as well.

But it is between you and the Lord. If you two decide it’s best to skip church, then skip church.

 

[Jeffrey2011]

Thank you all for your sharing and support. I am okay with things, but I need to know if it is necessary to get baptized. Pardon me for asking so many questions, but as you know, this is important.

 

[resurrection33]

Thank you all for your sharing and support. I am okay with things, but I need to know if it is necessary to get baptized. Pardon me for asking so many questions, but as you know, this is important.

Baptism is a controversial subject. My own opinion is that you won’t be condemned for not being baptized, but I would recommend you get baptized anyway. Better safe than sorry. There is no reason I can think of not to get baptized.

 

[scg]

John chapter 3:3 Jesus replied,"I assure you, unless you are born again, you can never see the Kingdom of God." NLT

Talk to the pastor of the church and see about having a private one. Or any Christian can do it.

 

[keep_on_smiling]

Jeffrey2011: You are going to get many responses to that question. It's a controversial topic. You can actually find a thread on it here, on CC. I personally believe that one should be baptized and that the scripture that SCG mentioned helps prove that.

If you have felt it on your heart that you should be baptized, THEN that is enough reason to believe that is the Lord telling you that it's needed. Keep praying and seeking God about it. It is rather important. As I mentioned earlier, it is something that can be done privately. God bless!

 

[Christena]

Please pray for me to get this right. Advice is welcome. Here's the situation: I was saved about a month ago, and the Holy Spirit has been with me, I've been walking with Jesus, and life has been great. I went to a Baptist Church and arranged to be baptized on Christmas. I ended up backing out because of a problem I have. Please understand this before you judge me. I have limitations. I suffer from a mental illness that makes me very paranoid and afraid of groups. I just can't let people in that I don't know for a long time, and my paranoia won't let me go to church. I've been stable on medication for about 8 years, so I am functional in most ways, and I'm okay, but being surrounded by people, even my family at holidays is terrifying to me. A girl that I met here has told me that as long as I walk with The Lord and give Him my heart, that He will direct me where to go. I feel like He's been telling me, "It's okay. You don't have to go to church. I am in your corner no matter what, and you can worship me wherever and whenever you want" So, I've been reading the Bible, talking to friends, listening to gospel music, and worshiping alone, but I'm not part of a fellowship, so my only concern is that I remain unafilliiated. Is this good enough? I feel that it is, but like I said before, I am mentally ill and do not always have the ability to apply reason for my actions. I just don't want to miss out, but I am disabled and therefore I am solo. Praise Jesus. Thank you for reading. I look forward to any responses you have.

I know that your fear is real...I do not have paranoa or any illness related to that but I have dealt with fear since I was child. I dealt with large crowds and insecurites. I would sweat, shake and almost pass out!! I am here to tell you that one day many years ago. I began to prayer because it was so crippling to me and I felt tortured inside. I wanted to be free from it..I cried out to the Lord. One day I went to the house of the Lord and their was a gentleman ministering in song and words of encouragement. He said if any one needed prayer to come up. So there were many of us who went up for prayer for different reasons. This man did not know me nor did I ever see him before. He came over to me laid hands on me and I remember him saying YOU ARE NOW DELIVERED FROM THAT FEAR... all I can say is this...I saw a white light and boom woke under some chair and that fear that caused me not to want to leave my house or be around people was gone. The enemy still comes at me in other ways but I get through it because Jesus goes through it with me. I can preach and dance and sing!!!! Joyce Myers oftens says...do it afraid because its better than not doing it at all because you can miss GOd and your blessing.

I say this because if I had not prayed or gone to church, which God gave me the strength to do. I would not have been at the right place at the right time to receive what God had for me. Dont get me wrong there are situations that require you to stay home, however if able to... the bible says in Hebrews 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. We need encouraged and to be an encourager for others...there is strength in numbers...amen

Also, in Ecc 4:9-10 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!

We are not intended to be alone. God knows that we need each other.

You are healed in the name of Jesus...you are whole in the name Jesus...the enemy has no power or authority over you so tell him that over and over and over and believe God to walk with you and believe Him for your deliverance. You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you...Amen

God bless u

 

[shekaniah]

Jesus give Jeffery Knowledge, depth and insight so he may discern what is best and be pure and blameless, fill him with all spiritual wisdom in Your name I pray amen

 

[seed_time_harvest]

Jeffrey, your body is the temple. As long as you have Jesus Christ in your heart and you have a personal relationship with him you are saved. I love going to church because I get refuel everytime I go but you can get refuel right here on christian chat. There's a lot of good christians here and you can have good fellowship here and there's a lot of places on line where you can go. One I like is jimmy swaggart.com and click on sonlite bradcastings. Without good fellowship the chance of satan pulling you back down is almost 99.9 %. Where ever you go just make sure they tell the story of Jesus because that is the greatest gift that God gave to man kind. God bless you in your walk with Christ.

Dear brother,its the advasary that wants you sick and full of fear and speaking the words of fear to yourself,but god loves you.my brother in the faith,you need to believe this ..... .speak words that god speaks about you(you will find these words in the bible)your spirit is for god and when your soul is in agreement with your spirit it will be easy to say, in words what god says about you.we are more than conquerers.jesus did it all.its good to be around other believers that encourage you and look past those things that they know are not of god.just remember,the word is near you, the inner man.

father in jesus name.the name that is above all names,i pray that

Jeffrey2011
understands and and stays in your word,that gives life.i pray that jeffrey2011 gets stronger in you, by reading and understanding your word.meditating on it and overcoming any thing that comes to steal the word.let the word fall on good ground,producing much fruit.In JESUS name.amen

 

[Canadian36]

on youtube you can watch john hagee epesodes from the past. If you want to have a moving experience from home watch him. You'll be surprised.

 

[pickles]

Praying for you and all asked in Jesus.

God bless you.
pickles