Category Archives: The Church

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God’s People Love to Be With God’s People

La_Aduana_church_door_009Kevin DeYoung is one of those people that always seems to say it better than I ever do or ever can.

For a few months I have wanted to write a post aiming to encourage Christians in their commitment to regularly gather with their local church body for worship. We live in a time where church attendance is quickly becoming negotiable. Yet, it isn’t negotiable in the Bible and to miss it means missing heaven on earth.

Well, I just haven’t gotten around to writing the post for one reason or another, but to my great delight Rev Kev threw up a post this morning on “The Scandal of the Semi-Churched.” It’s better than my post would ever be, so you should check it out. He writes,

“I know we are the church and don’t go to church (blah, blah, blah), but being persnickety about our language doesn’t change the exhortation of Hebrews 10:35. We should not neglect to meet together, as some are in the habit of doing. Gathering every Lord’s Day with our church family is one of the pillars of mature Christianity.

So ask yourself a few questions.”

QUESTIONS TO ASK REGARDING CHURCH ATTENDANCE

1. Have you established church going as an inviolable habit in your family?

2. Do you plan ahead on Saturday so you can make church a priority on Sunday?

3. Do you order your travel plans so as to minimize being gone from your church on Sunday?

4. Are you willing to make sacrifices to gather with God’s people for worship every Sunday?

5. Have you considered that you may not be a Christian?

Read the rest here.

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6 Ways to Treasure God’s Word

Treasuring Gods Word

Nothing is more precious to a Christian than God’s word. And nothing is more precious to a church than God’s word.

God’s word is involved in everything He does: from His decrees to His creation to His providence. His word performs all His acts. If we go even further, it is impossible to separate God and His word. Where God is, His word is; where His word is, God is.1 In his recent Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Christian Belief the good perspectivalist, John Frame, writes:

So the word of God is a great treasure. We should rejoice that our God is not dumb, like the gods of the nations, but has shared with us his laws, his wisdom, and his love. And God is always with and in his word. When  we read the Word, we encounter him; when we encounter him, we hear his word. (523)

So then, a church that treasures God’s word will be a church that encounters God. How then can a church treasure God’s word and thus encounter God? One simple answer would be to construct a weekly liturgy clearly centered on God’s word. While the order and timing of every liturgy need not be the same, I would nevertheless advocate for a church’s liturgy to normally consist of the following six ordinary elements.

6 ORDINARY ELEMENTS FOR TREASURING GOD’S WORD

1. Preach the word (2 Tim. 4:2). This is where it all begins. Expositional preaching is the fountainhead for God’s word permeating the church, and is the spark for encountering God. I think it would be hard to find a church who treasures God’s word that doesn’t consistently feast upon expository preaching. The uniqueness of expository preaching is it strives to make plain what a passage of Scripture says. Because God’s word alone has the authority and power to change a heart, and is the ordinary way in which God speaks to His people, churches that treasure God’s word must have be built on expository preaching.

2. Read the word (1 Tim. 4:13; Rev. 1:3). In 2 Timothy 3 Paul talks about “the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” What power there is in God’s word! So every pastor must obey the command 1 Timothy 4:13 to devote himself “to the public reading of God’s word.” This element seems to have fallen on hard times in many evangelical churches, but I pray the renaissance of expositional preaching will soon result in a renaissance of the public reading of God’s word. There are many different ways to do this: systematically reading through a testament, systematically reading through the Psalms, or reading a portion of Scripture that corresponds to sermon text. Reading God’s word can be done congregationally or representationally (an individual reading a passage for the church).

3. Sing the word (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16). Saturate your church’s liturgy with the word sung. Select songs that major not simply in Scriptural truth, but in Scriptural lyrics. Singing provides a powerful opportunity to treasure God’s word. One way our church tries to amplify the word-centeredness of our singing is to have every song illuminated by Scripture during the song. Many songs have an instrumental section between a chorus and verse or chorus and bridge, so why not put Scripture on the screen while the instruments are playing? Instead of blithely watching the band perform, the congregation has the opportunity to encounter God’s word with truth appropriate to the song.

4. Pray the word (Eph. 6:18; Col. 6:2; Heb. 13:15). Prayer seems to be – to me at least – a transitional element in many liturgies. It is the evangelical oil that provides a seamless transition from song to sermon and then from sermon to song. But prayer must have more than transitional prominence in the church’s gathering. A diversity of prayers can be offered throughout the service: prayers of praise, confession, thanksgiving, and intercession. If your church hasn’t ever had extended prayer in a service I would counsel you to start slowly. Yet start nonetheless by praying for biblical priorities with biblical language.

5. See the word (Mat. 28:18-20; Luke 22:19). Through the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper we “see” the word. These ordinances are visible representations of God’s word and God’s gospel. We ought to all be consistently praying the Lord uses our church in such a way that the baptismal waters are stirred with great frequency. Although we can do nothing to guarantee weekly baptism, we can see the word each week through communion. If you need specific encouragement on this point see my post “3 Reasons for Weekly Communion.”

6. Support the word (1 Cor. 16:2; Phil. 4:15-16). Resist the contemporary practice of privatizing the offering by simply having a tithe box at the back of your meeting space. Make the offering a dedicated, ordinary element in your church’s liturgy. Through giving we support the ministry of the word, worship God, and obey His word. Depending on how your liturgy is structured, an offering can be preceded or followed by a prayer of thanksgiving or Bible reading.

A church that treasures God’s word will be a church that regularly encounters God. A simply way to do this is to saturate everything you do in gathered worship with God’s word. So build your church’s liturgy on the six ordinary elements of preaching, reading, singing, praying, seeing, and supporting the word.

  1. These sentences are adapted from Frame, Systematic Theology, 521. ↩
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The 3 Commandments of Corporate Prayer

prayer_std_tOne of the “things we want to be true” about our church plant is that we would be “a praying church.”

1 Timothy 3:15 says the church is “the household of God,” and we know from Isaiah 56:7 that God expects his house “will be a house of prayer.”1 One way we try to reflect that reality in our life together is by hosting a monthly prayer night where the church can gather with nothing on the agenda other than prayer. But anyone who has been a part of prayer meetings knows they don’t always go so well – for a variety of different reasons. So let me provide the “Three Commandments of Corporate Prayer” in hopes they might brighten and enliven your prayer meeting.2

3 COMMANDMENTS OF CORPORATE PRAYER

Be bold. Pray with the bold confidence we have through faith in Christ our mediator (Eph. 3:12). The humility we are called to in Christ doesn’t remove the fact that we can approach the throne of grace with confidence (Heb. 4:16). Such assurance necessarily means we can pray boldly for those things we know to be in God’s will. Pray boldly for God to use the church to convert people unto Christ, for holiness to mark the corporate witness of the church, for sin to die within the hearts of church members, and for pastors to passionately declare the gospel of God. On an extremely practical level, praying boldly also means praying loud enough that those around you can hear your petitions.

Be biblical. Faithful prayer will always be thoroughly biblical. When we pray we want to saturate our thanksgivings, confessions, and requests with biblical language and biblical priorities. Furthermore, there are times in prayer where you might not know specific things to pray for underneath a given topic, and this is where an open Bible is a great friend. For example, if you are praying for a church plant that your fellowship supports, but you know little about its ministry or leaders, use the Bible to pray for things you know God’s word prioritizes in every church. Also, it’s not a cop-out to read Scripture as a prayer; this is one way you can be certain you are praying with the will of God in view.

Be brief. Everyone has experienced prayer groups or prayer meetings dominated by one long-winded church member. Brief prayers not only allow more people to pray, but allow more requests to be offered. It’s one thing to ask a small group of members to prayer for eight minutes on a particular topic and have two people occupy that time. It’s a completely different – and better –  thing to see those same eight minutes saturated with 8-10 different prayers. You’d be surprised how much you can pray for in 45 seconds. There are times, to be sure, when longer prayer is advisable, but I generally think corporate prayer meetings should allow every individual church member to pray at multiple junctions.

Be bold, biblical, and brief.

  1. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all recount Jesus’ application of God’s desire that Isaiah expressed. ↩
  2. If you are a pastor, the three commandments should be: plan, plan, and plan. ↩
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3 Reasons for Weekly Communion

LordsSupper

“Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body.’ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.’” – Matthew 26:26-29

At Imago Dei we partake of the Lord’s Supper every single week at the end of our worship gathering. Our liturgy is somewhat unique in the DFW Bible-belt culture, but I bet it’s our weekly gathering at the Table that receives more positive feedback than any other liturgical element.

Although nothing in Scripture commands a church to weekly partake of the Supper, I do think that an increased understanding of the spiritual benefits received in Communion would lead a pastor to say, “Why not take the Lord’s Supper each week?” Here are three reasons why your church would benefit from weekly Communion . . .

THREE REASONS

First, the Supper is food for faith. The Supper is a gospel-banquet. Our Lord knows His children are often failing in their faith, wanting a sign of Christ’s love and care. And so he gave us a sign, the Supper. Rome says that we physically feed upon Christ’s body at the Table, but the proper view is that we spiritually feed upon Christ’s body. With tangible elements we are able to remind our soul that His body was broken for us and blood shed for us. By taking the elements together a church is able to show their unity in Christ, reminding poor hearts that they are not isolated in their pilgrimage toward heaven. Biblical faith is unmistakably forward looking, thus the Supper feeds weak faith by declaring that an eternal wedding feast is on the way. Through bread and wine the Spirit stirs the soul to expectant perseverance to see the wedding feast of the Lamb.

Second, the Supper demands examination. As Luther famously declared, “The entire life of believers should be repentance.” Weekly gathering at the Table serves Christians by calling them confession and repentance, for one cannot take the elements with such examination. Paul said a person must “examine” himself before coming to the Table lest he eat and drink judgment on himself. Sober self-examination seems to be an increasingly lost practice in American evangelicalism and Communion helps Christians be obedient to 2 Corinthians 13:5.1 Pastors would be wise to exhort their congregation to come to the Table after a time of unhurried examination. At our church I call each Christian to individual examination and then tell every husband and/or father to pray with His family before they take the elements. I can’t you the number of men that have told me they really never prayer with their wife until they were encouraged to do so before Communion.

Third, the Supper is a visible sermon. The Supper is a sermon! Thomas Watson said the Lord’s Supper was a visible sermon, a mirror in which to gaze on the sufferings and death of Christ. Every faithful pastor wants to proclaim the gospel in every service and the Supper provides a second moment of gospel proclamation. Through preaching the Gospel is proclaimed and then it is proclaimed again through bread and wine. As I lead our church in Communion each week I have the opportunity to say just why Christ’s body and blood had to be broken and shed. By saying the meal is only open to those who have “called on the name of the Lord” a pastor gets to again call the unconverted to faith. Also, the Supper is a wonderful opportunity for parents whose children are with them in service to pray for their child to have faith in Christ. I recently spoke with parents in our church who said, “What should we do when we get to Communion? Our child wants to take the elements, but he is not yet a Christian.” Praise God for the opportunity to shepherd sheep in how to speak with their children about the gospel!

A FINAL ENCOURAGEMENT

Finally, I would encourage any pastor to do everything he can to let the time of Communion to be one of corporate celebration. At IDC we do this by having everyone come forward after examination and confession to grab a piece of bread and a cup. As an aside, resist the practice of intinction (dipping bread into the cup) because it individualizes the Supper in an unwise way. Once all our members have the elements and are back in their seats, I come up and lead the congregation in eating and drinking the elements at the same time. Then we all stand and sing a song that usually highlights the work of Christ on the cross.

The Supper can be taken in a variety of ways, so do what seems best for your congregation. Just ensure that it reflects the corporate prioritization called for in 1 Corinthians.

THREE RESOURCES TO CONSIDER

Given for You: Reclaiming Calvin’s Doctrine of the Lord’s Supper by Keith A. Mathison.

Lord’s Supper: Eternal Word in Broken Bread by Robert Letham.

The Lord’s Supper by Thomas Watson.

This forthcoming work by Hughes Oliphant Old will surely be valuable for every pastor.

  1. “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith.” ↩
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3 Truths About the Christ-Centered Church

church_coverJesus came to inaugurate God’s kingdom in this world and it was the most complete, unexpected, and remarkable revolution the universe has ever seen.1

In Mark 3:7-12 we find that virtually all of Israel has followed Christ into the wilderness, reminding us of a time when Israel followed another redeemer, Moses, into the wilderness. It was there that God constituted His people as a nation at Mt. Sinai. Thus it should be no surprise to us when we hear in Mark 3:13-19 Jesus went up to a mountain to reconstitute God’s people. He did this by calling twelve men to follow Him as apostles.

A first century Jew would have immediately recognized a connection with the twelve tribes of Israel. Jesus could have chosen any number of apostles, but He picks twelve, indicating to us there is an organic connection, and I would argue, an organic fulfillment and spiritual restoration of Old Testament Israel. We see this truth in Matthew 19 as it is the twelve apostles of Christ, not the twelve patriarchs of Israel, who will sit alongside Jesus at the time of judgment. As Mark 1 shows, Jesus is the true Israel, thus those called out by Him and united to Him are part of true Israel. The calling of the twelve signifies then the recreation and fulfillment of God’s covenant people, what Galatians 6 calls, “the Israel of God.”

This mountainside event has much to tells us regarding the Church of Christ. Three things are worth our meditation.

First, Christ calls His church. “He called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him” (Mark 3:13). The doctrine of God’s sovereign election and sovereign calling is a divisive one and a debated one. Yet, how can we deny, according to this text, that Christ’s sovereign choice is not the cause of Christ’s church? Let the church see the comfort and joy found in Christ’s calling. There on that mountainside was a group lowly, shunned, or outcast men in Jewish society, and a rabbi calls them unto Himself. Can you imagine the joy and delight they would have experienced in that moment? The sovereign selection of Christ is the ground for our highest praise! Our church’s confession (New Hampshire Baptist Confession) understands this for it says God sovereign choice “utterly excludes boasting, and promotes humility, love, prayer, praise, trust in God, and active imitation of his free mercy.” Few truths are sweeter to the Christian’s soul than the calling of Christ.

If you are not a Christian hear the call of the gospel that comes from Christ’s word and spirit. You were created to glorify God in knowledge, love, and obedience. But you have disobeyed God, loved things in the world, and cared little for who He is. The Bible says the just God of the universe will condemn you to eternal death for your sin. But because He loved sinners, and knew sinners can do nothing to earn their salvation, He sent His son, this Jesus Christ, to die in the place of sinners. He was crucified so that God’s wrath against every sinner who believed in Him would be satisfied. Then He rose again, guaranteeing that all who trust in Him will find new life. We may not be on a mountain today, but He calls to you from His word and through His Spirit. Will you come to him?

Second, Christ centers His church. Mark 3:14 literally reads in the Greek, “And he made [created] twelve, so that they might be with Him.” One commentator says, “The simple prepositional phrase has atomic significance in the Gospel of Mark.” 2 The atomic significance is found in the truth that being with Jesus is the center of Christian discipleship. He was with the twelve physically, but is with us today through His word and spirit. He centers His church and dwells with His people through the ordinary means given to us: the reading and preaching of His word, prayer, fellowship, songs, and sacrament. If these are the ordinary means by which Christ centers His people, we must be again reminded of how vital gathering with the church is to our discipleship. Missing out on the Saturday gathering means missing out on the power packed means of grace given so that we might be with Christ. To regularly shun the corporate gathering is to regularly shun the atomic power of discipleship. The elements of a church’s corporate gathering are like spiritual sticks of dynamite laid on top of our soul. The Spirit intends to place them there and light ’em up as He molds us into the image of Christ.

Third, Christ commissions His church. “He made the twelve, so that they might be with him and send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons” (Mark 3:14-15). In some respects this preaching and authority to cast out demons was unique to the original apostles as Hebrews 2 and 2 Corinthians 12 make clear. Although our commission is not apostolic, we have the similar commissioning priorities: communion with God, speaking of the good news, and opposing evil in this world. If we think of the Great Commission – making disciples of all nations – as a three-legged stool, then these priorities are the three legs: 1) communion with Jesus, 2) speaking of Jesus, and 3) fighting the good fight against sin and evil. Faithfulness to our commission means faithfulness to these priorities.

Do you see how radically Christ-centered the church must be? He calls, centers, and commission His people.  If we tried to sum up our three truths in one sentence we could say the church is called by Christ, to be with Christ, in order to go for Christ.

  1. This is an excerpt from my recent sermon on Mark 3:7-19. ↩
  2. Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, 113. ↩
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3 Ingredients for a Faithful Church

church_coverI am well acquainted with Diet Coke and Diet Dr. Pepper; some people would call me an addict, I call myself an enthusiast.  My familiarity with this heavenly nectar means I am all too aware when an establishment tries to pass of a fake as the real thing.

Because our church does not have an office at the moment, I spend much of my week working at two different locations of a local BBQ joint. One of these locations regularly has a delicious mix of the heavenly nectar, and the other location . . . well, not so much. The real thing comes from a proper mix of ingredients and, to an enthusiast, can easily be distinguished from imitation.

The same thing is true about a church. I noticed this truth earlier this year as I preached through 1 Timothy. Paul sent a letter along to his young protege so that if he delayed Timothy “may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.” In the short span of six chapters Paul manages to cover an astonishing amount of material related to the church’s faithfulness, and one realizes that three themes prove to be emblematic of a faithful church. Three themes I like to think about as three necessary ingredients for a faithful church:

#1 – Sound doctrine. Paul left Timothy in Ephesus and charged him to deal with the false teachers that had infiltrated the church. Refuting the false teachers meant calling them to repentance (and excommunicating if necessary) and publishing sound doctrine.

#2 – Sound leadership. Sound doctrine must be proclaimed and taught, so who is to do this? Elders. These men must be “able to teach,” thereby ensuring the church’s doctrine is protected and propagated. Chapter three famously delineates the qualifications for elders and deacons, and chapter four is taken up – almost entirely – with pointed instructing on healthy pastoral ministry.

#3 – Sound living. This is, after all, the purpose for Paul’s writing, that the church would “know how they ought to live together.” Sound living flows from a pure heart, good conscience, and sincere faith. It manifests itself in praise to God, modest dress, contentment, honor, and focused holiness.

Sound doctrine, sound leadership, sound living. A three-strand chord of faithfulness hard to separate and hard to break. It’s not easily broken because all three ingredients are only found in Christ, the Unassailable One. He is the Truth, the Good Shepherd, and the Holy One – He is Faithfulness. Therefore, what I think Paul drives at in this letter is the realization that a faithful church is focused on the exaltation of Christ through the empowerment of His Spirit. Christ-centeredness in the church need not be an esoteric idea and pursuit. 1 Timothy bring this glorious aim down to the ground floor of daily practice; Christ-centered faithfulness concentrates on sound doctrine, sound leadership, and sound living. These are the three ingredients of a faithful church.