Free Essay Sample: Congregational Life in the Year 2014

Church life has and will always present episodic events and situations in the lives of human beings globally. The past year 2014 was not an exceptional one for it had its share just like the years before it in matters concerning church and church life. Congregational life refers to that kind of life led by Christians who believe in Jesus Christ as their savior. Church life is a term mostly used to refer to close following of the church teachings or scripture and acting as per the expected norms and behaviour by the church in which the person is a member. The term church refers to the congregation that have common guidelines concerning the type of life they live and the kind of behaviour they engage in; in this case it is Christianity kind of life.

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In general, church life has been a challenge to many Christians in the past year 2014 especially in the Eastern African part of the world. This is because of the terror group by the name Al-Shabab that has terrorized the lives of many East Africans especially in Kenya. The members of this terror group are believed to be of the Muslim religion. In several occasions where they have killed many people, there have been claims that they separated the Christians from the Muslims and then killed the Christians by shooting them in the head while sparing the lives of their fellow Muslims. They did this by checking the ability of the victims to recite the Quran. Those who managed to do so were left alive but those who did not, the Christians, were murdered. These heinous acts had an impact on church life globally. Many Christians started hiding their religious identities especially whenever they found themselves in some areas which are considered insecure and prone to terrorist attacks. Some the people who led a Christian kind of life before, started diluting their faith by practicing the recitation of the Quran to ensure their safety in case of terror attacks on them by the militia group.

Church life in 2014 has been unsettling and worrying for many people. The pastors and other Christian religious leaders have once in a while found themselves in problems with their congregations as well as the society at large. In one f the Countries in Europe, A pastor was caught last year caressing one woman whom he claimed to have taken to a sugarcane plantation to help cast out demons. However, the pastors intentions were different from what he made the people and other believers to believe. He wanted to rape the woman. Fortunately, a passerby found him and raised the alarm. When he was asked why he did so, he answered that the devil had tempted him. This brought a lot of shame to Christian religious leaders all over the world and mark you, some ended up changing their denominations. This has been termed as a very shameful moment for the Christians all over the world. Church life to them was really meaningless to them when this happened.

However, the hope still glittered in the minds of most Christians who led a church life. This was due to the strong condemnation of the heinous acts and the vigorous preaching and sermons that were held by many religious icons all over the world. A good example is the Pope who toured various parts of the world to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The leaders helped to bring back the lost hope in the hearts of many Christians who felt that their religious affiliations were making them targets for attack and was bringing a lot of shame to them.

In conclusion, church life in the past year 2014 has been very challenging to many who practice it and has notably caused death to a number of people who have been killed by terrorists who are of different religious affiliations with an aim of dividing the people in the affected countries along religious lines. However, all is not lost for the servants of God are working day in day out to make sure that the burning spirit of Christianity does not get extinguished.