Redeemer Church of Waterford

Spirit-filled worship is 1) speaking the word of God to each other; 2) singing the word of God to the Lord; 3) a "eucharistic" life of thanksgiving to God and the Father; and 4) submitting to one another in the context of the church.

What does it look like for me to submit myself to others in the body of Christ?

In adopting us as His children, God is not making us into better versions of ourselves. He is conforming us to the image of His own Son. Only as we are like Jesus can we be like our Father in heaven.

It is right for us to view God as God - which is to say, as wholly other than us, separate from sinners, high above us in holiness. But our holy God has condescended to us in His Son, and we have been adopted through His Son so that we ourselves are called the sons of God.

What does it mean that this holy God is our Father?

"Giving Thanks" is not a periodic utterance of thanks, but a life of gratitude to God lived in stark contrast to the life of pagan unbelievers who are not grateful to God.

The pagan unbeliever's lack of gratitude to God results in a depraved and darkened mind (Romans 1:21). This is the attitude that prevails in our culture, where elected representatives in the Congress now boldly say, "God's will is of no concern to this Congress."

This morning's message - which was a dog's breakfast on the subject of the words of the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 5:18 ("and be not drunk with wine wherein is excess") - may have left some with the impression that followers of Jesus can be ambivalent toward the use of alcohol.

If the Bible has no clear prohibitions against the use of alcohol, how then are we to think about and respond to the reality that alcohol consumption has been the cause of broken relationships, psychological and emotional trauma, and even death?

"Giving thanks always for all things" in Ephesians 5:20 is the antithesis of "Be not drunk with wine wherein is excess" in 5:18. In the same way pagan unbelievers are unrestrained in their public displays of fleshly lusts, so the believer who is filled with the Spirit is to be unrestrained in their public displays of gratitude to God "always," as a manner of life.

Giving thanks according to Hebrews 13:12-15 is "the sacrifice of praise, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name." In what sense is our praise of God a sacrifice?

What exactly does the Apostle Paul mean when he encourages us to give thanks? The thanks Paul has in view originates in the heart and passes through our lips as a sacrifice - the sacrifice of praise.

Congregational singing is bi-directional: we speak to one another in our singing and as we do so we teach and admonish one another (Colossians 3:16). We simultaneously sing and make melody in our hearts to the Lord as a sacrifice of praise (Hebrews 13:15), giving to the Lord the glory due His name (1 Chronicles 16:27-28).

There is a reason Ephesians 5:19 is in the fifth chapter of the letter and not the first. All that Paul has said in chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4 give us the basis for our singing as God's people.