Being the Church

Many of the people in the crowds surrounding Jesus may have been many of the individuals who were to comprise the birth of the church in Acts 2. We see people who praise Jesus as He enters Jerusalem while the Pharisees are stirring unrest. Later in the week, those same people who cried, “Hosanna in the highest!” would cry out, “Crucify Him!” Then they would see and hear of the strange events surrounding Jesus death and resurrection, but the religious leaders who set themselves against Christ were probably feeling good about themselves. About fifty days later, however, something unusual happens at Pentecost, and these leaders and those people again hear Jesus preached about.

They hear Peter speak of prophecies in Joel and other prophets. They hear him and his companions speak languages they could not know. They hear him convict the crowd for the death of Jesus, even after they had seen the wonders and signs surrounding the Messiah. They hear Peter proclaim Jesus as Lord and Savior. They hear him preach forgiveness and salvation, and many in the crowd respond positively to that gospel message, that lesson of repentance and baptism. Some three thousand people are baptized into Christ that day, and more are added daily. This begins the story of the church.

Looking at the Jerusalem church, we want to learn what we should be as God’s the church. We want to do more than go to church. We want to be the church.

Remembering the First

In Revelation 2, one of the congregations Jesus addresses is that at Ephesus. It’s one of those congregations that looks outwardly strong. In verse 2, Jesus even acknowledges their strong stand for the truth, but He goes on to warn them against forsaking their first love. They are doing many of the right things, but they are not doing it for the right reasons. Jesus calls on them to remember where they came from and the love they once had. He asks them to repent and to remember how they first were. What we want is to look back at how the church looked when it was first established. We also want to remember what we were like as a new congregation ourselves.

Acts 2:42 talks about the things the first church did. It speaks of generosity toward each other. It speaks of a strong community who shared time, meals, prayers, and praise. They were together often, and they were spending a great deal of time together, doing things for God. They were visiting each other’s homes. They were sharing meals. The enthusiasm was infectious. Acts 5:42, Acts 12:5, Acts 12:17 – these and more demonstrate the enthusiasm in the first church and the love they show each other. They get together for prayer. They congregate to work out spiritual issues. They get together to teach and to edify. They come together to build each other up and keep each other on the road to Heaven.

The Hardships

We know from books like Hebrews that there were struggles involving sliding back to old traditions and old ways. We know those same religious leaders who tried to bring down Christ were also trying to bring down these new Christians. This is why Hebrews 10:25 and the surrounding verses are so important. They needed to come together again and again to encourage each other, to remind each other of their goal, to comfort each other, to study together and to pray with and for each other. They needed this in the face of overwhelming pressure and terrible persecution.

Hebrews 10:25 was not written to beat people up over attendance at worship, but why do we feel we have to use it that way? If you Google “not forsaking the assembly,” the majority of  top results link to Church of Christ websites addressing the issue of attendance, butt that will come naturally if our focus is God and if we are being the church of the First Century. Hebrews 2:1, 3:1-2, 4:1, 4:14, 6:4-6, 9:15 – these and more compel those early Christians to watch out for each other and to continue focusing on God. We may feel like we are not getting encouraged at worship, but that’s not the point. The point is that we should be working to encourage each other. Our focus should not be on ourselves, but on God and on our brothers and sisters in Christ.

It’s exciting to look back on the early days of the church and see the energy and the passion that they had. It’s also exciting to look back at the early days of our own congregation and see the same thing. Let’s rekindle those feelings and throw ourselves into lives where we no longer merely “go to church.” Let’s get busy being church.

lesson by Ben Lanius

Worship 24x7: Having Fun

In this series of lessons, we’ve looked at what true worship is – that it is more than playing church when we come together to assemble. It is part of who we are everywhere we are. We’ve considered worshipful living while at work as well as in our home lives. We’ve looked at worshipful living in our school communities both as students and parents, and today we’ll be looking at worshipful living at something we might not usually consider – while engaged in our free time and while having fun.

A Life Meant to Be Enjoyed

Fun is an attitude, and the challenge is to keep a Christian attitude while having fun. This may be the most difficult time to stay Christ-like in our conduct. Hebrews 5:14 reminds us that we should have good discernment as mature Christians, and this is true even when entertaining ourselves. In the moment, we may not always do such a good job choosing between good and evil; we may be around people who are not the best influences; and we may give into peer pressure to prevent killing the fun.

God means for His people to enjoy their lives, and we see His people engaged in celebration and joy numerous times in the Old Testament. In the New, we even see Jesus’ first miracle taking place at a wedding celebration. To follow God is not to renounce the joy of this life. Ecclesiastes 11:8 calls on us to rejoice in our lives. Verse 9 tells us to rejoice in our youth, and verse 10 calls on us to remove pain from our hearts. A joyless life will do nothing to bring others to Christ, and a joyless life is full of wasted opportunities to lift others up and to celebrate all God has given us.

Our Example in Recreation

We should be known by the example we set. We should have fun on our terms, rather than the terms of others. There are limits to the type of fun we should have, and when we engage in sin for entertainment, it takes away from our worshipful living. There is plenty of joy without sin, and Proverbs 13:9 tells us the light of our righteousness should always shine. I Peter 4:3-5 tells us we will give up some activities and some friends when we submit to following God, but we can be an example to them of joy without immorality.

So what do we do for fun? Who do we choose to be around? Do these choices reflect our Christian values? If someone will not be your friend because you abstain from sin, then you don’t need that influence in your life. They may think you are mean, a jerk, a prude, but being a Christian is between you and God, not between you and them. Romans 12:1-2 calls on us to be living sacrifices. This means we won’t be like those around us. It means we won’t even be like our former selves. Philippians 1:10 admonishes us to keep ourselves spotless for Christ’s return.

Conclusion

We need to evaluate who we are when having fun. We have to define ourselves, our opinions of ourselves and our boundaries. We must refine ourselves, making sure our choices then reflect the definition we have of ourselves. Finally, once we define and refine ourselves, we must be ourselves. We are Christians no matter where we are; we must always be setting a Christian example to those around us; we need to make good choices about those we spend time with. As living sacrifices, we can succeed even while having fun if we decide how we will reflect Christ in the choices we make.

lesson by Mike Mahoney

Worship 24x7 At School

We’ve been studying about worship the last few weeks at our congregation, and we’ve emphasized time and again that worship is more than what we do when we gather together with our congregation. It’s more than singing songs, mouthing prayers, listening to lessons, and partaking of the Lord’s Supper – even when we do these things in complete truth and with a sincere heart. Worshipping God is something we do in how we conduct ourselves everywhere. Hebrews 13:15-16 and Romans 12:1-2 both call on us to be living sacrifices, reflecting God in our lives. In this lesson, we’re going to look at the school community and how we worship God in our conduct both as students and as parents.

Worship 24 x 7 At School

The Power of Example

The most powerful tool of worship we have as students is that of our example. We’re familiar with I Timothy 4:12 that tells us to be an example in speech, in love, in conduct, in faith, and in purity. We also know Ecclesiastes 12:1, reminding us to serve our Creator in the days of our youth. What do others see in you at school? What kind of example are you setting in front of your peers, your teachers, the custodians, instructional assistants, and anyone else with whom you interact? Does your speech, your attitude, your online conduct, your choices, your work ethic cause them to despise or respect your youth?

I Thessalonians 4:1-2 is an admonition that we know how we should be living. The fact is we just have to do it, and this includes at school. Unfortunately, parents, this applies to us too. We adults have to ask ourselves what our child’s peers see in us. Do they see parents who conduct themselves in a Christlike way? Do they see a family that puts spiritual matters before physical? Would they guess your spiritual affiliation by the conduct they see when you are at a school game, picking up or dropping off your child, when they visit your home? What do the teachers of that school see in you? The example you set will greatly inform the example your child is able to set themselves.

The Power of Choice

Right up there with the power of our example is the power of the choices we make as students and parents. My wife, when she was young, had a sign posted to her bedroom door that read, “I am the most powerful person in my life.” It served as reminder to her that she had the final say in what she let herself get drawn into. It reminded her that no friend – casual or romantic – could control her. It reminded her that no one makes her do anything, nor could any troubling external factor take control of her life.

As students, we choose who we hang out with, and I Corinthians 15:33 simply states that bad companions will drag us down. Yes, we might believe we can change someone, that we can be the example they need, but we also have to realize when the burden is becoming too heavy to bear. II Corinthians 6:14 warns against being unequally yoked with unbelievers. If our companions are dragging us away from Christ, despite our best efforts, maybe it’s time to choose different friends. Still, We can’t always choose who we’re going to be around because our classes are set by others. The teams, clubs, and arts we choose will dictate who we are around a great deal of time, but that again comes down to choice.

Coming back to parents, we need to be involved enough with our kids’ lives that we can see when something is bringing them down or influencing them in a bad way. We need to have such a relationship with our children that we can talk about such things with them and be able to offer advice and guidance. At times, we have to be able to nudge them to reach the right conclusions themselves, and we need the wisdom to know when our kids need to handle something themselves before we exert our influence. We would all do well to remember I Corinthians 10:12-13 that assures us we can overcome any struggle or temptation or discouragement laid before us. It comes down to the choices we make.

Worship in Practical Conduct 

Students

• What is your work ethic at school? How do you act when in a class you don’t want to take? Do you, as Paul instructs Ephesians 6:5-7, work as if you are serving God?
• How do you treat those you don’t like? How do you treat teachers you don’t like? Do you participate in making fun of others when your friends get going?
• How do you respond to those who are mean to you, teacher or student? Matthew 5:38-48 teaches we should never return evil for evil.
• What activities and social events are you participating in? Parties where you know there will be drinking? Dances where you know you'll feel pressured to conduct yourself in an improper way? Clubs that will perpetually take away time you should be devoting to God?

I’m not saying here that you can only have friends who are Christians. I’m not saying you are eternally lost for attending prom. I’m not saying you can’t be in band, orchestra, on the football team, in theater. What I’m saying is this, though: be careful that your choices do not make your spiritual walk unnecessarily difficult, and always remember that God comes first in your extracurriculars. There is always a way to do the right thing.

Parents

• How do we conduct ourselves around our kids’ teachers? Do they see us arguing with or undermining those teachers? How do you think that will affect their effort and behavior in class?
• Do our kids hear us badmouthing their school and their teachers at home? Again, how will this affect their attitude at school if they see a bad attitude from us?
• Do we accidentally send messages to our children that we don’t value an education by letting them miss school for reasons of convenience – maybe for vacations or other things we don’t want to schedule for personal time? If your kids see you don’t value their education, how much will they value it?
• On the other hand, do we send a message that we don’t value God because we let every practice, concert, school event, program, or big assignment take priority over worshipping God and studying from His word with our brothers and sisters?
• Are we familiar with the friends our children choose and the activities in which they participate? Do we take the time to discuss the challenges they face?

I think the biggest challenges we face as parents are those raised by our inherent protectiveness. I’ve had parents call me up, call me names, use foul language, and then end the conversation with, “Have a blessed day.” We also have to realize that we are only ever getting one side of those stories that trigger our protective instincts, and, whether they intend to do so or not, our children’s versions of events are biased for themselves. We have to be calm and Christlike in the face of school challenges, and we have to show we value their education as much as we want them to value it.

Conclusion

By the time you graduate from your senior year in high school, you will have spent at least 15,120 hours at school – that is, if you don’t start until first grade and never participate in any extracurricular events ever and your school day is only seven hours. We will come in contact with hundreds, if not thousands, of individual souls during that timespan, and every one of those souls we have a chance to bring closer to Christ. If we choose to walk in Christ’s footsteps, even if we would rather do things that would take us away from Him, and even when we are around people we don’t like, then we can worship God through our conduct in our school communities.

lesson by Robert Smelser

Worship 24x7 at Work

We discussed in our lest lesson that worship is more than what we do within the walls of our congregation. In every aspect of our lives, we worship God in our conduct, in our attitudes, in our service to Him in all places and all times. This carries over to our workplace. The way we conduct ourselves at work reflects who we are as Christians, and there should be no separation between the standards we hold ourselves to at church and our expectations of ourselves at work.

We set an example when we are working. The ethics and morality we follow, the language we use, the way we treat those we work with, the attitudes we demonstrate – these show God and others our true commitment to our Christian walk. Does our conduct at work demonstrate our faith and values, or do we contradict our spiritual lives with our work lives?

Christians at Church and Work

In Matthew 15:8-9, Jesus calls one whose words and actions do not match a hypocrite. I John 1:6 warns that we are lying to ourselves if we think we follow Him while not living by His word. If we are worshipping God in word on Sunday, but the deeds of our lives do not back that worship up, then that worship in in vain.

Romans 12:14-21 outlines some principles we should be following: not giving into temptation, living peaceably with others, never repaying evil with evil. God does not grant us exemptions on expectations simply because we are in the pursuit of money. We spend a great deal of time at work. It is where we have the most connections and opportunities, and it is where we should be working the hardest to let our light shine.

Living Thankfully at Work

We often offer thanks for our jobs and our material blessings. We pray for His continual provisions for us and our families. If we are not living the way we should at work, however, we are praying in vain. Ephesians 6:5-8 tells us we should be good employees not to please man, but to please God. Colossians 3:22-25 says much the same, reminding us that our true reward comes from God and not from man. I Timothy 6:1-2 and Titus 2:9-10 encourages us to conduct ourselves humbly and ethically in the workplace.

We need to work as if we are working for God. Our work ethic should be unspotted. We should deal honestly with those we come into contact with at work. We should never leave an opening for someone to say about us: “They did that? I thought they were a Christian.” This means we avoid griping and moaning. We avoid taking advantage of our position. We should be respectful to our managers and supervisors, and we should be honestly earning the wages we’re given.

I Peter 2:18-21 teaches the difficult lesson that we are to work as well for difficult employers as we would for a good manager. What credit is it to us if we work well for someone easy to work with? Our character really comes out when things get tough. If we are in a position of authority, however, Ephesians 6:9 tells us we should be as humble as if we were in a position of subjection. We are to be respectful, fair, and kind toward those who work under us.

Worship At Work

When we work as God would have us, living the trust we have for God in our lives, then we will set an example to people we may not even know are looking up to us. Our conduct can glorify God in a setting where there is much to lead us astray – pressures to socialize in ungodly ways, to fall into ungodly joking and conversations, to get caught up into office dramas, to skim a little extra for ourselves. If we keep Him first, worshipping Him even in the workplace, then we can keep ourselves above those influences.

What matters to you at work? Do your actions and attitudes reflect God? Work with respect and good will for your superiors. Demonstrate integrity. Offer good service to employers both good and bad. Remember your ultimate master is in Heaven, and it is Him we seek to please. Treat those under your authority with kindness and respect. Treat coworkers, employers, and employees the way you want them to treat you. Let your conduct at work be worship to our Heavenly Father, the final authority and master in our lives.

lesson by Mark RItter

Worship 24x7

For many of us, worship consists of what we do when we come together once or twice a week. We have this worship broken down into five formal acts – singing, praying, teaching, communion, and contribution. This is not all worship is, however. Worship is something that should be happening outside the walls of your congregation. We have to understand more about worship if we are going to live worshipfully in all aspects of our lives.

Worship from the Heart

The Greek word for worship literally means to prostrate one’s self, to bow down. The English root is “worth-ship.” It is something we do, not because we are commanded or because we get something out of it, but rather we worship because God is worthy of that worship. True worship will indeed build us up as we draw closer to God, but our worship centers on Him first and foremost. He wants us to worship Him as well as have a desire to worship Him.

We know John 4:24, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” Jesus says this in context of one questioning Him about the proper place of worship. Jesus says the proper place to worship is from within. In Mark 12:28-31, Jesus says the greatest of the commandments is to love God with all of our heart, soul, and strength. It is a love we carry with us everywhere and at all times. It is not constrained to a specific time and location.

Worship in Our Lives

Amos 5:21-24 outlines God condemning acts of worship that are following the prescribed pattern. They were doing what was commanded, so why was God not pleased? Isaiah 1:11-17 repeats this condemnation, telling the people that their lives did not match their worship. They came together and went through the steps of worship while living in a way that invalidated their worship. Today, we can be guilty of the same if our lives do not lift God up in worshipful living.

Real worship is a life devoted to our God. Without that form of worship coming daily from us, our assembled worship means little. Hebrews 13:15-16 says,

Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

Our lives should be sacrifices of praise; doing good to others, giving of ourselves for the sake of others, defending and helping those in need, living prayerfully – all of these things constitute worship. It is a surrendering of our lives to God in all places and at all times.

Romans 12:1-2:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

To live sacrificially, we have to remove the world from our hearts while we live that life among the world. We are transformed, putting our former selves to death, worshipping God from a well that comes from within. Hebrews 12:1-2 calls on us to lay aside the weights of this world in our lives, and verses 12-15 then instruct us to strengthen those around us, to live peacefully, to live morally, to lift the fallen. This is the acceptable worship spoken of in verse 28.

Examples of Worshipful Living

David exemplifies worshipful living in Psalm 51, calling on God for forgiveness. He not only asks to be forgiven, but David asks God to make his life pure and a life of praise. He knows sacrifices and offerings are not enough, and David calls a humble and softened heart the true sacrifice God desires. Back in Mark 12, the scribe who asked Jesus about worship understand this, and Jesus commends him, saying the scribe is near to the kingdom.

Philippians 1:19-20 records Paul saying that Christ will be honored in him in life or death, and verse 27 encourages us to make our lives worthy of the gospel. Chapter 4:18 calls the generosity of the church in Philippi a sacrifice acceptable before God. Ephesians 5:1-2 uses these same terms to describe walking in love, and Paul goes on to describes what such a life looks like – free of immorality, free of covetousness, free of deceit. He calls on us to walk as children of light, to walk with care and wisdom, using our time wisely and forever giving thanks to God and living humbly before Him and others.

lesson by Dawson Guyer

Necessary Changes

We know Psalm 51 as written by David after being confronted by Nathan over the sin with Bathsheba. He calls upon God, numerous times in the psalm, to cleanse him, to make him whiter than snow, to heal his broken spirit. He promises, in return, to teach others of God’s mercy and His forgiveness, and He praises God for that forgiveness working in his life. David is aware of a change that has to happen in himself to bring himself closer to his God.

Acts 3:20 talks about this change as repentance, and Romans 12 emphasizes this change as a transformation. Paul goes on to talk about how this change manifests itself in our lives, in our morality, in humility, and in our treatment of others. Time and again in Christ’s teachings and those of His apostles, we are instructed to change ourselves, and there are many areas in which we can strive to change and improve ourselves.

Improvement Through Change
We need to change our ignorance into knowledge. Hebrews 5:11 warns us against becoming “dull of hearing,” for such dullness leads to spiritual immaturity. I Timothy 1:7 warns that spiritual ignorance leads to false teachings, but Hebrews 5:14 reminds us that experience and exercising our knowledge is what develops spiritual maturity, helping us discern between good and evil.

This leads us to our second necessary change. I Corinthians 3:1-3 warns against maintaining spiritual immaturity, and they remained worldly-minded because of this immaturity. Hebrews 6:1 calls on us to push on to perfection, full growth in Christ, but this comes with more than time. Our conduct, our attitudes, our spiritual knowledge – these tell others how spiritually mature we are.

Romans 13:11 calls on us to wake out of sleep. He admonishes us to change our laziness into zeal. If we are simply drifting along, we have to awaken and take an active role in our spiritual growth. In verse 14, Paul calls on us to adorn ourselves in Christ and abandon the cares that cause us to languish in worldliness. Also, I Corinthians 15:34 encourages to awake to righteousness, to awake to knowledge, and to sin no more. Ephesians 5:14 merely calls upon us to awake.

Our lack of reverence must then be turned into true worship. In Mark 7:6, Jesus quotes from Isaiah: “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me…” In Luke 18:9-14, Jesus reinforces this point with a parable of a tax collector and a Pharisee going up to pray. The Pharisee honors God with his lips while praising himself where the tax collector, in his humble confession, truly approaches God in reverence, awe, and humility. Our worship must not only please ourselves, but it must also please our God.

We must furthermore turn our weariness into gladness. We must not let our fatigue do us in. Galatians 6:7-10 and Ephesians 2:10 remind us that we are here to do good works. Look to Jesus as an example. How tiring His ministry was! How discouraging to face opposition time and again! Yet, He never abandoned His mission. He never ceased in doing good for others. Likewise, we must always look for opportunities to serve others.

Giving All
We must stop making excuses. We must stop giving less than our best. We must change our minimums into maximums. In all of these things – our knowledge, our service, our worship, our reverence, our maturity – it comes down to just how much we’re willing to give to God in our lives. We have many necessary changes to make, and we can accomplish them all by giving our all to serving and honoring our God in every aspect of our lives.

lesson by Tim Smelser

Service God Deserves

Jeremiah 2 records God remembering Judah’s former faithfulness and their slow descent into idolatry. In verse 5, God asks, “What wrong did your fathers find in me that they went far from me…?” In other words, God wants to know what He had done to deserve the service, or lack thereof, He was receiving from then. We have to ask ourselves the same thing. When God looks down upon us, does He wonder why we have traveled so far from Him? Or can He look upon us and say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant?”

Seeking the Lord
In verses 6-8 of Jeremiah 2, we see one reason the people strayed from Him. They simply ceased seeking Him. Matthew 6:33 concludes Jesus’ thoughts about the cares of this world with this thought: “Seek first the kingdom of God.” Colossians 3:1-4 calls on us to die to the cares of this life and set our minds on things above. Simply put, God needs to come before everything else. He comes first, and everything else is just details – the demands of our jobs, the interests we wish to pursue, many of the things we think we need. Jesus promises us that God will look out for us; we should therefore be seeking Him before all things.

Fellowship with Our Spiritual Family
Jeremiah 5:26 and Jeremiah 7:1 both begin passages that call upon God’s people to reform their ways, to cease oppression, to be just, and to care for those in need. We so often limit our charity to our fellow Christians, but it is more than that. Now Colossians 3:12-14 clearly outlines how Christians are supposed to treat each other. We are to be meek, humble, patient, forgiving, and loving. Galatians 5:13-15 warns us against looking for problems, and Galatians 6:1-3 calls on us to bear each others' burdens and to look upon our brothers and sisters in Christ with compassion and gentleness. There are times when we will need to help each other through problems, and there are other times when we might be the ones in need of help. In all that we do, others come first. The days of putting ourselves first passed when we became living sacrifices to God.

A Perfect Sacrifice
Malachi 1:6-8 speaks to the people neglecting the glory and honor due God. They dishonored Him in their service. They were superficially spiritual, and we are too often guilty of the same thing. We come into worship, overly worried about how long certain acts of worship will take. Our minds are elsewhere while singing His praises. Back in Malachi 1, God decries imperfect sacrifices vowed to Him. We have promised Him our lives. We have promised to give Him the best, and that service continues whether we are within the walls of our meeting place or we are out in the world. Colossians 3:5 asks us to put away the material idolatry and blemishes in our own lives. When we vow to give our lives to Christ, we become a changed person, and we must be diligent to maintain that new perfection of spirit. This applies in worship, in how we treat our families, in how we conduct ourselves at work, in the way we treat others, in everything we do and everywhere we go.

Romans 5:5-10 reminds us of the hope we have because of the great sacrifice made for us. God gave us His best. When He looks down on us, does He see us giving our best in return? Do we present ourselves as living sacrifices, or does He ask Himself why we have gone so far from Him?

lesson by Kent Ward

The Seven Churches and Us

The challenge in examining ourselves is to examine ourselves, not as we see ourselves, but as God sees us. We often hold ourselves to one standard while God may hold us to another. This is true both individually as well as a congregation. As a congregation, we have successes; we have failures; we have challenges; and we have times of growth. In these times, we have to remind our selves this: that God knows our work and our hearts, that He cares about our work, and that He has standards against which our congregation is measured.

In Revelation 1:13, Jesus is pictured as being present among seven churches of Asia Minor. He walks in their midst. Throughout the next couple chapters, Jesus speaks to the strengths and challenges faced by these congregations. Often, we wish to be like the church of Philadelphia, but, had Jesus addressed us in this book, what might He have said to us?

Jesus’ Address to His Churches
Repeatedly, Jesus begins by affirming He knows these congregations. He knows their works, their deeds, their challenges, their tribulations. This paints a picture of a Savior, not one who is disinterested and uninvolved. Instead, through this, Jesus reassures them and us that He takes an active interest in our lives. He cares about us. He knows what trials we face.

Jesus also speaks to “him that overcomes,” in the letters, reminding us of the reward that lies ahead. Likewise, Jesus repeats, “he that has an ear, let him hear.” These days, we might say, “I know you can hear me, but are you listening?” He is making it clear that the words He shares are important to their spiritual survival. What, then, can we learn from those words, and how can we apply these letters to our own efforts as a congregation?

The Message to the Seven Churches

• To Ephesus, Jesus commends their efforts in keeping purity among their congregation. He knows they have endured in their work and have resisted evil. However, He chastises them for losing love in their service.
• With Smyrna, he contrasts their physical poverty with their spiritual wealth. He warns them of impending persecution and promises them reward should they endure.
• To Pergamum, Jesus praises them for holding to His word even in a place where Satan has a symbolic throne. He warns them, however, that there are those among them holding to false doctrines.
• With Thyatira, He speaks of their love and their ministry as well as their growth. He holds against them their tolerating a Jezebel among them, leading members of their congregation astray, and he calls for those that have succumbed to her influence to repent.
• To Sardis, Jesus says they have a good reputation, but He knows they are spiritually dead. He acknowledges, however, that even they have some among them whose robes remain white and pure.
• To Philadelphia, Jesus promises protection in times of tribulation to come. He knows they have remained faithful, and He encourages them to endure in the times to come.
• With Laodicea, Jesus criticizes the congregation for being lukewarm, uncommitted, and He warns He will dispense of them if they refuse to repent from their indifference. He admonishes them to see themselves as Christ sees them.

The Message to Us
We are probably most familiar with the letters to Ephesus and to Laodicea, but we can learn from the themes that run through all of these letters. We see Jesus commend, time and again, congregations’ endurance, their intolerance of false doctrine, their love. In contrast, a vein of indifference seems to affect many of these congregations’ efforts. They may have become unloving. They may have tolerated unscriptural teachings in some aspects. They may have been simply going through the motions.

We can relate to letter to Ephesus when Jesus calls on them to return to their first works. When we first obey the gospel, we may be full of energy and enthusiasm, but the cares of this world can wear us down. We can become comfortable with routine and forget the reasons behind those actions. Thyatira stands in contrast to Ephesus, whose later works are greater than their first. One congregation is praised for growing in their efforts while the other was dwindling. Which are we?

To Laodicea, Jesus encourages them to find their strengths. He asks them to find how they can be beneficial. He asks them to either be cold or hot, just as we all need cold refreshment at times and hot at others. We can be soothing or refreshing in different ways – a cold glass of water to some and a warm cocoa to others. Laodicea, however, is neither. They are uncommitted, but Jesus encourages them to simply get to work.

In these chapters, Jesus reminds us that He knows where we are and what we are going through, but the message is the same: “Get to work.” We can fall back on many excuses for lack of ministry, lack of growth, or lack of love, but Jesus calls on us to overcome those excuses. He reminds us to give ear to His word and endure with His promises set firmly before us.

lesson by Tim Smelser

And the Stones Cried

Among the psalms of worship, lament, intercession, history, and others, are a collection of songs that proclaim God’s greatness as seen in nature. Three of these are Psalms 29, 148, and 19. Psalm 29 describes God as a thunderstorm, His voice and nature seen in the thunder, in the waves, in the winds, in the animals taking shelter – all of these proclaim glory to God. Likewise, all nature is called to praise Jehovah in Psalm 148, from creatures of the deep to the stars of the heavens. Finally, the heavens testify God’s name in Psalm 19.

Nature is called upon time and again to give praise to God. Jesus calls on this imagery during the last week of His ministry. As He rides into Jerusalem in Luke 19:36, multitudes welcome Him in praise. They sing from Psalm 118 as Jesus passes by, calling Him their king, bearing testimony of His name. In verse 39, the Pharisees call on Jesus to rebuke His overenthusiastic followers, understanding the undercurrents of their worship. Jesus responds by claiming that, should His followers fall silent, nature itself, even the stones on the ground, would cry out.

When the Stones Cried Out
By the end of this week, Jesus is arrested, tried unfairly, and crucified. Who testifies on Jesus’ behalf now? In Matthew 26:56, the disciples abandon Him. Later in the same chapter, Peter goes so far as to deny association with the Christ. In verses 59-61, no religious leaders testify in Jesus’ name. In fact, they seek false testimony to condemn Him. In John 19, none in the multitudes – many of whom would have been praising Jesus earlier that week – cry out for Jesus’ release. Instead, they call for His death.

Pilate partially tries to speak on Jesus’ behalf. One of the thieves on the cross expresses belief, but who would listen to the testimony of a criminal? Then, in Matthew 27, after Jesus cries, “It is finished,” darkness descends for three hours – in the middle of the day. The veil of the temple tears top to bottom, and the earth shakes, rocks torn and broken. Up to this point, silence has been the only testimony for Jesus. Now, the rocks cry out in testimony of Jesus’ divinity.

The Testimony of Living Stones
In the last supper of John 17, Jesus prays that the Father will glorify Him with His past glory. Hebrews 1:3 calls Jesus the radiance of God’s glory, and John 1 equates Jesus with God. These rocks testify God’s glory among man as in Psalms 29, 148, and 19. They proclaim the culmination of salvation’s wondrous plan. When all others are silent, nature proclaims God’s glory.

Two thousand years later, stones still cry out His glory. In I Peter 2:5, Peter calls those who follow Jesus living stones. Philippians 1:11 calls on us to be filled with righteousness as testimony to God’s glory. Every word and action of our lives should proclaim God’s glory. When all others are silent, we should bear testimony of our God and Savior. As living stones, we proclaim His greatness with one voice, living for Him and because of Him.

lesson by Tim Smelser

A Hymn of Grace

As far back as we can follow God’s people, we can see singing as a natural expression of praise. Moses and Israel sing to Jehovah upon the Exodus; the book of Psalms is a collection of songs the Israelites used in their worship; Mary sings a song praising God when she learns of her pregnancy with Jesus; and we see songs in the New Testament as a way of teaching and edifying one another. While Paul may not have originally intended this passage as such, Ephesians 1:3-14 is traditionally considered a hymn of grace, and Paul reminds us of God’s good works toward us through this song.

The Three Verses of Ephesians 1:3-14

• Verses 3-6 in our Bibles is considered the first verse or stanza of the song. This passage considers what it must have taken for God to take on flesh to be our redeeming sacrifice. It is a reflection of God’s love demonstrated in Christ. From Him all blessing s flow, and we praise Him for that grace.
• Verses 7-12 comprise the second stanza. This passage considers Jesus’ role in redemption. It is praise to the Son for being the one to come and lay down himself so we may have an inheritance of salvation. In Him we have forgiveness and redemption with the shedding of His blood, and we praise Him for that sacrifice.
• Verses 13-14 comprise the final stanza, focusing on the work of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit seals our promise and guarantees our inheritance, and we praise the Spirit for His work.

Conclusion

All of these stanzas end with glorification of God, embodied in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Our lives are to glorify our God and be reflections of His glory. We praise Him for His work, for His inheritance, for His sacrifice, for His grace. He has done so much for us. How can we give less back than a life of praising Him and sacrificing ourselves for His glory?

lesson by Tim Smelser

Instruments in Worship

We can’t read many psalms without seeing God’s worshipers encouraged to play upon instruments like cymbals and harps. When Solomon brings the ark to the temple, the people play upon instruments in praise of God. Why, then, do we not use instruments in our own worship? It seems contradictory with what we see in the history of God’s people and their worship of Him.

A Short History of Instruments in Worship
A cappella singing is often considered a modern Church of Christ tradition or doctrine. The term a cappella literally means “in chapel style.” The use of a cappella singing worship is nothing new. Even the New Catholic Encyclopedia recognizes that the New Testament church worshiped without instruments for nearly a thousand years, and the rejections of instrumental worship was universal among early influential theologians. Organs were introduced into worship around 950 CE. They did not become universally accepted until the 1300s.

Martin Luther equated instrumental worship with idolatry. John Calvin called it a foolish carryover from the Old Testament. John Wesley said instruments should be neither seen nor heard in a place of worship. A cappella singing is not the younger trend. Saints blending their voices predates the tradition of bringing instruments into worship.

The New Testament on Worship
The history is intriguing and informative, but it does not provide scriptural authority one way of the other. Ephesians 5:19 tells us to speak to one another in psalms and hymns, making melody in our hearts. Colossians 3:16 tells us to teach and admonish one another in song, singing in thankfulness to God.

The structure of these verses directly parallels wording we find in the psalms. Look at Psalm 33:2, Psalm 144:9, Psalm 98:5, and Psalm 147:7. These verses and more contain a specific structure of function, object, and means. For example:

“(Function) Sing praises (Object) to the Lord (Means) with the ten-stringed harp.” - Psalm 33:2

Contrast this with:

“(Function) Singing (Object) to the Lord (Means) with your heart.” - Ephesians 5:19

Remember that Paul is educated as a Pharisee. He has an intimate knowledge of God’s word, and he is very intentional with his wording when instructing Christians in New Testament worship. Man-made instruments are replaced with those made by God.

Types and Shadows
Hebrews 8:5 refers to the Old Testament as a shadow of heavenly things, going so far as having physical representations for spiritual realities. Hebrews 9:11 calls the old law a law made with human hands and contrasts that with Christ’s spiritual covenant. Hebrews 9:9 calls those things symbolic, and chapter 10:1 refers to the Old Testament as a shadow of things to come. The Levitical code served as a precursor for a spiritual kingdom as illustrated in Jeremiah 31:31-34. Everything would change, including the way God’s people would worship Him.

Colossians 2:14 says Jesus has removed this old covenant to the cross, and Galatians 3:25 bluntly says we are no longer under that law. Hebrews 10:9 simply states that Jesus has removed the first covenant to provide a second that gives sanctification. We cannot use the Old Testament as a source of authority for our worship and practices. The outward forms of the Old Testament have been removed. Again, those things made by man are replaced by those made by God.

Remember the conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman in John 4:20-24 regarding the proper place of worship. Jesus states that the place of worship will no longer matter, just that God’s followers come to Him with true hearts. Hebrews 12:18 says our mountain of worship cannot be touched by hands. It is spiritual and heavenly. These concepts are also related to Romans 2:29, I Corinthians 10:1-4, I Peter 2:5, and Hebrews 13:15. The focus is no longer on the physical. Rather it is on the spiritual and the heart.

Conclusion
When David wants to build God a temple, God, in I Kings 8:18, recognizes David’s intentions are good. II Samuel 7:6-7, however, records that God forbids David from going through with the construction of that temple despite those intentions. We can no more supersede God’s will in our worship that David could in constructing the temple. Setting all intentions aside, it comes down to what God has asked for.

We should no more want to use the Old Testament to justify instruments in our worship than we should want to include sacrificing lambs, burning incense, or requiring circumcision. The few verses that address worshiping God in congregational music specifically instruct us to sing from our hearts, making melody with the voices God made for us. According to Psalm 22:3, God has historically been enthroned upon the praises of His people. Do we enthrone Him with praises on our terms or His – worshiping Him with the melodies of our heart?

lesson by Tim Smelser

Our Gifts to God

What kind of gift do you give someone who is hard to buy for? What do you give someone who has everything? We often ask ourselves these questions when special occasions arise. There is always someone who we have no idea what to give them. How does this apply to what we return to God. Romans 6:20-32 gives us a glimpse of what God has given us and the cost He undertakes on our behalf. Much of the Bible records God’s plan to respond to and negate the effects of sin – even including coming to this world as man to be offered up as a perfect sacrifice, atoning us from sin.

It’s natural to want to give something back to One who has provided so much for us. What do we give in return? God provides all things. He created all things. What can we give Him that He doesn’t already have?

What We Can Give God

• Our Love. God does not inherently have our love, nor does He force us to give Him our love. We can choose to accept Him or reject Him. We can intellectually “love” God because we feel expected to, and Matthew 22:34 does say to love is the greatest commandment – loving God and our fellow man. THis is not a compulsive love, though. It comes from our gratitude. I John 4:19 reminds us our love is a response to His.
• Our Obedience. Just accepting God’s gift entails obedience. He gives us the ability to choose whether or not we will submit to Him. Titus 3:4-8 reminds that Christ came, not because our righteousness, but because of our inability to save ourselves. The natural reaction, the natural gift, for such sacrifice is obedience. It is a gift of appreciation.
• Our Worship. Romans 12:1 calls us living sacrifices in our worship. This can be a collective gift or an individual gift. We can show our appreciation together, offering something more substantial in our unity. It is something He wants of us that only we can provide.

Conclusion

We should be concerned that we are not selfish in the gifts we give God. We can know what He wants from us, and He gave us the best He had to offer in His gift of salvation. We should be willing to give Him our best in return, and we can be confident that He will accept our gift and appreciate our efforts when we do our best in our love, obedience, and worship. Psalm 116:12 asks what the psalmist can do to repay God’s gifts. He offers love, obedience, and sacrificial worship. He praises the Lord. What can we give God today? We can give of ourselves, offering our gift to a God who has given so much to us.

lesson by Ben Lanius

Showing Devotion to God

This past Wednesday is commonly referred to as Ash Wednesday, which begins the observation of Lent – a time of fasting and prayer leading up to the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection. Christians demonstrate solidarity with Christ by sacrificing something of import to them, but, in the modern day, these sacrifices have become trivial – giving up television, chocolate, video games, or other such conveniences. What do we do to be one with our God? Around the world, various faiths have different rites and ceremonies – some painful and dangerous – to show their commitment to their god or gods. What is God looking for in our devotion to Him and the way we demonstrate that devotion?

How Do We Show Devotion?

This is a question humankind has wrestled with since Creation. In Genesis 4, two brothers bring their sacrifices to the Lord. Cain and Abel bring offerings to the Lord, and God respects Abel’s sacrifice. Hebrews 11:4 says that Abel’s sacrifice is the result of faith. He worships in God’s way where Cain does not. Also, Leviticus 10:1, Nadab and Abihu die because of their worship, and, in verse 3, Moses reminds the people what it means to sanctify and glorify the Lord. Finally, I Kings 18 records Elijah challenging the prophets of Baal and Asherah to invoke their gods against his. They go to extreme measures to show their devotion to Baal and Asherah in contrast to Elijah’s quiet prayer.

Micah 6:6-8 records God’s people asking the very question: “What can we do to please God?” They propose more and more extreme measures to invoke God’s presence, but Micah’s response is simple – to walk humbly before Him in love and justice. He calls on us to put Him before us. When God speaks I listen. When God’s word requires change, I change. When God’s words calls for obedience, I obey. As His spoken word has the power to create, His written word should have power to move our lives.

What Does God Require?

Contrast the prophets of Baal and Asherah in I Kings 18, leading up to verse 36. Their callings upon deity could not be more different. The idolatrous prophets seek to please their Gods with methods that seem impressive and holy to them where Elijah comes to God in God’s way. In I Kings 8:46-52, Solomon offers a prayer at the dedication of God’s temple, and He calls on God to hear the people’s prayers, to recognize their repentance, to honor their complete faith. Jesus puts it this way in Matthew 10:38:

“And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

This means we crucify our self – the man of pride and selfish will – to completely humble ourselves in submission to Him. There is nothing I can do to show myself worthy of God’s love and grace. I cannot earn the favor of Christ’s love. Romans 5:6 speaks of our weakness in comparison with the strength of God’s love. I cannot do anything that compares to what God has done for us. All I can do is walk in a manner worthy of the gospel as Paul writes in Philippians 1:27, standing fast in the spirit and for the gospel. I can conform my life to His by sacrificing self and submitting to His word.

Conclusion

We meet a soldier named Naaman in II Kings 5, a leper in need of God’s healing. He sends for Elisha to bring God’s power upon him, but when Elisha commands a simple washing in a dirty river, Naaman is upset. He expects something more, something greater, something more outwardly impressive. Finally, though, when he humbles himself to God’s command, he is healed. God is not looking for our great acts. God is not looking for worship impressive in our eyes. Instead, He simply calls on us to hear and obey, to repent and turn to Him, to devote ourselves to Him in every detail of our lives. We can be restored to Him from our captivity of sin if we only come to Him on His terms and in His way.

lesson by Tim Smelser

Necessary Changes

Psalm 51 occurs after David’s sin with Bathsheba becomes public knowledge. He prays to God to be purified in this Psalm. He calls to be cleaned whiter than snow. In verses 16-17, he expresses a broken heart and a humbled sacrifice in sacrifice to God. David recognizes the change he needs in his life, and David vows to help others turn to God as he himself has made necessary changes. We should all want to share God’s word with others, but David recognizes his need to change himself before attempting to influence others.

Points of Transformation
In Acts 3:19, in a sermon very similar to the one preached at Pentecost, Peter encourages his audience to repent and turn from their sins, being forgiven by the Lord. Romans 12:1-2 calls us living sacrifices, transformed from conformity to this world. Paul calls our minds renewed by God’s word. How do we make these necessary changes, renewing our minds, and transforming ourselves in God’s image?

• Reverence to Worship. Are we coming into God’s presence with reverence and awe? Mark 7 records Jesus chastising the Pharisees for lip-service in the context of their traditions. He says their hearts are far from Him in their worship, and Luke 18:9 begins a parable of a tax collector and Pharisee – the latter trusting self and lacking reverence for God and His mercy. We all need to set self aside so we may be filled with God.
• Attitude Toward Service. Do we consider service to others a burden? In Galatians 6:7 begins a passage that encourages to never grow weary in working good. In Ephesians 2:10, Paul calls us God’s workmanship, created for the purpose of doing good works. Our attitude toward helping others should be a source of joy, walking in the good works God has prepared for us.
• Ignorance to Knowledge. How comfortable am I studying with someone about spiritually difficult topics? In I Timothy 1:7, in the context of vain speaking, Paul speaks of those who wish to be teachers but have no understanding. Hebrews 5 begins by chastising the author’s audience who have not matured spiritually – due to a lack of study and knowledge. We should be striving daily to build our spiritual knowledge.
• Infancy to Adulthood. In the context of building our knowledge, Hebrews 5 also encourages us to spiritually mature. In Hebrews 6:1, the author calls on us to push on to full growth. This problem is present in I Corinthians 3, where Paul calls those Christians spiritually immature. We have to put our faith into practice so we may grow.
• Laziness to Zeal. Romans 13:11 calls on us to wake up in our spiritual work. I Corinthians 15:32 records Paul speaking to the futility of our spirituality if the resurrection is a lie, and, in verse 34, he again calls us to wake ourselves up. In Ephesians 5:14, after writing about our spiritual walk, Paul calls the sleepers to awaken. If we are asleep in our service to God, we need to wake up and get to work. We should be giving as much to God as we can.

Conclusion
We have to give God our most and our best. Back in Psalm 51, David recognizes how much change would have to happen in his life to draw closer to God. If we are to be in God’s presence, we have to change our minds, our attitudes, and our actions. In every aspect of our lives, we can transform ourselves to draw closer to God as He draws closer to us.

lesson by Tim Smelser

Regarding the Collection of the Saints

John 4:21 records Jesus answering a Samaritan woman regarding worship. She is inquiring about proper location, but he turns her attention away from the secular setting and toward the concept of worshiping in spirit and truth. It is the manner of worship that matters. Acts 2:42 records that, when Jesus’ spiritual kingdom of the church was growing, the saints would come together. One part of that worship was giving, and that’s the topic of this lesson.

Contribution As Worship
The question of contribution is not one of amount. It is one of attitude. Do we treat our offering to God as something we rush through? Do we see this part of worship as less important than other parts? We sometimes sing about Christ, “I gave, I gave my life for thee. What hast thou given for me?” Our contribution is an offering to our God who gave all for us. Are we as sacrificial as He?

In Acts 5, Ananias and Sapphira lie when they bring their money to the apostles’ feet. They look for praise from man rather than God. Our offering is directed toward God, and there is no room for personal glory involved. Our personal benevolence and our contributions to God’s church are to God’s glory. As when we sing and when we pray, it is to and for God.

I Corinthians 16 provides a context for participating in this worship when we come together on the first day of the week. In this scenario, the collection is used for saints in need. Need is established, and they fulfill it. Examples like the famine coming in Acts 11 as well as several occasions in Paul’s journeys, the church fulfills those needs they see.

Offerings and the Old Testament
Romans 15:45 discusses the example set for us in the Old Testament, and the earliest offering we read of is by Cain and Abel. Abel’s sacrifice is of spirit and truth, and God respects his sacrifice. He gives unto God as God would have him give. This is prior than even than the law of Moses. When Abraham returns form battle in Genesis 14, he makes offering to God. Jacob offers God a tithe when fleeing from his brother Esau. These sacrifices are centered around worshiping God.

In the case of animal offerings, God expected the best from His people. The finest and healthiest of the livestock went to God. This was a valuable and costly resource to those making the offerings. These animals were an investment in the future of their families and businesses in a largely agricultural society. By the time we reach the writings of the prophets, people ceased giving as they should, leading to corruption in the priesthood’s work and teachings. Like the offering supported those serving God then, Paul writes about our contribution supporting our elders and preachers.

Exodus 35:4 and II Chronicles 24:8 both record offerings from the people in building and restoring the place of worship. In James 2:2, the word translated assembly is the same that is translated as synagogue in other places. It is a meeting place, set apart for the purpose of worship. Again, like the contributions of the Old Testament helped maintain the places of worship, so do ours today. Even the widow with nothing but two mites was giving for the support of the temple.

Application to Our Offerings
We are to give as we have been prospered, and II Corinthians 8:2-12 says our offering should be liberal, loving, and willing. The very next chapter tells us we should be cheerful in giving, and that we should determine our offering ahead of time. It is purposed in our hearts. Galatians 6:7-8 warns us that God is not mocked, reminding us to sow spiritual blessings. When we give to God, our priority is on God rather than ourselves. We are supporting His work and His workers. It is worship to Him, sacrificing for Him as He sacrifices for us.

lesson by Herbert Smelser, Jr.

Emotion and Our Religion

What role does emotion play in our religion and in our salvation? We know that we cannot let emotions rule our lives, nor should we be staid and stoic in our spirituality. How do we know we have a right feeling when it comes to our salvation? What role does emotion play, and does how we feel trump what the Bible says regarding worship? These questions stem from good motivations to move away from unemotional and unfeeling worship, but we have to be careful to avoid swinging the pendulum to the other extreme.

Joy and Salvation
Are we saved because we feel good, or do we feel good because we are saved? In Acts 8, Philip receives instruction to intercept a eunuch from Ethiopia who is studying from Isaiah 53. We are familiar with how Philip teaches Christ to the eunuch starting from this passage, how the eunuch requests to be baptized based on Philip’s teachings, and how the eunuch departs rejoicing. Which direction did this man’s joy go? Was he saved because he felt good, or was he joyous as a result of salvation?

Acts 16 records Paul and Silas singing and praying to God from prison. A great earthquake opens the prison doors, and the jail supervisor prepares to kill himself when he thinks his charges had escaped him. The jailer responds to the gospel message, and he rejoices after obeying the word. Feeling good is not, by itself, proof of salvation. Emotion provides no guarantee, though we see joy coming from salvation.

The Deception of Emotion
In Genesis 37, Joseph’s brothers plot to kill him. Instead of murder, they sell him into slavery again. They convince Jacob a beast killed his youngest son, and the patriarch mourns for many days. His distraught is great. His emotions are strong, but he is wrong. Joseph is alive and well. Also, Acts 26:9 records Paul describing his being convinced that he should persecute Christians, even to death. He was zealous in his devotion to God, but, again, his emotions were wrong.

Ephesians 3:3-4 contrasts Paul’s words of Acts 26 when he appeals to understanding God’s word. Peter wrote that Paul’s writings are hard to comprehend – but not impossible. We can understand God’s word intellectually. It has to take root in our minds, but too often we interpret an emotion as communication from God. These emotions, as we’ve noted, can unfortunately mislead us, and II Timothy 3:16 reminds us that scripture is the primary source of our faith. Our feelings cannot instruct or correct us in righteousness. This has to come from God, and II Peter 1:3 encourages us that God has given us all we need. We cannot allow our feelings to set aside God’s word, for when we do, we question His power and divinity.

Romans 8:15-16 calls us heirs of God as witnessed by the Spirit, and Hebrews 10:15 tells us the Spirit bears witness to us through God’s covenant and laws. We are not left to our own feelings to determine right and wrong. God has not left us directionless in the matter of our salvation. Psalm 119:11 speaks of laying up God’s word in our hearts. Verses 97-99 and verse 104 tell of the understanding that comes from God’s word, and verse 130 describes God’s word as a light of understanding. The only proof I have of my salvation is in the commandments of our Lord.

The Role of Emotion
Does this infer, then, worship and life bereft of emotions? Philippians 1:23-25 records Paul praising Christians who demonstrate joy and glory in their salvation. Chapter 3:1 of the same book calls upon us to rejoice in the Lord as does chapter 4:4. There is nothing wrong with showing emotion and having strong feelings regarding our relationship with God. God and Jesus demonstrate emotion in their love for us, in Jesus weeping over the lost, in commitment to our reunification with our Lord.

Our joy comes as a result of our salvation, but we cannot mistake good feelings for a guarantee of salvation. We are not saved because we feel good. Like the eunuch and like the jailer in Acts, we should be rejoicing as a result of having obtained salvation.

sermon by Tim Smelser

Unity & Corinth: Part 2 - A More Excellent Way

This lesson continues our study of the church at Corinth and the topics of unity, love, and spiritual gifts. The previous lesson provided a cultural backdrop the this church and how society shaped the attitudes and values of the Christians in Corinth, and Paul appeals to the knowledge these individuals think they have ten times in chapters twelve through fourteen of this epistle while encouraging them to become more spiritually minded and more united in their conduct.

Disunity & Worship
The attitudes of superiority and class consciousness affected their worship. Paul addresses their “coming together” five times in chapter eleven. He is addressing their problems during services, most notably the abuse of the Lord’s Supper. Furthermore, worshipping together is brought up several times in chapter fourteen. Their carnal minds were affecting their service to God.

Again, it seems that the Corinthians placed a great emphasis on the spiritual gift of tongues – that is, speaking a foreign language with no prior knowledge of that language. He reminds us in verses 4 and 5 that each gift is equally important and that they all come from the same source. The functions are different, but each gift is equal in power and importance. We cannot deny the usefulness of other Christians dependent on a sense of self-importance.

The More Excellent Way
Verse 25 reaffirms the fact that unity within the congregation is important, and he promises to reveal a more excellent way. What is the way? Is it a way to get spiritual gifts? Rather, it is a more excellent way to unity and spirituality: Love. Before looking at chapter 13, here are three immediate reasons love is a more excellent path to spirituality.

• Everyone can posses love. This is in direct contrast to spiritual gifts and various abilities.
  
  
• Love will never go away. Again, this contrasts spiritual gifts, and this contrasts basically everything else we can hold to in this world, for love will be what continues into Heaven. Even faith and hope will no longer be needed in Heaven.
  
  
• Love distinguishes true believers from pretenders. In John 13:34-35: “By this all will know that you are my disciples, that you love one another.”

The first three verses of chapter 13, emphasize the importance of love: praise, generosity, spiritual gifts – all of these are worthless without love. He then goes on to enumerate the qualities of love, and all of these descriptors of love are verbs in the Greek. Love is active, not conceptual, and we will look into these qualities in a subsequent lesson. Paul also speaks of partial gifts – like speaking in tongues – passing away like childhood when the perfect, or the complete/mature, is made known.

Realigning Priorities
In chapter 14, Paul returns his attention to misconceptions the Christians in Corinth had in regards to spiritual gifts. He tells them to pursue love. He goes on to contrast tongues and prophecy.

Paul reminds them that speaking in another language does not benefit the congregation as a whole if an interpreter was not present. (Remember, the person speaking the language did not necessarily understand the language they were speaking.) On the other hand, prophesying would, yet tongues were more highly valued by those in the church at Corinth.

Paul also points out that tongues are a sign to unbelievers (verse 22) while prophecy is most beneficial to believers. Take Acts 2 for example. By the crowd’s assessment, the apostles were ignorant individuals, meaning their knowledge of foreign languages would clearly be a miraculous event. Likewise, such a miracle would be useful in a city that had so many transients from other lands. Furthermore, in verses 23-25, Paul asks them what it would look like to a visitor to the congregation if everyone was speaking in diverse languages. In contrast, a prophecy may personally touch this individual. What is more valuable? Is it more important to look impressive, or is it more important to save souls?

Paul concludes this chapter by explaining the outcome to properly aligned worship: edification. Paul brings up edification multiple times in chapter 14, and he reminds us that God is the author of peace rather than confusion. This is in direct context of the love and unity spoken about in these verses, and the word translated as confusion comes from the Greek for discord or instability. God does not want his church to be split up and unstable. He wants it unified in love. He wants our worship to be orderly and decent (verse 40) in our attitudes toward one another, our behavior in the assembly, and our views of what it means to be spiritual.

Conclusion
A godly church works for love, edification, and unity. However, in order to work toward edification and unity in love, we need to understand what Christian love is, and we will be looking at the love of I Corinthians 13 in our next lesson.

sermon by Tim Smelser

Here I Am To Worship

What do you think of when you hear the word worship? What is your concept of a worship service for God? We are assembled together because we feel a sense of devotion or obligation to God, but sometimes we struggle with how to worship Him. This is nothing new, and the question of worship has been around since the first family. More and more, there is a growing trend to adjust worship to make it more appealing to the general public or ourselves. The question remains whether or not that is actually what God wants.

Honoring God’s Worth
The most common Greek word for worship literally means to prostrate oneself in homage. In older English, the word was “worthship.” It was giving honor to one considered worthy of praise. In Psalm 96:4, the psalmist appeals to God’s people to fear and honor Him. He assigns honor, glory and majesty to Jehovah as is due His name. Psalm 95:6-7 invites God’s people to bow down and kneel before our Creator, and Psalm 100:3-5 reminds us that we are His creation and His flock to whom he grants loving kindness. Does our worship reflect this honor and humility before the Lord?

In John 4, Jesus enters into a conversation regarding worship with a Samaritan woman, and, in verses 23-24, Jesus explains that God wants our sincere worship. He seeks our worship. As a parent wants love and obedience from a child, as a spouse want love and fidelity, our Creator wants us to love and honor Him. In our pursuit to worship Him, we have to respect what He considers to be true worship. As the First Covenant was being founded, God was meticulous in making sure His people would reflect His character. Likewise, our worship today should also be reflecting the character and the desires of our Lord.

Worship Reflecting God’s Character
In Genesis 4:3, Cain and Abel make offerings to the Lord. Abel brings of his best while there is an implication that Cain may have offered an inferior sacrifice. God, as a result, respect for Abel’s worship. Nadab and Abihu, in Leviticus 10, seek to worship God in their own way by burning offerings in an unauthorized way. These were priests, sons of Aaron, but they were bound by God’s wishes. Matthew 15:6 records Jesus telling spiritual rulers of His day that they are voiding God’s word by supplanting His precepts with their traditions. These examples teach us that worship must reflect our best efforts, that worship means glorifying God, and that worship must honor His name.

Giving God Our Best. The Lord’s Supper is something we observe on a weekly basis based on the New Testament model. We are attending a memorial service in this, and there is nothing contemporary or casual about a memorial, contemplating Christ’s death and resurrection. Sometimes we act like God should be thankful for our presence when we should be the ones thankful for this time in our God’s presence. Hebrews 13:15 describes our worship as sacrifice, and I Peter 2:5 describes Christians as members of a spiritual house and a holy priesthood offering sacrifices to God. My time and resources may have to be sacrificed to give God my best, but God has never accepted inferior sacrificed.

Glorifying Our God. In Leviticus 10, after Nadab and Abihu perish, God explains that He must be sanctified and glorified by those coming near to Him. Aaron holds his peace at this because he knows his sons failed to glorify and sanctify God in their actions. Hebrews 10:28 begins explaining the consequences of violating the Levitical Code, and he asks us to consider how much more sever the result of counting Christ’s sacrifice as common or ordinary. Revelation 5:13 describes all creation giving honor and glory to God. Revelation 7:11-12 describes heavenly entities praising the Lord. Revelation 15:3-4 reflects praises of God’s glory. We assemble to glorify God. Our worship is for Him – not for us. We do benefit from our time spent in worship, but He is the central focus of our efforts. In our worship, we are participants, not spectators. If we are filing to get anything out of worship, we should look at how much we are putting into ascribing honor and glory to our Lord.

Worship That Honors God. Returning to Matthew 15, the problem these leaders have is that they are engaging in lip-service. They say the right things, but their hearts are elsewhere. Jesus describes this kind of worship is vain. These spiritual leaders have supplanted their own traditions and wisdom over God’s, and they dishonor Him. Without our hearts, without our respect of His ordinances, we cannot truly worship our God. Our role is to submit to Him, honor His precepts, and give Him our hearts.

Conclusion
God takes worship seriously, and we must also. We have to remember our place before God. God is the focus. We are the created in presence of the Creator. He wants us to come to Him, and our honoring Him is not restricted to the times of service. Once we devote ourselves to serving and glorifying our Lord, every day of our lives should be reflecting the reverence we give Him. Here I am to worship.

sermon by Tim Smelser