When We Come Together...
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Three |
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WHAT
HAPPENS WHEN CHRISTIANS MEET TOGETHER? |
Five important aspects
of worship
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When the woman at the well asked
Jesus where the proper place to worship God was located, Jesus
responded by saying, "You will worship the Father neither
on this mountain nor in Jerusalem...a time is coming and now has
come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in Spirit
and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father
seeks. God is Spirit, and his worshippers must worship him in
Spirit and truth". (John 4:21, 23-24).
By saying these things, Jesus is sharing with us several very
important concepts about worship: first, he tells us that
worshipping God is not place centered -- the thing that makes
worship important is not the place where it happens; second, he
tells us that worship is directed to God who shows himself as
our Father--we worship from the perspective of a family; third,
true worship comes from those who have the Holy Spirit, because
God is Spirit, and true worship is worship in Spirit; fourth,
true worship involves truth--it must be done how God wants it
done and done by people whose lives are in tune with the worship
they offer; fifth, God our father, actively seeks those who will
worship him in these ways.
Why is it so important to understand all this? Jesus' five
principles about true worship tell you a great deal about what
we do when we assemble together as Christians.
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...a time is coming
and now has come when the true worshippers will worship the
Father in Spirit and truth,
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First, we know that while part of our
worship to God occurs when we come together Sundays, Wednesdays,
or other special occasions, a large part of our worship occurs
at home, on the job, or while we are with friends. Our church
building is just a convenient tool that lets us meet together,
but it is not a special "holy place." What we do in
our daily lives is every bit as important in worshipping God as
is our singing and praying (See Romans 12:1- 2 or 1 Corinthians
6:19-20). This does not mean our meeting together at church
assemblies is unimportant (see Hebrews 10:25). We just recognize
that all of life is part of our worship to him.
Second, we come together as a family to honor our Father in
Heaven. As a family, we have hurts and pains and illnesses that
bother us. We speak plainly about them to each other and to our
Father. We believe sharing and praying to our Father about these
spiritual and physical needs is a very vital part of our worship
that pleases God. We have seen God mightily answer our prayers
to meet both spiritual and physical needs in our church family.
We also share a family "meal" when we come together on
Sundays. Each Sunday we gather as one body, as one family,
remembering the death of Christ in the Lord's Supper and
proclaiming to all that he is coming again to take us to our
home (1 Corinthians 11:27-34).
Third, because worship involves the work of the Holy Spirit
(Philippians 3:3), we understand that it is a privilege to
worship God. As Christians who have received the Holy Spirit, we
are reminded of the grace of God that saved us and of his
precious presence in us that he gave us when we were saved (Acts
2:38). We know that our prayers are made even more precious to
our Father because of the work of the Holy Spirit interceding
for us according to the will of God (Romans 8:26-27; Jude 20).
Our singing is joyful and full of praise because the Spirit
fills us as we speak of our hope and teach one another in our
singing (Ephesians 5:18-20). We recognize in the blending of the
many voices and the sharing of our different backgrounds the
work of the Holy Spirit drawing us into closer fellowship (2
Corinthians 13:13; Philippians 2:1; Ephesians 4:3-6).
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...all of life is
part of our worship to him.
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Fourth, God is Ruler and King of our
lives and is worthy of our devotion and praise. When we meet
together, we worship God to please and honor him. Worship must
be offered in ways that truly please Him--in ways he has told us
please him! He has given us his grace and has generously blessed
us by making us his people, so we joyfully try to please him by
being obedient to his will in our worship of him. But right
forms and right words do not make God happy when they come from
hypocritical hearts and lives that belie the words spoken in
church services. So we try to worship God as he has revealed to
us in His Word, the Bible. We also try to live lives that are
consistent with the words we proclaim. This doesn't mean we are
always right or perfect. We still live in a real world and are
imperfect people, but we are trying to have our worship words
and our daily lives be consistent with the will of our Holy God.
This is why much of what we do when we come together involves
encouraging and building up one another so that we can better
live to please our God (Hebrews 10:24-25; 1 Corinthians 14:26).
Fifth, God yearns for and seeks out men and women who long to
live for him and worship him. God is a Father longing to draw
his children back into that special relationship which brings
joy to both Father and child. As the apostle Paul said, God
wants us to "seek him and perhaps reach out for him and
find him, though he is not far from each one of us. For in him
we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:27-28). As
his children, we invite you to join us in honoring God as your
Father.
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We hope you will want to come and
join us so we can all honor him as one big family!
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To sum it all up, we meet together to
share in our common life in the Spirit by praising, honoring,
and seeking God. Since this is directly tied to the way we live
the rest of the week, we also speak to one another and seek to
meet each other's needs, encouraging one another to a more
dynamic life lived for God. He has done so much for us and is
fully worthy of our worship!
Please let us know if we can be of help in any way. We want you
to have a place you can come and worship the Father, remember
the Son and his sacrifice for us, and be filled with his Spirit
as you sing, pray, and share in encouragement. We hope you will
want to come and join us so we can all honor him as one big
family, the church of Christ at Collinsville. |
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