Selected Scriptures

June 16, 2019

Lord’s Day Worship

Sean Higgins

The sermon starts at 16:30 in the audio file.

Or, Looking at an Assembly Living in Light and Liberty

Series: The Marks of a Maturing Church – Redux (Part 2)

I taught a series on The Marks of a Maturing Church in the first summer of our existence as a local body, so that means it’s been almost eight years since considering what makes for a healthy, growing flock. While I am not embarrassed by those marks, I do think that we’ve been growing as a church, and even my understanding of the characteristics of a maturing church have matured. Whereas there were nine marks then, I’ve summarized them into seven for this Redux series. Since seven is the number of perfection, it must be the ideal list (or something like that). Today we’ll consider the 2nd-4th marks and then finish, Lord willing, the final three marks next Sunday.

You can tell if a church is maturing by looking at how they look at different things. First, you can tell a church is maturing by how they look at leaders. Leaders go first, leaders are examples of consistent godliness and also in making progress. Leaders don’t “arrive,” and they shouldn’t be or build a ceiling for growth.

It may seem, especially when we consider the second mark, like the order is wrong. Maybe leaders should come second, or maybe even third. But I think godly and growing leaders takes the top spot for a couple reasons. When God wants to lead and serve and teach and bless others, He sends people. The work of the ministry contains propositional content, but even in the original context God revealed truth through apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors and teachers. The “faith once for all delivered to the saints” is a thing, but men delivered it. “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” We have our own written copies of God’s Word now, and that is a blessing, but it doesn’t change that God gives the gifts of men, and they protect and feed and lead the sheep. How a church looks at her leaders, with high expectations for their godliness and their visible progress is the first mark.

How a church looks at God in worship is the second mark of maturing.

“New creations who enjoy corporate and transforming worship God” was the sixth mark in my list eight years ago. Though we were following the five capital Cs in our liturgy (Call, Confession, Consecration, Communion, and Commissioning), I hadn’t yet taught through it. Every January since we’ve taken two or more messages of reminders about the priority and power of worship, and that’s why it moves up in my redux list.

In order for a church to mature she must be worshipping God together, every week, with intention and expectation.

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

The only principle more important than this in the universe may be: love bestows loveliness (which is most visible in the gospel of grace). Right after that is: we become like who (or what) we worship. God made us to reflect Him as image-bearers. This is our identity, and He made it so that we learn about our identity and grow in glory as we look at Him.

This beholding doesn’t happen only when the church assembles, but it starts here.

He is great and greatly to be praised (Psalm 145:3). He is sovereign and good, His steadfast love endures forever (Psalm 136:1). He is our life (Colossians 3:4). And we need reminding all the time. It is very tempting to forget the forest for the trees. There are a lot of trees: health, family, bills, work, food, cleaning, et cetera. Any relationship and any responsibility can become an idol; we can start to act like that person or that duty is our life. It’s one of the thi[...]