WELCOME TO WORSHIP
By W. Frank Walton
"Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God
Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the nations!
Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You
alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before
You, for Your righteous acts have been revealed" (Revelation
15:3-4).
The members of this local church of Christ are very
glad to have you come visit with us. As our honored guest, we
hope you will be spiritually uplifted by our simple, yet
sincere, worship to God. We "come together" (1 Corinthians
11:19) to worship as prescribed in the New Testament. Worship is
an act of adoration directed to the God of the universe and
Redeemer of our souls. He reigns above us in heaven at the
center of the universe, yet He is near all saints who approach
Him through Christ. In honoring God, He is justly magnified and
we are spiritually revitalized.
Our Creator seeks acceptable worship from man.
Jesus taught, "The true worshipers shall worship the Father in
spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His
worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must
worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:23-24). Man's worship must
be done "in spirit" (proper attitude) and "in truth" (proper
act).
SINCERE ATTITUDES FOR WORSHIP
Proper worship arises from man's inner "spirit,"
humbly glorifying His God by gratefully "giving thanks to His
name" (Colossians 3:16). In worship, we must seek to please God
first and not just ourselves. Reverence for God respects His
choice in prescribing the authorized channels of worship. To
illustrate, a preacher told of being in a couples' home in Texas
on the husband's birthday. The wife gave her husband lace
curtains for all the windows! She substituted what she wanted
for what he wanted. Man cannot worship "in spirit" unless his
spirit, in sincere awe, seeks to offer exactly what God wants in
worship, as revealed in His Word. God's approval rests on one
"of a contrite spirit, who trembles at My word" (Isaiah 66:2).
The essence of reverence is the respect for God's authority to
regulate our worship.
From the Old Testament, we can learn an important
lesson from the presumptuous error of the priests Nadab and
Abihu (Leviticus 10:1-2). They knowingly used "unauthorized
fire" in burning incense in tabernacle worship. God struck them
dead to make an example out of them: "By those who come near Me
I will be treated as holy, and before all the people I will be
honored" (Leviticus 10:3). This shows it's a serious mistake to
throw up to God just anything we presume to offer in worship. We
must respect and love God enough to carefully read the New
Testament and follow the prescribed channels of God-glorifying
worship. Jesus asks, "Why do you call Me `Lord, Lord,' and do
not the things I say?" (Luke 6:46). Obedient worship can then be
confidently done with "cheerful" exuberance (2 Corinthians 9:7).
SIMPLE ACTS OF WORSHIP
There are five basic avenues of worship "in truth"
taught by Christ's Word for His church today.
1. The Lord's Supper. On that solemn night of
Jesus' betrayal, He instituted a simple memorial feast of
unleavened bread and fruit of the vine (Matthew 26:26-29). These
two elements represent His crucified body punished for our sins
and His shed blood to redeem us. He says, "Do this in
remembrance of Me" (Luke 22:19). Note the simple elements of
bread and grape juice that's universally available. He asked not
to be remembered by some ornate, showy monument of marble,
granite or gold.
The early baptized believers, by apostolic
authority, regularly gathered on Sunday to break bread (Acts
2:42, 20:7). Every week has a first day, which is the day of
Jesus' triumphant resurrection (Mark 16:9). So, we should
memorialize our crucified Savior and partake of the Lord's table
as often as the first day of the week occurs.
The Lord's Supper is a unifying, spiritual meal for
God's family, as we remember together and publicly proclaim to
the world all that Jesus did for us on the cross (1 Corinthians
10:16, 11:26). We examine ourselves and rededicate ourselves to
Him and His great gospel cause, to which He gave that ultimate
measure of devotion (1 Corinthians 11:27-28).
2. Prayers. The early church continued steadfastly
in "the prayers" (Acts 2:42; 4:24-31; 12:12). Praying together
"in one accord" (Acts 4:24) draws us together before God's
mighty "throne of grace" (Hebrews 4:16). We express common
devotion and pour out our common concerns. We all stand in need
of God's help.
The elements of prayer are: praise of God (Matthew
6:9), thanksgiving to God (John 6:11), confession of sin (1 John
1:9), intercession for others (1 Timothy 2:1-2), and
supplication for our needs (Philippians 4:6).
3. Singing. In our congregational singing, we
speak "to one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs,
making melody in your hearts to God" (Ephesians 5:19). Singing
is the rousing music of the soul. The instrument we use is our
heart, which makes grateful, heartfelt music when reflecting on
God's great Person and works done on our behalf. Vocal singing
is the only music specified and thereby authorized in New
Testament worship (see Matt. 26:30; Acts 16:25; Colossians 3:16;
Romans 15:6; 1 Corinthians 14:15; Hebrews 2:12, 13:15; James
5:13).
You might wonder why we do not use instrumental
music in worship. You may find it surprising that the apostolic
church never used mechanical instrumentals of music in worship.
"There is no record in the New Testament of the use of
instruments in the musical worship of the church" (Wycliffe
Bible Encyclopedia, p. 1163). "A cappella" comes from Latin,
meaning, "in the style of the church." Historian Curt Sachs
observed, "All ancient Christian music was vocal. `We need one
instrument: the peaceful word of adoration, not harps or drums
or pipes or trumpets,' said St. Clement of Alexandria around 200
A.D." (Our Musical Heritage, p. 43). Charles Spurgeon, past
famous Baptist preacher, said, "I had just as soon pray to God
with machinery as to sing to God with machinery."
Under the Law of Moses, mechanical instruments of
music were used in the Jewish Temple worship, along with animal
sacrifices and the burning of incense (2 Chronicles 29:25,
26:18; Psalm 66:13). The Old Testament covenant ended at the
death of Jesus, rendered obsolete by the New Covenant of Christ
(Hebrews 7:11-12; 8:13; Galatians 3:24-25). Hence, there is no
authority in New Testament worship for mechanical instruments of
music. Scripture commands us to "not exceed what is written" (1
Corinthians 4:6). We are content to do Bible things in Bible
ways, limiting our musical worship to vocal music in
soul-stirring hymns.
4. Preaching. The early church heard the
proclamation of God's word in their assemblies (Acts 15:30-32;
20:7-11; 2 Timothy 4:2-5). Faithful preaching includes "the
whole counsel of God" (Acts 20:27; 2 Timothy 4:1-5). In our
services, you will not hear political speeches, secular
psychology lectures or shameless harangues for more money. When
we reverently listen to gospel preaching, we bow in our hearts
before God's living voice in Scripture (Nehemiah 8:2-6). We
should listen to God with worshipful respect, in awe and
reverence. Also, the living words of the living God proclaimed
to dying men should make us "rejoice because of its
encouragement" (Acts 15:31).
In listening to lessons from God's Word, we
earnestly hope that they will: draw you closer to God, stimulate
your spiritual appetite, answer questions, and provoke
thoughtful, positive action in your pursuit of God. The
preaching of "the full message of this new life" (Acts 5:20) is
done with the aim of exalting Christ and transforming your life.
"The word of His grace...is able to build you up and to give you
the inheritance" (Acts 20:32).
Read along in your Bible with the references given
in the lesson and hear God speak to you. In religion, it doesn't
matter what we think or say about it, but only what God has
revealed in Scripture that settles it. The Bereans of old were
commended, "These were more noble minded than those in
Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness,
and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these
things were so" (Acts 17:11).
5. Giving. The New Testament doesn't specifically
legislate tithing (giving 10%) like the Old Testament did for
the Jews. A Christian has given up 100% of this world's goods or
"all his own possessions" (Luke 14:33). We're stewards entrusted
with our God-given possessions to enjoy and use to His glory.
Every Sunday, members give freewill offerings into
the local church treasury, for the church's authorized work, "as
each may prosper" (1 Corinthians 16:2). We do not solicit
donations from visitors. Jesus is Lord of our pocketbook.
Generous, freewill giving is "a sweet-smelling aroma, an
acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God" (Philippians 4:18).
It's the fruit of those who have "first given themselves to the
Lord" (2 Corinthians 8:5). How liberally and joyfully we give
are direct indications of how much we appreciate all the Lord's
blessings (2 Corinthians 8:9. "God loves a cheerful giver" (2
Corinthians 9:7).
The pooling of funds in the church treasury is used
only to support the spiritual, collective work the Lord assigned
to a local church. Supporting the Lord's work is investing in
spiritual treasure in heaven, which has eternal effects (Matthew
6:19-21).
If you have any questions about what is said or
done, we would be glad to talk with you about it. Contact us at
WFrankWalton@juno.com. We are never embarrassed to give a Bible
answer for our beliefs or practices.
We sincerely hope you will seek to please the Lord
by honoring and drawing near to Him in the simplicity of New
Testament worship. It's spiritually satisfying and
unquestionably right. "And a voice came from the throne, saying,
`Give praise to our God, all you His bondservants, you who fear
Him, the small and the great.' And I heard, as it were, the
voice of a great multitude and as the sound of many waters and
as the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, `Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. Let us rejoice and
be glad and give the glory to Him...'" (Revelation 19:5-7).
Come visit us soon.
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