| Author | Message | ||
| Grace_alone Registered user Username: Grace_alone Post Number: 754 Registered: 6-2006  |
Hi Y'all! Hope you all had a great weekend. I'm wondering about something I've heard for years from my SDA family about keeping worship services down to an hour, or at least not too long over that. My husband used to say tell me that somewhere Ellen wrote that long services make people start to daydream, or their minds wander and then Satan comes in, etc. Is that really in her writings? If so can someone clue me in on that? In talking to some of the formers and SDA's on CARM, they say they've never heard of it. Is it just my family not wanting to sit there longer than an hour? Thanks! Leigh Anne | ||
| Lucybugg Registered user Username: Lucybugg Post Number: 72 Registered: 2-2007 |
All I know is..I can remember my Aunt Bea...at 12:00 on the dot she would stand up, look back at the clock, look back to the preacher and then leave. | ||
| Reb Registered user Username: Reb Post Number: 583 Registered: 5-2007 |
Not so in Indonesian SDA churches. At the Indonesian SDA church in SoCal that I was baptised in, the Pastor one time preached a sermon that was over 2 hrs. long. Usually sermons there were at least an hour to an hour and a half long and that's just the sermon. | ||
| Randyg Registered user Username: Randyg Post Number: 432 Registered: 12-2004 |
Lucybugg, I never knew you were from Mayberry. Smart woman, your Aunt Bea. | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 6597 Registered: 12-2003  |
I don't know any references, Leigh Anne, and I don't remember hearing any about church services per se. I do remember, however, hearing (and, I believe reading long ago) that Ellen said our prayers were not to be long because it would cause minds to wander. Back then it seemed like excellent advice! Now, however, I'm seeing that prayer is a whole new thing when we are born again and actually talking to our Father and opening ourselves to Him. Amazing how everything is different on this side of knowing Jesus! Colleen | ||
| Cloudy Registered user Username: Cloudy Post Number: 37 Registered: 7-2007 |
Leigh Ann, I remembered reading something like that in one of the red books, but I did not recall the name of the book and no longer own it so I googled "Counsels to Ministers" and found "Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers". This is available online through the E.G.W. library. In section 13 there are some excerpts on "the evils of long sermons". It doesn't mention anything about Satan or restrict services to one hour per se; it does say that what is said after the first hour is usually a waste of time and taxes both the speaker and listeners. I do not recall this quote ever mentioned in church, and I can not think of one SDA church I've attended that actually tried to keep the service that short. These red books are mostly compilations from letters and otherwise obscure writings by EGW. Your husband's family's selective memory of this quote probably says more about them than SDA culture in general, in other words, yes, they they would not like to be in church longer than an hour. That said, I don't blame them for wanting to leave as soon as they can if they are bored! (Message edited by Cloudy on August 20, 2007) | ||
| Reb Registered user Username: Reb Post Number: 584 Registered: 5-2007 |
SDA church is so boring half an hour is too long IMHO. | ||
| Cloudy Registered user Username: Cloudy Post Number: 38 Registered: 7-2007 |
Amen, Bro! | ||
| Susans Registered user Username: Susans Post Number: 423 Registered: 8-2006 |
When I was an SDA I thought an hour was quite long enough! And yes, I've read the passages about the evils of long sermons. However, when I attended the Calvary Chapel of Spokane, WA, the services on Saturday nights started at 6pm and lasted till around 8:30pm. I never thought they were long enough! Susan | ||
| Grace_alone Registered user Username: Grace_alone Post Number: 755 Registered: 6-2006 |
Oh man, has anyone ever visited an Apostolic church? I went a couple of times with a friend and the services were 4 HOURS LONG! No joke. I suppose it would've been okay had I understood Spanish better! Ha. Thanks for all the replies. I wish I could remember where that "rule" came from. It could've been that my husband was just being a typical teenager (as I recall he told me this when we were dating) and might have been exagerating! If anyone remembers those writings about the long sermons that would help. Thanks Friends! Leigh Anne | ||
| Cloudy Registered user Username: Cloudy Post Number: 39 Registered: 7-2007 |
Leigh Ann, "The evils of long sermons" is found in "Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers" starting on p 256. As mentioned above, this is available online through the EGW library. Hope this helps. | ||
| Grace_alone Registered user Username: Grace_alone Post Number: 756 Registered: 6-2006 |
Cloudy, thank you! I'm guessing that's where my husband got his info and possibly got confused about it. I don't blame him. I can't even read EGW without getting confused!  Leigh Anne | ||
| Weimarred Registered user Username: Weimarred Post Number: 120 Registered: 1-2005  |
Leigh Anne, When I grew up, we had an encylcopedia table, about 4 ft long, with back-to-back shelves under the table top. It was chalk full of EGW books. Even when my dad was alive, we didn't "go to" these books very often. I guess it was just something good SDA's collected. Heck of a scheme for SDA publishers! They took her words, and repackaged them about 50 different ways. What a racket! - Tom | ||
| Grace_alone Registered user Username: Grace_alone Post Number: 757 Registered: 6-2006 |
Tom, you're not kidding! My fil has several volumes of red books in his office at home. I haven't seen him refer to them in a long time, but truly, I think he's memorized them all! Love your avatar by the way. I can't remember - Rick Springfield or Huey Lewis? Leigh Anne | ||
| Lucybugg Registered user Username: Lucybugg Post Number: 74 Registered: 2-2007 |
Randyg, It seems like Mayberry sometimes, but trust me...my Aunt Bea was NOTHING like Andy's Aunt Bea! She was a hard-core SDA..one of the "saints". At my brother's wedding (an outdoor wedding not at the church) she came up to me and grabbed my hand (I was wearing my mother's engagement ring) and said..you know you can't get married in the church wearing that don't you? Oh she was a joy..... | ||
| Cortney Registered user Username: Cortney Post Number: 22 Registered: 8-2006 |
I don't remember real long church services,but some were very boring.The prayer, in the Church I attended in Maine,was very quick, dull, and the people prayed repetively.This chuch was strict about certain rules and very EGW oriented.One lady a diabetic,actually almost past out, in front of myself and other church members,because she stated 'Mrs. White says were not to snack between meals'.My MIL informed her it was ok to do so,if your a diabetic! How sad is that! Oh yeah,Lucybugg- my MIL's brother is a SDA pastor,well retired now, but I remember his wife wearing a 'big old rock' on her finger and make-up!My MIL thinks her sister-in-law is too materialistic. But it's ok for my MIL to wear a very expensive watch,and brotches on her shirts, and foundation and blush on her face! I guess the Sabbath isn't the only 'anyway you want it' belief in the church!Oh yeah, her brother's children are inactive or no longer attend SDA church. | ||
| Patriar Registered user Username: Patriar Post Number: 303 Registered: 3-2005 |
Leigh Anne: When I was a child, the pastor of my church always stopped precisely at 12:00 noon. I've heard stories of pastors who stopped mid-sentence when it hits noontime. I don't think this comes from EGW. I don't remember ever hearing it discussed that way. Patria (Message edited by patriar on August 21, 2007) | ||
| Asurprise Registered user Username: Asurprise Post Number: 152 Registered: 7-2007 |
Most of the sermons at the non-denominational church that I've been going to are so interesting that they aren't long enough. This pastor speaks like he really knows God, unlike most SDA pastors. The last couple weeks though, he's been speaking on end time events, and the stuff he's saying is so weird, that I'm eager for when he returns to "normal" things. The eschatology that I've heard in the SDA church is so different! Of course I know that Adventist eschatology is wrong, but these sermons (this last week and the week before) were really weird. I prayed about it and it seemed like the Lord said to not worry about it; so I'm holding this subject in "tension," as River says it. |
