A Biblical Worship Gathering!

(Suggested reading-Nehemiah)

"On the twenty-forth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and having dust on their heads. Those of Israelite descent had separated themselves from all the foreigners. They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the wickedness of their fathers. They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the Lord their God." (Nehemiah 9:1-3)

These three verses taken from Nehemiah make a statement of what pleased God, in way of worshiping Him. The gathering of God’s people should always reflect His design, His good pleasure and should always be for the purpose of His glory! At the moment of this historical gathering, there is no doubt that God’s people had every reason to be filled with joy, God had again, rescued His people. Chapters nine and ten of Nehemiah reveal in great detail, the submission of God’s people to His will and their confession of the sins of Israel. In summary, they confessed, gave thanks and offered sacrifices. They heard His Law as it was read out load in this public setting. And at the end of chapter 10 they state "we will not neglect the house of our God". This should serve as a great example in how we, as Christians, should think of our Church worship service today!

What a utopia, if we were to follow this great example! It is sad that today we see a much different worship service, in many of what are called churches. It seems as those people have turned to the worship of the creature, rather than the Creator. The God who gave His design for what pleases Him, is now being ignored by many religious organizations. The Bible reveals that the worship service should be a time for reflection on how amazing our God is! His grace has saved us, by his mercy and power we have hope in Jesus our Savior. We should be about the business of God in our daily lives, but how much more should the gathering of Gods people, reflect a time to honor the Creator and Savior? Even the unbeliever who may decide to drop by on Sunday morning, should be amazed if our worship service does not bow down and give praise to God.

With all of this in mind, we need to consider the most fundamental part of this service. No doubt that our voices should illustrate our love for God in our songs and hymns. The joy of the Lord should be evident in our praise. Our faith in a God who listens to His children, should be obvious in our public prayers. Our fellowship to our brothers and sisters in Christ should be sweet and generous. Above all of that, our Pastor should be well ready to deliver, without hesitation, without doubt, and with great integrity, he should deliver the message God has for those who are present! Yes, the message God has for those whom He has drawn to this time of worship. A message that is full of truth, grace and mercy. A message prepared by the man of God who has devoted himself to the understanding, and the application of God’s Word to his own life!

The thought here is simple, learn it, live it, teach it. The qualifications for this high position should be so obvious but for some reason, are often over looked. We see churches today giving this valued time for sharing God’s Word, to those who don’t qualify and thus, do not teach God's Word. First, if the preacher is not a child of God because of what Jesus did on the cross, if he has not himself come to Christ with an understanding of his lost, sinful state and confessed and received Jesus as Savior, what is he doing preaching in God’s Church? Second, if he is the real deal, is he preaching to God or is he trying to tickle ears of the audience? Are we to be like fans at a sporting event with a preacher leading the cheers? Are we as children of God, forcing our preachers to give-in to entertaining us, just so he may get a few healthy words in edge wise? Do we want him to give us the message of God, even when it hurts? Do we allow our preachers and teachers the space they need to do what God has called them to do, help us to grow. Yes, we need to grow into vessels for His glory! God gave the teachers of His Word for that reason. Second Timothy 3:16 tells us that "All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness". The role of preaching in the local church should be to do just that, teach, rebuke, correct and train in righteousness. No doubt that there will be those who will not always like what they hear, the preacher is not responsible for their response. The preacher is responsible for preaching in the way God has designed, and will do great things for the Lord, if he will submit to that design.

The role of preaching in the local Church has not changed, not since Nehemiah’s time and not since the Apostle Paul’s time. Today as always, we need men of integrity, filled with the Holy Spirit, to preach as God would have them preach, for His Glory only! Amen!