Where did he go to find them? Their house… even the house of a Pharisee’s a few times… and where ever he went…

Then we gotta ask ourselves, the people in the Bar in Kingsville, having church… are they sinners, or seekers, or converts?

I believe the Biblical record shows that He did not. But I am open to Biblical proof otherwise.

people in the Bar in Kingsville, having church

Beats me, but I think the church today, including these people, has been misled about Christ’s involvement with the world.

He was quite harsh to a bunch of people that came and asked him for some more bread… that were seeking the wrong thing.

The church should be governed by the Great Commandment, I would agree that the visible church has largely lost sight of what that entails.

Peace.

Yeah, isn’t it ironic that we can actually make a better case for “hanging out with sinners” from Christ spending time with Pharisees than we can from Him spending time with “tax collectors and sinners”?!

We don’t have any answers for people when they ask things like:

* How should I live my life?
* What it means to be a man or a woman? How can I be a good husband/father/wife/mother?
* How can I be a good steward of my finances
* Why am I not fulfilled by (whatever)? Where do I get fulfillment?
* What happened to the passion in my marriage?

Worse, we not only make them feel like they aren’t good enough now, but that they NEVER will be. We equate social standing with spiritual standing, and they just aren’t welcome here.

We don’t meet their needs to engage with others. Come on Sunday, sing 3 songs, hear a canned sermon, go home. Don’t you feel fulfilled now?

Jesus, on the other hand, had “the words of life” as Peter put it.

I think we need to first get church back to a time where we connect authentically with each other. Corporate worship is essential, but not sufficient. We need small groups that really get into each others’ lives, and intentional one-on-one style discipleship.

We also have to realize that Christ redeemed ALL of a person. He didn’t stop with justification and reconciliation. We’ve got to show people how the Bible is more than a book of rules, and how God speaks through the Bible to every area of our lives.

I don’t know if that will fix it, but it’s a start! And I think it’s a better approach than “play music they like”.

I’m unfamiliar with any church who takes this approach.
Did you know that small groups are the lifeblood of most, if not all, successful seeker churches?