Malcolm Cox

Class 1: Praying Together

Introduction
In this class and the one to follow, we will examine what the Scriptures teach about praying together. Why not make this month of March one where you focus on praying with other believers?

1. The early church prayed together.
    * “They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
    * When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.” (Acts 1:14; 4:24 NIV11)
    * “Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.” (Acts 14:23 NIV11)
    * “When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed.” (Acts 20:36 NIV11)
    * “Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonours his head. But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonours her head—it is the same as having her head shaved.” (1 Corinthians 11:4–5 NIV11)
    * “Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing.” (1 Timothy 2:8 NIV11)
    * “Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.” (James 5:14 NIV11)
    * We will examine more of what this might mean in the second class. But today, the point is to establish that praying together was a normative part of being a Christian and part of the Christian community.

2. Jesus assumed we would pray together.
    * The Lord’s Prayer
        * ‘The Lord’s Prayer is written in the plural. Its very first word is addressed to ‘Our’ Father in heaven. Not my father. Not your father. Ours. This is a family thing. ‘Give us our daily bread … forgive us our sins’ and so on. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer we do so corporately, in community with others – not just personally and spontaneously but liturgically in unison with millions of Christians around the world today, and in fellowship with the communion of saints stretching back to those first twelve apostles gathered around Christ as he gave them this prayer. We are not designed to hallow the Father’s name entirely on our own. It’s not enough just to download resources for solitary prayer and worship from the internet. We all need the encouragement, the challenge and the discomfort of active participation in a local worshipping community.’ Pete Greig, “How to Pray”
        * What difference does it make when we pray the Lord's prayer together rather than on our own?

Conclusion
* Today we have established that it was customary for the church to pray together.
* Individual prayer is a vital part of our growing maturity and strengthening our relationship with God. But learning to be a praying community is just as crucial.
* Why not make March the month where you will experiment and explore praying together with your spouse, other members of your family, housemates, people in your family group, location, or even beyond your regular church community?
* If you have any questions or suggestions for the next class, please send them to me, [email protected].

Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community. 

Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]). 

If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://[www.malcolmcox.org](http://www.malcolmcox.org/). 

Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review. 

“Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2 NIV11) 

God bless, Malcolm

Introduction
I posted a poll on my Youtube channel. Here are the results:From what we can tell in New Testament times, church services did not have a uniform structure. However, they shared some characteristics. 

Many other things are legitimate in our congregational gatherings, such as announcements, testimonies, and more, but the four above seem like the essentials. If you disagree with me, that’s fine. Just let me know your thoughts.

However, if I’m even close to the mark, a secondary question arises: “What is the best balance of these four elements?” Hence the question I posted on my YouTube channel.

The traditions I grew up in put less emphasis on the lesson and fellowship and more on singing, prayer, and the Lord’s supper. I vividly remember one evensong service where an enthusiastic young curate spoke for 20 minutes. It was a scandal! 

However, it doesn’t look like Paul’s lesson in Acts 20 was the smallest component of the gathering that night. 

“On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight.” (Acts 20:7 NIV11)

Therefore, we should not be too hard and fast about our decisions regarding the most helpful proportions of singing, praying, eating, learning, and fellowshipping.

The question is why we have chosen the proportions that we have selected in our local context. For example, what proportion of the time together do you spend on each element? Why has that been chosen to be the case? 

This last Sunday in Watford, my good friend Douglas Jacoby spoke for about 15 minutes. Everybody was surprised when he sat down, if not a little shocked. Although my sermons are not very long, they are usually longer than 15 minutes. One of the attendees spoke to my wife afterwards and said how delighted he was that the lesson was shorter because the service finished earlier and he was enjoying more fellowship. The fellowship for this person is a more significant part of his worship with the community of faith than for other people. I expect some people were disappointed Douglas did not speak longer. 
We’re always going to have members in our congregations who value one element over the others. So how do we engage with these different preferences? Should we vary the proportions in our services week to week? One week more singing, another more prayer, another more focus on the Lord’s supper, another more on teaching and learning together, and another week more time spent on fellowship.

The challenge is that it can breed insecurity because people do not know what to expect each week. However, the advantage may be that we end up serving the worship needs of the congregation more effectively in the round.

Questions: 

Why not sign up for the Old Testament Survey module: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/old-testament-survey-aim-uk-ireland-tickets-531954449077 More information about AIM can be found here: https://www.aimukandireland.com. Send me an email expressing interest if you cannot find what you need on the site.

Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community.

Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: [email protected].

If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://www.malcolmcox.org.

Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review.

Keep calm and carry on teaching.

God bless, Malcolm

A summary of my five main convictions on returning from the conference in Oklahoma.

1. Culture
2. Trauma
3. Jesus
4. Mentoring
5. Leadership

You can watch live and recorded sessions of the conference by registering here: https://www.teleiosconference.com

Leave a message with your response to my thoughts.

Why not sign up for the Old Testament Survey module: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/old-testament-survey-aim-uk-ireland-tickets-531954449077 More information about AIM can be found here: https://www.aimukandireland.com. Send me an email expressing interest if you cannot find what you need on the site.

Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community.

Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: [email protected].

If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://www.malcolmcox.org.

Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review.

Keep calm and carry on teaching.

God bless, Malcolm

A Watford church of Christ lesson on God's love for the vulnerable and our part in loving those who need his care.

Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community. 

Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]). 

If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://[www.malcolmcox.org](http://www.malcolmcox.org/). 

Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review. 

“Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2 NIV11) 

God bless, Malcolm

My thoughts on the second day of the Teleios conference.  The sessions I attended were:

David Kinnaman: “The Open Generation”
Nadine Templer: “Gen Z and their view of the Gospel”
Hannah Desouza; “Gen Z: the Next Forty Years”
Kyle Spears: “Gen Z and the The Role of Community”

You can watch live and recorded sessions by registering here: https://www.teleiosconference.com

Leave a message with your response to my thoughts.

God bless, Malcolm

My thoughts on the excellent opening speech at the Teleios conference. Dr. Dan Rodrigues was the speaker, and his topic was, “Gen Z and Cultural Intelligence”. 

You can watch live and recorded sessions by registering here: https://www.teleiosconference.com

Leave a message with your response to my thoughts.

God bless, Malcolm

My thoughts on the final day of the Teleios conference.  The main talk was by Dr. Amy McLaughlin-Sheasby, and her theme was, “Picking up the pieces: Cultivating hope in a traumatized age”

You can watch live and recorded sessions by registering here: https://www.teleiosconference.com

Leave a message with your response to my thoughts.

God bless, Malcolm

This morning I was blessed to attend the service of our sister congregation in Oklahoma. We arrived early and I found myself talking to a delightful Gen Z young woman called Leslie. My reflections on this conversation are in the recording.

You can watch live and recorded sessions of the conference by registering here: https://www.teleiosconference.com

Leave a message with your response to my thoughts.

This morning I was blessed to attend the service of our sister congregation in Oklahoma. We arrived early and I found myself talking to a delightful Gen Z young woman called Leslie. My reflections on this conversation are in the recording above.

You can watch live and recorded sessions of the conference by registering here: https://www.teleiosconference.com

Leave a message with your response to my thoughts.

You have found a daily devotional podcast on 1 Thessalonians. These recordings accompany the teaching and preaching series for the Thames Valley and Watford churches of Christ.

The brief devotionals are aimed at encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God” 1 Thessalonians 2:12

“We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”  1 Thessalonians 1:3 NIV11

More notes, lessons and resources can be found here: 

www.malcolmcox.org

“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:28 NIV11)

God bless, Malcolm

You have found a daily devotional podcast on 1 Thessalonians. These recordings accompany the teaching and preaching series for the Thames Valley and Watford churches of Christ.

The brief devotionals are aimed at encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God” 1 Thessalonians 2:12

“We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”  1 Thessalonians 1:3 NIV11

More notes, lessons and resources can be found here: 

www.malcolmcox.org

“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:28 NIV11)

God bless, Malcolm