Worship Service
What to expect...
Worship is not
something we do to please ourselves, but to please God. As
already noted, God’s ways are not our ways. “God is Spirit, and
those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John
4:24 ). This means that we must worship as He directs. God
showed mankind very early that He is not pleased with just
anything men may do in worship to Him (See Genesis 4:3-5;
Leviticus 10:1-2.) Following are the things you will observe us
doing in our worship and the reasons we do them.
Prayer
We pray because of the many
scriptures that authorize it, such as Acts
2:42
; 12:5 and 16;
16:25
;
20:36
; I Thessalonians
5:17; I Timothy 2:1-5.
The last verse cited above
says, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and
men, the Man Christ Jesus.” Since Jesus is
the only mediator between God and men, we pray only through
Jesus. The practice of praying through Mary
or any of the “saints” is shown by this passage to be futile.
Doing so is without Biblical authority and is a tradition
of men.
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Singing
The inspired apostle Paul
wrote, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all
wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the
Lord” (Colossians 3:16). In harmony with
these instructions, we sing in our worship.
We do not use an instrument since neither this passage nor any
other authorizes the church to sing with instruments.
Instruments were used in Old
Testament worship along with incense and animal sacrifices, but
they were never a part of the worship of the church.
Secular history shows that instrumental music was only
added to the worship of the church several hundred years after
the apostles died. To add pianos, organs,
guitars, etc. to the worship without divine authority is to
leave the teaching of the scriptures and follow the doctrines
and commandments of men (Matthew 15:8-9).
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The Lord's Supper
Partaking of the Lord’s
Supper should be to every Christian one of the most meaningful
experiences possible. Jesus said, “This do
in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19-20; I Corinthians 11:24-25).
Communion should never be looked upon as a mere duty, but
as a marvelous privilege. Paul said, “as
often as you eat of this bread, and drink of this cup, you
proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes” (I Corinthians
11:26).
In the New Testament church,
the Lord’s Supper was taken every Sunday.
Both secular and Biblical history show that as long as the
apostles lived, it continued to be a weekly observance and only
centuries later was it reduced to an inferior monthly or
quarterly ceremony. I Corinthians 16:2
establishes that the church met each “first day of the week” and
Acts 20:7 notes one of the primary purposes for such a meeting:
“Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples
came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next
day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.”
Consequently, when we come together on the first day of
each week, it is to “break bread” in the Lord’s Supper.
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Giving
In the scriptures we learn of
the work that is assigned to the church, namely: conduct of
worship, preaching the gospel, edifying the saints and providing
for them when they are in physical need.
When the church unites to do these things, funds are necessary.
Definite instructions are given for raising funds to
accomplish the last of the activities above:
“Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given
orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also: On the
first day of the week let each one of you lay something
aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no
collections when I come” (I Corinthians 16:2).
A collection was to be made each “first day of the week”
so that no special collection would be necessary when Paul
arrived.
No specific instructions are
given in scripture for collecting funds to accomplish the other
works assigned to the church. However, if
this was God’s way of obtaining funds for “for the saints” it is
a strong recommendation for the same method of raising funds for
other works. One thing is certain: There is
a consistent pattern throughout the New Testament for obtaining
funds by free will offerings according to the ability of the
giver. There is no command or example that
would authorize assessing each member or raising funds by
raffles, bake sales, business ventures or by any other means.
Consequently, all of the work
of this church is funded from the one collection taken each
Sunday morning in which members voluntarily give “each one as he
purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God
loves a cheerful giver” (II Corinthians 9:7).
Visitors are not expected to contribute to this
collection; it is considered the responsibility of the members
of the congregation.
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Preaching
Like prayer, the importance
of preaching the gospel is so widely accepted as to need no
comment. Some prominent scriptures are Acts
20:7; Romans 1:15-17; I Corinthians 1:22-24; Galatians 1:8-9.
In our worship, sermons are presented in a simple
practical manner to encourage understanding and compliance with
truth among those who hear.
In our services, public
leadership is by men only. This is not
because we do not value the role of Christian women.
It is simply because of our determination to follow
scripture. Two scriptures are especially
relevant: “Let your women keep silent in the
churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are
to be submissive, as the law also says” (I Corinthians
14:34
).
“And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over
a man, but to be in silence” (I Timothy
2:12
).
In classes women do teach other women and children as authorized
by Titus 2:3-4. Christian women are a great
blessing to the church in many ways, but their role is not
public leadership according to the scriptures.
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