Thu 22 Jul 2010

The Glory of God

Posted by Victor Chininin Buele under Corporate Worship
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Church Family,

Thank you for hanging on during my first attempts to teach new songs. Teaching a new song is always a challenge. I don’t want to break the unity we are to have as the body of Christ during corporate singing on Sundays. But I do have to teach on occasion a song that is not familiar to you.

Why? Bob Kauflin says it better than I can:

“If someone was born in our church and grew up singing our songs over the course of twenty years, how well would they know God? Would these songs give them a biblical and comprehensive view of God, or would they be exposed only to certain aspects of his nature and works? Would they learn that God is holy, wise, omnipotent, and sovereign? Would they know God as Creator and Sustainer? Would they understand the glory and centrality of the gospel? Or would they think worship is about music, and not much more? May God give us grace to lead worship and choose our songs in a way that reflects his care, wisdom, and faithfulness.”

Over the last two Sundays, we’ve been learning a song titled “The Glory of God” by Pastor Joe Day from Seattle. I’m posting the lyrics for you:

What can I give unto you, my Lord
For you are of infinite worth
The sum of my songs, the cry of my heart
The breath that descends to earth

The deepest parts of the universe
Are not strangers to your hand
The highest mountains the furthest of seas
Forgotten and untold lands

What cry can the deepest of sorrows bring
That you do not well understand
What laugh can the outburst of joy not sing
Of the providence brought by your hand

There’s a song that is sung by the saints that have come
And have gone from under the sun
Those that are present before your throne
Sing endlessly
The Glory of God!

Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks
And honor and power and strength
Be to our God forever and ever and ever
Amen

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Fri 16 Jul 2010

Sunday Evening!

Posted by Victor Chininin Buele under FAQ
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What’s happened to the music, you might wonder. Why are we saying things at the beginning of the service? Why are we seeing Bible verses between songs and before the service? What’s going on?

Nothing new really. Despite our feeble and sometimes prideful attempts to boast on our ability to come up with new things, we are basically just continuing church tradition. Sure, we might not do everything or in the same order as other churches throughout the centuries have done, but our aim is to be a God-inspired, Christ-centered, and Spirit-inspired church.

Throughout the years, “worship leaders” all over the world have helped create the idea that people come to the church to “worship,” or that “worship” is the amount of time when people sing songs before, during, or after a service/sermon. Worship is not just music. Worship is not just something that happens at the church.

Worship comes from the knowledge of God as an overwhelming desire to respond to Him with true adoration, service, reverence, and faith (not an inclusive list by all means) in all of our actions. Inside and outside of the church. Before, during, and after the service.

OK… So Get to the Point, Please
========================
That is the point. That’s what’s going on. We seek to equip one another to worship the King in all we do – the way we treat our families, coworkers, neighbors, in-laws, random people we see on the street (really not so random, given God’s sovereignty).

We are trying to be more intentional, not necessarily more formal in our service’s approach to corporate worship. Please note the word corporate. It is not the only expression of worship. It’s just what we gather together to do on Sunday evenings (Heb 10:25).

We sing as with one voice. This is an expression of God being a great, amazing God up in heaven to whom we sing from hearts that overflow with love for Him. How do we get there? We pursue Him and the knowledge of Christ. We strive to learn more of Him.

This is also an expression of horizontal love to the Body of His Church. As we sing together that helps us be unified in praying or singing one prayer, one song, with one voice. We feel stronger, encouraged, not alone (though we never are as He is always with us), in community.

What we have introduced at the beginning of the service is a call to worship. We want to be able to prepare our hearts to devote ourselves solely to Him to sing to Him, to pray to Him, to listen to His word, to seek Him in gospel-centered preaching, to feel His presence as we edify one another in our interactions. We will be using the Word of God as call to worship some times. Other times, we’ll be using prayer. Other times, we’ll be using prayers from the Book of Common Prayer. And we always seek the Spirit to lead us into what could be an appropriate call to worship. So, it could be something unexpected as well. The whole point of it is to help us make a somewhat clear break between our informal interactions and the corporate worship service itself.

John Newton wrote the lyrics for Amazing Grace in 1779. Edward Mote wrote The Solid Rock (or My Hope Is Built) at around 1834. The hymn we sang after the sermon last week, We Have Not Known Thee As We Ought, was written in 1889. We believe the lyrics to Be Thou My Vision were written in the eight century.

So with this come a lot of words you may or may not be familiar with as well as a certain pronoun use.

It is reason for great joy to share this church tradition in place for so many centuries. Occasionally we might change the music of some not-so-familiar-to-the-ear hymns. The music for some of these hymn lyrics has already been changed several times throughout the centuries. Hymns like Amazing Grace, however, could never have a “rearrangement” made to them. With all of this said, the tradition allows us to reflect on how God is timeless and unchanging. The world changes all the time. He does not.

So, I personally really love to use the “Thee,” “Thou,” “Thine” pronouns as they help us reflect that God deserves our worship and utmost respect. It is also a display of the vertical relationship between us and God.

Please, while this is important, it is also important to make sure we are connected with God and with one another as we sing to Him. So, if a word or a pronoun or a concept are not familiar to you, please ask what it means. That’s a very important part of shepherding, equipping, and edification. I remember the first time I sang Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing I was totally confused. I made notes, though. A verse comes to mind.

Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.

Sure, I figured out that “Thy” meant “Your.” “Thou” meant “You.” But this Ebenezer thing I couldn’t figure out. It was a reason to go home and do some research. The answer is actually in 1 Samuel 7:

“Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer; for he said, “Till now the LORD has helped us.” So the Philistines were subdued and did not again enter the territory of Israel. And the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.” (1 Samuel 7:12-13 ESV)

The ESV note indicates that Ebenezer means stone of help. Now to understand the hymn I had to go read the Old Testament. I had to read through 1 Samuel not just the two verses above, but the book itself. And things didn’t make sense so that pointed me to the need to read Judges, Deuteronomy, Numbers, Exodus, Genesis.

Jesus, the apostles, and the prophets assumed the people of God had a deep understanding or knowledge of the Word (which was the Old Testament only back then). I pray God helps us learn more and more and more about Him through this. Please ask or do the research. But remember that the utmost goal of our lives is to worship Him.

We’ll be singing songs you haven’t heard before as well as the services continue. I appreciate your patience and willingness to learn as we move forward. Please also know that we don’t just play music because it sounds cool on the radio. There is a huge commitment and obligation when preparing music for our corporate gathering on Sundays. We do not seek to sing music that will make us get on an spiritual high of sorts. We do not seek prom songs to Jesus. We seek to edify the Body through song and most importantly honor God.

I praise the Lord for His mercy and thank you immensely for your grace to tune out the flaws in my very limited singing abilities. This is very good because it centers me to be very humble every Sunday.

Peace to you, brothers and sisters.
Victor

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Fri 16 Jul 2010

Church Attendance & Corporate Worship, Part 4 of 4

Posted by Chris Oswald under Corporate Worship, Counseling
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We are going to conclude our thoughts about corporate worship and church attendance by posing a series of questions.

The Bible shows that God is uniquely glorified in unified diversity.  What I mean is that when many different people join together for the common purpose of praising God, their agreement of purpose, in spite of all their differences, magnifies God.  Family devotions and fellowship among friends is great, but something special happens when God’s people unite in worship.

Where do you go to participate in this special activity?

Hebrews 13:17 says “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”  While your shepherds have a sacred responsibility to seek you out and help you grow.  You have the responsibility to seek them out and to hear what they are saying.

How are you seeking to obey this command?

Acts 6:4 suggests that pastors are supposed to devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word.

To whom are they supposed to minister the word?

Acts also tells us that the early church devoted themselves to the apostles’ teachings.

To who’s teaching are you regularly committed to listening to?  Do they know you?

Among other activities, Paul told Timothy in 1 Tim 4:13 to devote his pastoral work to “the public reading of scripture…”

Where do you go to hear the scripture read publicly?

Jesus commanded the disciples to remember his sacrifice through a corporate observance of the Lord’s Supper.

Where do you observe the Lord’s Supper?

Ephesians 5:19 commands that we should be “addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart,”

How are you obeying this command?

Scripture teaches that not only are we to pray for one another, but we are to pray with one another.

Where do you regularly pray with the Body?

Christ initiated church discipline as a means of helping believers hold one another accountable for unrepentant sin.  The ultimate means of discipline for unrepentant sin was the temporary exclusion of fellowship.  The hard-hearted person would be excluded from participating in church gatherings until they repented.

If you needed to experience church discipline, how much of a difference would that make in your life?

When David was experiencing spiritual depression and God seemed very distant, his memory of past corporate worship experiences encouraged his heart.  He said, “These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival.”  (Ps 42)

Have you cultivated the habit of regularly gathering with God’s people?  Has the memory and expectancy of public worship encouraged your soul?

Conclusion:  This is just an overview, I’m fairly confident that I could list at least five more pages of similar questions.  While corporate worship isn’t the exclusive answer to any one of these, I think if you’re honest with yourself, you’d agree that devoting yourself to corporate worship is going to help you obey many of these to a greater degree than you are likely to do without that discipline.

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Tue 13 Jul 2010

Celebrating & Cultivating Brokenness, Part 2

Posted by Chris Oswald under Counseling
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John Bunyan’s The Acceptable Sacrifice; or The Excellency of a Broken Heart:
Showing the Nature, Signs, and Proper Effects of a Contrite Spirit.

Notes on Section III. WHAT A BROKEN HEART, AND WHAT A CONTRITE SPIRIT IS.

Misc. note:

Notice the bookstore where this work was originally sold.  The name of the store: Two Swans Without Bishopsgate.

Bishopsgate is a section of London named for a gate in the original wall of London.  There are two sections.  Bishopsgate within and Bishopsgate without (inside the wall and outside the wall).

Two swans is a reference two love or to the heart.  The common image of two swans meeting at the head and making a heart shape with their head and necks.  This appears to be the source of the common Valentine heart image.  Based on the kinds of volumes he sold, we can trust that the founder of the “two swans” store did so with love for God in mind.

The only reason I’m mentioning this is because God’s providence is always a joy to trace.  He calls one to serve him through writing the book.  Others to serve him through reading the book.  Another to serve him through printing and selling the book.  Nearly 320 years later, who did what isn’t nearly as significant as Him who works in us “to will and to work according to his good pleasure.”  And so it will be with our lives 300 years from now.

Now on to Section III

Bunyan seeks to clarify “what a broken heart and contrite spirit is” for the purpose bringing “comfort of them that have it, and the conviction of them that have it not.”

He uses four streams of description to achieve this.

First, what a heart is that is not broken.

I would leave his descriptions without any comment except to say that this description applies in a mortal way to those without Christ and in another way which is “not unto death” for the believer.

Bunyan will demonstrate that a broken and contrite spirit is necessary for salvation.  He will also demonstrate that the believer can lose that contrite spirit and experience a hardening of the heart which ultimately ends with God breaking it again.

His first point in this section states, “The heart, before it is broken, is hard and stubborn, and obstinate against God, and the salvation of the soul (Zech 7:12; Deut 2:30, 9:27).”  For the unbeliever, “salvation of the soul” implies actual regeneration through faith in Christ.  For the believer, “salvation of the soul” has a more temporal meaning referring to God’s immediate offer of restoration (Rev 3:20). Each of his points in this section can be understood in this light.

Yet I don’t want to defang the bite this list can have on the falsely assured unbeliever’s heart.  With so much false-gospel preaching in the world, it is common for someone to go through their days trusting in a transactional salvation based on works.  The Spirit can use a list like this to help us to “examine [ourselves] to see whether [we] are in the faith.”  When reading this list, great care should be given to asking if our lack of brokenness is due to an unregenerate heart which has failed to enter through the narrow gate of contrite faith.

Either way, the problem is the same (though one differs in severity from the other) and the solution is the same.

Bunyan addresses the solution with his second argument.  He says that because the heart is so hard and dead,

“No man can break the heart with the Word; no angel can break the heart with the Word; that is, if God forbears to second it by mighty power from heaven. This made Balaam go without a heart rightly broken, and truly contrite, though he was rebuked by an angel; and the Pharisees die in their sins, though rebuked for them, and admonished to turn from them, by the Saviour of the world. Wherefore, though the Word is the instrument with which the heart is broken, yet it is not broken with the Word, till that Word is managed by the might and power of God.”

He emphasizes the difference between effectual and non-effectual preaching.  Not that God’s word ever returns void, but apart from God’s special “breaking work,” his word will in fact serve to harden the hearer.  This is where prayer becomes clearly essential.

“This made the prophet Isaiah, after long preaching, cry out, that he had labored for nought, and in vain; and this made him cry to God, ‘to rend the heavens and come down, ‘ that the mountains, or rocky hills, or hearts, might be broken, and melt at his presence (Isa 44:4, 64:1, 2). For he found by experience, that as to this no effectual work could be done, unless the Lord put to his hand. This also is often intimated in the Scriptures, where it saith, when the preachers preached effectually to the breaking of men’s hearts, ‘the Lord wrought with them; the hand of the Lord was with them, ‘ and the like (Mark 16:20; Acts 11:21).”

Application:

Prayer is a manifestation of brokenness.  It is an indication of being “undone” and desperate for a solution outside of the human plane.

Take some time this week to pray through Bunyan’s first two points.

Pray through the description of an unbroken heart in the spirit of Psalm 139:23-24.  Ask the Lord to reveal your status before Him in light of the verses Bunyan provides.

Pray that your work in ministry is effectual toward the breaking of hearts (your own and those you minister with and to).

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Tue 13 Jul 2010

Celebrating & Cultivating Brokenness, Misc

Posted by Chris Oswald under Book Review
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A quick comment on the original publishing notes.  Note the bookstore where this work was originally sold.  The name of the store: Two Swans Without Bishopsgate.

Bishopsgate is a section of London named for a gate in the original wall of London.  There are two sections.  Bishopsgate within and Bishopsgate without (inside the wall and outside the wall).

Two swans is a reference two love or to the heart.  The common image of two swans meeting at the head and making a heart shape with their head and necks.  This appears to be the source of the common Valentine heart image.

The only reason I’m mentioning this is because God’s providence is always a joy to trace.  He calls one to serve him through writing the book.  Others to serve him through reading the book.  Another to serve him through printing and selling the book.  Nearly 320 years later, who did what isn’t nearly as significant as Him who works in us “to will and to work according to his good pleasure.”  And so it will be with our lives 300 years from now.

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Sun 4 Jul 2010

Celebrating & Cultivating Brokenness, Part 1

Posted by Chris Oswald under Book Review, Counseling, Elder
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Reflections on “Chapter 1″ [I. THE TEXT OPENED IN THE MANY WORKINGS OF THE HEART.]

When Bunyan says, “all our sacrifices without this are nothing; this alone is all.” I take it to mean that brokenness and contrition of the heart is the only appropriate attitudinal motivation for our actions.

If our words do not well up from this heart, if our works are not manifest from this heart, they are despised by God.  Simply put, if this humility is not at the heart of our actions, those actions are not acceptable to God.

First of all, I am thankful that positionally, God sees the heart of Jesus covering my heart.  I know that there is not and never has been an action taken in my life that was properly rooted in anything approaching the appropriate measure of brokenness and contrition.  I know that if it were only my heart that was responsible for bearing the seeds and producing the fruit of the Spirit, I would produce only weeds and thorns.  I am thankful for the broken and contrite spirit of the suffering servant.

Secondly, I am as always challenged to make what is positionally true through Christ, practically true in my words, thoughts and actions.  This is a high standard.  Yet in the amazing grace of God, by simply accepting the standard itself, I can begin to experience the very thing that is required of me.  When I seek to understand the heart behind my behaviors, I see pride, foolishness, anger, haughtiness, envy, manipulation and a whole host of carnal fruit that are the opposites of Godly brokenness and contrition.  Through the Holy Spirit’s conviction, this reality produces a measure of contrition.  Simply by agreeing to the need for these attitudes, my heart is made more humble.  Yet without real effort and practical obedience, this initial grace fades into a cynical slight of hand.  It does not take long for this initial taste of contrition to move from the heart to head.  It is not enough to intellectually assent to unworthiness.  This is not what David is talking about.  David is speaking about a “broken and contrite SPIRIT.”

A few examples from my life:

Parenting

When I correct my children, I often do so out of a heart which is aggravated by their failures.  Though each disciplinary interaction with my children represent opportunities for my heart to be newly broken over the depth of my neediness as a child of God, I am not often moved by this as I am correcting them.  When they are slow to understand, I could see anew my profound inability to understand the mind of my Father.  When they are slow to listen, I could be freshly convicted by my consistent rebellion against that which I do understand.  Yet brokenness and contrition are rarely present in these moments.

Truth

When I have the advantage of truth or insight over another person, brokenness and contrition are not often the primary attitudes of my heart.  While intellectually I may be able to remind myself that any knowledge or wisdom I have is a gift of grace apart from works and boasting, my heart often does exactly what grace means to eliminate.

Gifts

Again, the use of any talents or gifts God has graciously provided should bring my heart to celebrate His grace!  Yet rather than be newly broken over my deep indebtedness, I often thanklessly use those gifts with a prideful and self-serving attitude.  The heart attitude present in David’s psalm is often nowhere to be found as I make use of the very grace of God for my own glory.  Rather than be shunned or ridiculed for my self-centered service, the world seems to applaud me all the more when this is my motivation.  On the occasions when I am careful to employ my gifts and talents in a spirit of “fear and trembling” (1 Cor. 2:3), I am either overlooked or despised.  Since my flesh desires the praise of men and is dead to the praise of God, I can be easily habituated into a pattern of boastful attitudes even as I outwardly appear to be serving God.

Questions:

Psalm 51 was written as David wrestled with the vertical implications of his sin. Can you identify with this?  When have you been most broken and contrite?

Please list a few areas where your actions are not properly rooted in a broken and contrite spirit?

For Further Study:

Essential to Bunyan’s statement that “all our sacrifices without this are nothing; this alone is all” is the understanding that all our actions (including words and thoughts) have a few things in common.

All actions arise out of the heart.

All actions are to be done for God’s glory.

Does scripture support these presuppositions?  What scriptures can you think of / find that either support or elaborate upon these statements?

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Sun 4 Jul 2010

Celebrating & Cultivation Brokenness, intro

Posted by Chris Oswald under Book Review, Counseling, Elder
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Few books I’ve read have been so clear and challenging.  From the book description:

“What can man bring to God which will be excellent and acceptable in His sight? John Bunyan’s answer may surprise us – a broken and contrite heart. This is the ‘acceptable sacrifice’ of the title. In this moving exposition of Psalm 51:17, the last work which he prepared for the press, Bunyan shows from Scripture why a broken heart is so acceptable to God. He characterizes the unbroken heart of man, showing why it must be made contrite, and explains the nature of the change which is involved. He also guides the reader in discerning whether this change has taken place, and shows how the heart, once broken, can be kept tender.”

I’ll be posting reflections on this great work in the weeks to come.  I invite the readers to post their own thoughts.  The style of these posts will be devotional/reflective.  I’m reading the book in order accomplish what the title of this post suggests.

Available online for free here: Acacia’s Bunyan Library

Or in print here: Monergism Books

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Tue 29 Jun 2010

Church Attendance & Corporate Worship, Part 3 of 4

Posted by Chris Oswald under Counseling
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Last time we concluded that it is God’s purpose for believers to regularly assemble in a way similar to how we will be assembled in heaven (Revelation 5 & 7, 1 Thessalonians 2:1, Hebrews 10:24-25).  The purpose of these corporate gatherings is to simeltaniously celebrate the gospel while looking toward Christ’s final gathering work in heaven.

A consistent ethos of our corporate gatherings should be reflected in the ancient Aramaic phrase, “Maranatha” which has important dual meanings for the church.  On one hand,  the phrase can be a statement meaning “our Lord has come.”  On the other hand, the phrase can be a petition meaning “please Lord come!”

Both meanings should be reflected in our corporate worship.  The very last chapter of Revelation demonstrates the electricity of timeless worship.  By timeless worship I mean the simultaneous look at what Christ has done, is doing and will do.  Notice the changes in tense…

Some of Revelation 22 celebrates what will be,

“And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.” (verse 5)

“And behold, I am coming soon.” (verse 7a)

Some of the chapter celebrates what is, and by extension what has been done,

“Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” (verse 7b)

“The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.” (verse 17)

This type of worship is the proper response to the timeless Christ.  Notice his timeless character is central to the passage.  Part of verse 16 says,

“I am the root and the descendant of David” (Notice He came before and after David.  He is the root and the fruit).

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”  (verse 13)

All of this head spinning and heart stirring language leads John to look forward while calling the reader to experience Jesus right now,

He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen. (verse 20-21)

Perhaps you remember the final song we sang on Sunday night, “The Church’s One Foundation.”  That hymn reflects the full meaning of maranatha.  The first verse states,

From heaven he came and sought her

to be his holy bride;

with his own blood he bought her,

and for her life he died.

Notice the celebration of what Christ has done.  A later verse looks forward to our final glory in Christ,

Mid toil and tribulation,

and tumult of her war,

she waits the consummation

of peace forevermore;

till, with the vision glorious,

her longing eyes are blest,

and the great church victorious

shall be the church at rest.

This is not the only experience we are instructed to seek in corporate worship.  I’m citing this as an example.  There are others that hold equal importance.

Recent conversations with brothers in Christ have reminded me about the value of intention in corporate worship.  Something as essential as expressing a “maranatha heart” will not often occur spontaneously.  In the same many of us have come to rely on maps or GPS to navigate our trips, our hearts need to be directed toward these experiences.  This is ultimately the work of the Holy Spirit but it does not exempt us from being thoughtful and intentional.  Quite the opposite, we will experience the Holy Spirit’s leading all the more clearly as we think and seek and prayerfully plan.

For years we have emphasized the importance of Biblical Counseling as an “intentionally helpful conversation” between two believers.  While casual and informal fellowship is helpful, more deliberate conversations are needed to help us navigate our way to Christlikeness.

Even as we have declared the importance of intentionally helpful conversations, we are now declaring the importance of intentionally helpful corporate worship.  When this intention exists (and thankfully God is allowing us to do this), corporate worship helps believers experience and enjoy Christ in a unique way.

You will be receiving one more email on this topic.  That final conversation will include a list of practical reasons why every believer should prioritize going to and participating in corporate worship.

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Tue 29 Jun 2010

Church Attendance & Corporate Worship, Part 2 of 4

Posted by Chris Oswald under Counseling
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Last time we examined Hebrews 10:24-25 and found the biblical command for church attendance to be pretty straight forward.

“not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

We made the following observations:

1) This passage clearly commands regular Christian gatherings.

This passage keeps us from being self-centered in our gathering because we are to be focused on encouraging others while we are there.

This passage explains how some of our time apart from one another should be spent (considering how to stir one another up unto good works)

This passage creates a tension between choosing family time over church-family time (see previous article for an explanation)

This passage reveals that not attending church can become a habit.

Before we move on from this verse, let’s make sure we understand the uniqueness of what the ESV translates, “meet together.”  How does this phrase specify corporate worship?  Couldn’t we understand “meet together” to be fulfilled in a Christian home?  Couldn’t we understand “meet together” to be fulfilled in social gatherings among Christians?  How do we know that the author of Hebrews has in corporate worship in mind?

We find this exact word construction used only one other time in the New Testament.  In 2 Thessalonians, Paul is talking about the return of Christ and says, “Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him…” (2 Thes 2:1)

One of the ways Paul describes the work of Christ in his returning is that he will gather His saints together to him.  Our meeting together, or gathering together before the throne of God is one of the ways we are going to find ultimate joy in heaven.  It is also one of the ways in which God is going to receive ultimate glory in heaven.

The worshipers of Christ in the book of Revelation often specifically praise his gathering work.

“Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,

and they shall reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5:9-10)

Please note that Hebrews 10:24-25 gives the return of Christ as a key reason for ever increasing gathering together here on earth.

“…and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

So we can conclude that it is God’s purpose for us to regularly assemble in a way similar to how we will be assembled in heaven as a way of enjoying and hoping in Christ’s final gathering work.

Thus the passages in Revelation which give us a view of what that ultimate gathering will look like, become for us a sort of standard by which we measure the quality of our corporate worship gatherings here on earth.  While all of our Christian get togethers should reflect some of the qualities of heaven’s ultimate assembly, corporate worship is uniquely positioned to more completely and consistently reflect the finished product.

Next time we’ll study those passages and seek to better understand this profound truth:

God has given us a series of experiences, commands and promises that can only be fulfilled within the context of corporate worship.

Therefore, gathering together in a manner reflective of heaven’s gathering is essential not optional.

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Tue 29 Jun 2010

Church Attendance & Corporate Worship, Part 1 of 4

Posted by Chris Oswald under Counseling
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If I were face to face with a friend who was not well informed about the importance of regular church attendance, where would I go in the Bible to show him God’s will?

I think a lot of people are familiar with Hebrews 10:24-25 which says, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

This verse is pretty clear.  You really could stop right there if the question were limited to whether or not God wants His saints to regularly assemble.  Before we move on to make an even more complete and compelling case, lets check out a few points in these verses.

First of all, verse 24 keeps us from approaching church attendance with a self-first attitude.  One of the fundamental reasons why a person needs to attend church has to do with encouraging others.  This verse also reveals what our time alone is supposed to look like.  Part of our week’s walk with Christ should involve putting real effort into “considering how to stir up one another to love and good works.” If we spend time throughout the week considering how we can encourage others, we will approach our time at church with a sense of purpose and expectancy.

This verse also adds to the tension discussed in the introduction of this subject.  When our extended biological family asks us to skip church for an event, we have a problem.  On the one hand, we are called to honor our biological family.  Yet on the other hand, we are called to serve and encourage our spiritual family with our church attendance.  I mention this here only to point out the tension.  We will deal with this issue in a future article.

Finally, we should notice that not attending church can easily become a habit.  Getting to church becomes more and more difficult the longer we are absent.  Isn’t it amazing that even this early into the church’s life, new Christians were already struggling with the discipline of church attendance!  There is plenty of grace for people who have fallen into bad habits.  I’ve been there and I’m sure you have too.  One of the ways we might encourage one another is to help those who have slipped into the habit of absence make the changes necessary to break that habit!

We now know that scripture is clear about church attendance.  We should be there!  Next time we’ll try to understand even more about what we are supposed to do while at church.  The urgency of church attendance comes into even sharper focus when we understand the activities we are called to while assembled.

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