The Particulars of Worship (Part 1)

Men and women are never more human than when they are in fellowship, first in fellowship with God and then with others. Saying that we were made to worship and saying that we were made to bear His image is virtually saying the same thing, if we recognize that worship of God is ultimately about fellowship.

What does it mean to be human? What distinguishes us from the rest of creation? We alone are created in God's likeness. So what does it mean to be created in God's likeness? In what ways do we reflect Him? Among other things, it at least means that we are formed to enjoy fellowship. God, in three Persons, the blessed Trinity, has never known an existence in isolation. Eternal life has been eternally shared life between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He made us to share that sort of life.

We learn who we are by being with Him. We learn to reflect Him by being with Him. That's why "when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is" (1 John 3:2). So we can't image Him in isolation from one another, nor can we mirror Him without a clear path to Him; sin obstructs our line of sight.

He could have created us to enjoy relationship with one another only on the horizontal level, on a plane running parallel to Him but never interacting with Him. Instead, He graciously shares the best thing in the universe with us: Himself. He is our God. He is our good. He is our help. He is on our side. At no other time do we more fully acknowledge or enjoy our privilege than when we assemble for worship.

Worship, then, is not a one-sided affair, a one way movement. God meets with us in worship.

We began this series on worship by considering some of the purposes for corporate worship. He shapes us as we interact with Him. He unifies the body. He orients us, not only individually but also as a group. And He spreads His heavenly will on earth, toppling idols and ideologies as we lift up His name.

He does all of that in, through, and with His [people][people]. We are a people for His own possession (1 Peter 2:9). We are His temple, "being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit" (Ephesians 2:22). We have direct access to Him as a "holy priesthood" (1 Peter 2:5, 9). And we offer ourselves as sacrifices for spiritual worship (Romans 12:1).

All of this follows a certain pattern as God draws us near to Himself. He gave instructions under the Old Covenant that not only enabled forgiveness for sin, but also that enabled fellowship. Through three types of sacrifices, sin was atoned for, the worshipper was consecrated for service, and peace was shared. The sin offering delivered, the burnt offering devoted, the peace offering drew together.

The Old Covenant sacrificial system was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. As our High Priest, He offered His own body once, took our sin, transforms us, and brings us to His Father. This is all part of the New Covenant work, the gospel. We are called to worship Him as Lord, which requires confession of our sin, then He cleanses us and sets us apart for service. We share fellowship and peace with Him and, as we go among the nations, we call more worshippers. The gospel pattern fulfills the sacrificial progression and provides the pattern for our service.

The pattern is important because, again, what does God want with us? He does want us to know Him, to know the truth that He has revealed, to believe His Word. But verse by verse, line by line explanation is the door into the living room. Yes, going through the right door is important. But staring at the door or standing in the doorway isn't the aim of worship. Going into His presence is the aim. The door of truth opens the way. That's why liturgy matters.

Liturgy is "the orderly, biblical way in which the congregation is drawn into God's majestic, life-giving presence" (Jeffrey Meyers, The Lord's Service, 154).

I keep hammering this for a couple reasons.

First, if God wants fellowship with His people, then our liturgical customs should reflect His desire somehow. I said a couple weeks ago that God has not provided His one-and-only order of service anywhere in Scripture. That means we do have a measure of freedom in what we do. We do not, however, have the freedom not to say something by what we do. In other words, it's not whether or not our liturgy will make a point, it's which point our liturgy will make.

We necessarily make a point and, in light of the order of offerings and the gospel progress, we get to make a point that God loves to meet with and bless His assembly in worship. Most of us have learned from (low) liturgy that God wants listeners; long exposure to that sort of liturgy has shaped our beliefs. But the sermon is so much more than a weekly theology fix, or three steps to a better life. We meet with the Author over His Book. His living and active word cuts us up and cleans us up before Him, even if we can't remember (or write down) every detail.

So whatever we do, we should try to practice what God prioritizes, especially to give form to God's desire for fellowship.

Second, if God wants fellowship with His people, then our liturgical convictions should not break fellowship with other believers that have different convictions. This is a field sown full of tares. (In Romans 14 and 15) Paul refers to believers who thought that they found the key to sanctification, who push their convictions on others, who he calls the weaker brothers. The stronger brethren weren't living in license, giving no though whatsoever to their conduct. The stronger brethren knew that externals alone could never do what grace does, and that grace enabled them to bear with weaker brothers, too.

I say that because we're setting ourselves up for serious discontent, if not actual disaster, by working on and so purposefully establishing liturgy for our worship. Do you know a lot of assemblies that follow the five Cs? That demonstrate in practice God's desire to fellowship with His people rather than merely speak at them from behind a pulpit?

How will you respond to other Christians who worship elsewhere? Or when you've gone to another church on the Lord's day? Here is an area where we need to grow up.

We ought not blow up because people don't get it, yet or ever. Our indignation won't win them to want our adoration. At the same time, we ought not give up our convictions. The way to handle others who don't think like we do is not for us to become thought-less. Let's be careful not to push people away by how we tell them that God draws us near.

In order to straighten our explanations and strengthen our participation, I'd like us to consider some of the particulars of worship liturgy. These are implications that surround and include the pattern in the five Cs so that we know what to expect and how to enjoy it. We are an assembly of worship agents and actors, not auditors, so we all should know what we're doing and why we're doing it.

This is a challenge, since we want to worship, not theologize about worship. We don't want to spend more time washing the car, changing the oil, reading the owner's manual; we want to drive. We don't want to get stuck studying the recipe, we want to eat. But sometimes it is beneficial, hence this series.

We won't find a verse that tells us how to behave before our Lord's Day Worship service. Nevertheless, we can say a couple things based on who we are and what this time is for.

In terms of who we are, we are an assembly, not a multitude under one roof. In other words, this is more "body" time and less believer time, a time for the church to worship. That means that when we gather as the assembly, we should be thinking about the assembly. It is unnatural for the assembly to act like it isn't, to act like strangers.

In terms of what this service is for, the aim of the assembly will be a meal of fellowship with God. We gather for a feast, not for a fast, for a festival (so to speak), not a funeral. We ought to enter with energy and eagerness. God will draw us near, He is on our side, so we come with gladness.

Yes, we have a time for confessing sin. But we really ought not to wait for that to get glad. Neither do we have doubts about His faithfulness to forgive us. As much as possible, confess individual sins before hand and then help carry the corporate confession.

All of that to say, you don't need to be quiet when you come for worship. The church is not a collection of listeners, but a congregation of worshippers. Gladly greet one another, the rest of the assembly. We've come together for good things. Don't show up at the last minute, sneak in and keep to yourself the whole time. You will not find instructions in our bulletin to come in, sit down, and be quiet. Come in, get re-connected, and get ready to celebrate.

This is why we have announcements at this time. Practically, it functions to finish up our greetings. The announcements end our gathering instead of start our worship. We look ahead at some of the body's calendar. I take a different attitude during announcements, with less formality and purposeful interaction.

Believers assemble to meet with God at His bidding. He initiates and invites us into His presence. In our service, I usually give the same sentence, "Let's have Scripture call us to worship." When the assembly hears that signal, something different begins. This sentence could be called the votum, a Latin word for a solemn declaration or prayer, similar to the gavel pounding that calls the court proceedings to order. It is often a simple, short sentence, easily remembered and identified.

The votum, as an opening statement, turns a casual get-together of individuals into a united assembly and is intended to confirm "the presence of God" in the midst of his people. (Kuyper, Our Worship, 110)

There are various votums/calls used in liturgy. Historically, the most common is Psalm 124:8, sometimes begun by the minister with the congregation responding with the second half.

Our help is in the name of the LORD,

It's a great verse that considers how God has already delivered His people and now there is a corporate desire to honor Him as our help. The congregation faced death and may have been destroyed, but God delivered them through His great power. The psalm is a song of thanks and hope that He is our help.

Another often used votum is Revelation 1:4-7. There are also other, non-inspired calls such as, "Come let us worship the Triune God."

In our service, I strike the gavel and then select different passages that call for worship, even in the (imperatival) mood of the verb. For example, today,

Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous!

This meeting is for Christians, though it isn't a closed door meeting. The public are allowed, and here is part of our work of propaganda.

We come in the name of Christ. Outside of Christ, there is no congregation, no body. Without Christ, there is no communion with God.

As happens throughout the service, God speaks and we respond. The prayer of praise acknowledges His call. It also acknowledges that He is worthy to be worshipped. In this prayer we also ask for His help to worship Him properly.

We can't even fellowship properly without His help. So we acknowledge our dependence from the start. We also address Him as the Trinity, typically mentioning Father, Son, and Spirit. As you may notice, I emphasize "assembly," "come together," and "before You". This is the assembly's response.

We'll see more particulars next week.

Worship is our intentional recognition that He reigns over all the earth, and that His reign starts here.

Automated transcript of the sermon audio, generated with OpenAI Whisper (small.en). It has not been checked against the recording and may contain errors, especially in names and Scripture references.

When Sean let me know on Friday afternoon that I'd be doing this, I had all kinds of things running through my head. The standard procedure is to choose some candy stick that you have stuck in a file and do that one. I don't like doing those things, that's too easy. So what I want to do though is talk about where we've come in 13 months. Shawn's doing it in a very formal way to talk about our worship and why we've constructed our worship the way we have. I want to do it in a little more informal way, looking at it from my Christian experience and how we've arrived here and what it means. I came to the Lord through discipleship.

I hired a guy that gave me the gospel and it hit me like a thunderbolt in February of 1985 and by August I was enrolled in seminary and had turned my business over to the guy that gave me the gospel. And I spent the next three years locked in my office looking at stuff that I'd never even thought I could do. and it rocked my world big time. And ever since then, the idea to be able to transfer what God has said has been the big thing for me. As Sean puts it, a truth tube filler. Finding those little pieces, those little nuggets to demonstrate to somebody so they can store it away and say, wow, that's a great little Bible fact Bible fact and isn't that cute. The thing that I would have done if I would have pulled out the candy stick is I would have told you to open your Bibles to John 3 13 and I would have read this.

This is Jesus talking to Nicodemus and he says, no one has ascended into heaven, but he who came down from heaven, that is the Son of man who is in heaven. And I would have purposely read that to you out of the King James or the new King James because in your ESV or your New American Standard you don't have that phrase, who is in heaven? And it's interesting to me that textual critics say that that's not in the best manuscripts and it's the old story, the oldest ones are the best and all that kind of stuff. But there is a substantial argument that sometimes the oldest ones aren't necessarily the best, that some of the newer ones are actually more accurately translated and stored away and all of that.

And I'd go into long discussion about textual criticism, but I think the bigger point in this is Jesus is demonstrating to Nicodemus at that time when Nicodemus is going, how can all this be? And he's telling him, not only am I the son of man, but am I also omnipresent? I am also in heaven as I'm actually speaking to you, which is like rocks your world, okay? And there's been many journal articles written on this and so forth. Sean chose to stay away from it, preparing you guys for the shocker about Jesus who said John 3.16, which used to be one of my favorites also. So the, but that's the kind of thing that I enjoy doing and want to do that, but I see our group and our church family, the way we're growing, that it's way bigger than that.

And that's what we're realizing. We came to this congregation fairly mature. Most of us know our Bibles, we taught our kids well, we love the Lord, we want to do things for the Lord and all of that, and we come together like this, And when we come together, it's something way more special than maybe a lot of us have been familiar with. And there's a lot of ingredients in this that make it that way. The reason that I had them put that up there is the idea of, that's a Hubble Space Telescope photo. And you can look at any one of them or look at one of those great picture books that are coffee table books of what they see.

and you realize how teeny we are and how big God's creation is, just what we can see there, and we're only seeing part of it. And you know, we're just, our planet would be a speck in that thing, you know. And you realize, whoa, we're a lot smaller. You go back to those days when you're on the camping trip and you laid on your back out in the night and you looked up in the stars and you go, whoa, I'm little, God is big. That's why there's no atheist, you know, there's no five year old atheist going around. They know something's bigger than them that made this. And that's like big time, exciting. And that leads us into why we call our church Trinity Evangel Church.

Sean has mentioned these things, but I wanna rehearse them because they are such a big deal. We had a life to life leaders meeting on Saturday morning and Dave Mills read his finished reading, Fred Sanders book on the Trinity. And it's really rocked his world. He's been a Christian for a long time, but the whole idea that the triune God did not need us before the foundation of the world. They had fellowship together before he even created the world. And then he creates the world, and through his revealed world tells us, he chose us in him before he even created it, is just, you know, whoa, I can't get my head around that.

So we worship this triune God that now has us come into fellowship with him through the gospel. And how did he do that? He has to kill himself, God, kills himself so that we have a way to come to him. That's like, whoa, that's unbelievable. And each one of that then transforms each one of us into the image of his son. Just that alone, we should be able to sit around here for the rest of our lives and go, thank you, and be so loving outside, so excited to tell other people. And then the other thing is the evangel, the gospel, and then the church, us all gathering together. When we gather together, though, we are very used to the church involving us in programs.

And that's why when you go on our website, we have the Trellis and Vine, the book, or the Vine and the Trellis, whichever way it goes. But the issue is, we are the vine. The Trellis is only needed if we have what? A growing plant. If you put the seed in the ground and nothing's growing, you don't need that great big thing stuck in your garden. You only need that thing to hold up the plant as it's going. And you build it in the way that it's growing. only been at this three months, we're not sure what God has in store for us. Other than we know we need to fellowship with each other and do the one and others and that kind of thing. So we don't want to build a structure to force everybody into. We want the body to be that structure and as we see it growing, then come alongside and help it with trellis.

But never to make the trellis and then go, you have to do it this way. Now you might I might say, but you've created this system of worship of the five C's and we're doing that. Yes, and Sean's explaining that to you in detail why those came about. You'll notice I think through the last thing of Leviticus nine, that that was kind of a shocker for our New Testament Christianity to see how that's modeled and why we're doing that same thing, picturing it. We don't do the same sacrifices over and over, we picture that as we worship him corporately like this. That's huge. And so that makes us think about, if we're coming together to worship, how do we then live?

Francis Schaeffer wrote a book about that, that how should we then live if these things are true? If they're true, it should change the way we live and the way that we look at everything, which then gets into the worldview kind of situation, that the axle of grace is the hub of the wheel, and we only get in that axle of grace through Christ's sacrifice, and in that axle of grace, then we have the spokes that are the catechesis, is one spoke, symbol and liturgy is another one, narrative and lifestyle go out to the rim, but the rim of the wheel is the lordship of Christ over everything. That means everything. The flat tire maybe that you had this morning.

The idea that Sean got sick on Friday and couldn't preach this morning. The idea that I was going to do one thing and now I'm doing another. The idea that I'm sitting up here wondering if I'm making a connection. All of those things. He's lured over all of that. And then when you start to really investigate it to realize if he wasn't holding together the molecules, according to Colossians, we'd all explode. You know, we're here only because he is Lord over everything, which then should alter our thinking, well, if I'm doing anything, anything, changing the baby's diapers, emptying the trash, doing math, inventing a new computer program, whatever it is, he's Lord over that task.

That's huge. And we don't think that way in our thing. We're doing the Lord's work. I'm out evangelizing, and another person came to Christ because I visited him and I gave him the gospel and all of that. We don't think big. And I think God wants us to think way outside the box that most of us have been in. And that whole thing, as we thought about it and have talked about it before, like catechesis, we're very good at that. Most of us know our Bibles. We can do the sword drills, and we can talk about what we think about that passage. And we've heard six sermons on that. and I like that guy's take on it, but I don't like that guy.

That's part of catechesis, but if I have these facts, then what do I do with them? I have to have some narrative, some story to tell, and I need to know what place in the story I am. How did we get here? We didn't just show up here because we all used to go to a different church and then we moved up here because our kids moved up here, and then I go to this church, and how did these churches even get here? How did, you know, how did grace Baptist Church become Grace Bible Church? How did we choose Trinity Evangel Church? What stream of Christendom did we come out of? And what baggage do we carry in that stream? How many of us are converted from Roman Catholicism or just rank paganism?

Or some of us like myself that would have told you I was saved at nine in the Baptist Church and got baptized and all that kind of stuff. And then I lived like, heck, till I was 37. There was no way I would say it. I was a creature of the 60s, and I was there. I lived it and did it, OK? And the whole thing is that you're part of this thing, and your story is important to you, but you need to know where your story is encompassed in God's story. It started off with Adam, and he's the first man. And then the second Adam comes along and allows us to have fellowship, Christ. And in between that, there's all these people doing all these things. And as we read these Bible stories, you know, I'm really bored reading Leviticus. Well, I think Leviticus after the last couple of weeks is taking a different flavor, I'm hoping. But when you read the stories of the same old thing and the same people do the same stupid thing, they come back to the Lord, they get straightened out, and the next generation drops the ball.

That is the story. And that's why we want, that's why we have the kids in here. We want them to watch us worship and model after us. We want the whole thing to be an ongoing story, knowing where we came from and where we're going and what we're doing. And then that necessarily drives our lifestyle. Are we supposed to be somber, you know, only wear black and, you know, just do these things and don't drink or smoke or go with girls that do and therefore I'm a Christian. And you can prove your car is a Christian, you know. And the problem is, no, you should be, what, joyful. We should be having a great time. People should be jealous of how much fun we're having.

Not, I'm not gonna do that, I'm gonna have a great time and then at the end I'll sign up, you know, and then I'll be able to go to heaven, but right now I'm just gonna have my party time. That's no time. The party is here and we should be having that party and people should be infected by the joy we have. And that's why we want them to see the, we are making a step beyond as we fellowship together. And if we aren't, and you're not doing that, crank it up a notch, make that happen. And by doing that, what happens? Then people find out you're just like them. You got the same problem they got. You got a wife that you yelled at.

You got a grandkid or a kid that you didn't handle right, and you have to then go ask forgiveness from your three-year-old or whatever, and show them the joy that that can be. And then as you do that, you really become that person. You are that Christ to those people. That's huge. And when that starts to happen and you do that with somebody, and then that somebody gets it and goes and gives that gospel to somebody else, and you meet that person coming all the way back around, you know you really transferred it. Because that person then transferred that truth to that guy, then your spiritual grandchild that you never met before comes back around and tells you the same thing. You're really passing it on. That's the Christian life. That's the Great Commission. God does not tell us to go build a church. He says, go and make disciples. And by making disciples, then we have a bunch of people that are believers that then fellowship together like this to be encouraged so that we go out and do the work in the ministry.

And it's the same old thing. You've heard all this before, but it's incredibly different, I think, now for us as we've realized coming from our fundamental background that we need to be more out, more open, more involved, just overflowing to the community. And we don't need to be afraid. We are the agents of the creator of the universe. We are those people. And in our day and age, we're told, oh, well, that's only for church, that's for Sunday, but don't do that, and don't bring this up at work, and all of those kind of things. If we really believe all these things, he's Lord over Boeing, even if it might be run by a pagan.

Now, I'm not telling you to go down to Boeing and tell your boss, well, I'm gonna preach the gospel today and I'm not gonna put the plane together, you know, obviously, you do your work, but the thinking in the back of your head should just alter the way you look at everything. And it's huge. And if we raise up a people that are like that, we will change the society. Now in our camp, in our eschatology, and we have not deserted that, that we think that it's going to get bad and there's going to be a tribulation and there is going to be a millennium and all of that. But right now and here, the instruction is to go be the light unto the world.

Train up your children to be those people. Any place you are, challenge those things when they're godless. I mean, we live in a country that kills millions of babies. That's just inexcusable. That's crazy. And we've lived with it so long that we just go, well, that's politics and that's that. My faith is private and I really couldn't involve myself in that. You see these politicians dance around. They had a situation where the same-sex marriage is, and this one lady apparently on the news said that she's a Christian, but she didn't really want to impose her Christianity on the rest of society, so she's going to have to vote for that law.

Well, think about it. If Christ is Lord over that, she cannot do that. No, you don't do that. You either believe it or you don't. And it's when you start thinking about things that way, it changes what you're going to do about it. Now, you don't have to be the biggest jerk in the world and go down and run out the door here and go find some guy doing something stupid and start lecturing him. We need to be biblically based. And when you read 1 Peter 3.15 that you should have a reason for the hope that is in you to everyone who asks. That doesn't mean I go out and start grabbing people and say, hey buddy, I need to tell you about the hope that's within me.

And he looks at me and said, and who asked you to talk to me? But the point is, when he does ask, you're ready. And you can dump the load on him. and you can bring him into the fold because God is the one that opens his eyes to that truth anyway. But that changes your mind and it changes the way you approach things and it changes your apologetic, how you defend the faith. Yeah, we can have a lot of good reasons and we could stand up and have conferences on this scientific evidence for this and that and those things are good but you know what? Mostly those things are good for Christians as they reinforce what you already know.

The issue is you can't argue those people into the kingdom unless God opens their eyes. And the issue is not whether evolution is true, the issue is is that person a sinner? He needs to know that. If he goes, well yeah, something bigger than me made the universe, it's like Dawkins when he got backed into the corner and he said, well, maybe aliens just brought life to this planet. I could go with that. You know, okay. But who made the alien? You know, it's always that question back, back as you do that. But arguing with those kind of people is probably not going to bring them to heaven. Now, I'm not saying people don't come to faith watching all kinds of things and hearing all kinds of things.

I mean, I know a guy that got saved watching Channel 40, Benny Hinn. He came home disco dancing and he had his big frou-frou hair and all his, you know, the what's that stuff, nylon stuff on, and bell bottoms, yeah, and the boots. And he's like half drunk, and he comes home, sits in his apartment, turns on the TV, and Benny Hinn is going, and he hit the gospel as he does occasionally, you know, broken watches right twice a day. And he heard the gospel, and he got saved. He went down on his knees, and boom, you know. So God can use those things. I'm not saying he doesn't. But if we're thinking it through, we need to be way beyond that, thinking way deeper than that.

And the big issue is, when you start realizing Christ is Lord overall, you know all this stuff. You know God is omniscient, he sees everything, he knows your thoughts before you think them and all of that, but when you start thinking, he made that and that's just a speck of it. And he made all these people, and he made us have all these little molecules and cells inside of us, and Tim Gate of a series in our Sunday school once where the little parachute thing is spinning around inside of a cell, and it goes what, 70,000 RPM a minute? RPM, and it's just a little piece in a cell and it looks like a little helicopter, and it's spinning around, not making a contact inside a cell in your body.

Floating, how does that work? And I'm waving around and that thing's still spinning around in there somewhere. And, you know, we're going to get better microscopes and see something even smaller than that. He's in charge of all that stuff. That didn't just happen by accident, you know. And we need to be cognizant of that and realize that he has plucked us out of this and opened our eyes and made us people that can have fellowship with him and special fellowship with each other. As we talk and rub off on each other, that's an incredible growing experience. Because as you try to explain to your friends what you're thinking about this, even in your family, I mean we have great theological debates all the time.

And the idea is that as we're thinking about that, we're honing each other and you're seeing, oh my, I didn't think of it that way, I didn't think of this. Ooh, that's bigger than I thought it was. This is exciting. And as we do that, we're growing and it's like an organism, the vine is growing. And so, like, we see this, like, this kind of talking is the 50,000-foot level. And if you guys have not listened to Sean's series that he did on discipleship, it's available on the website. But you need to think about the teaching in our groups kind of like this. This is the 50,000-foot level. I'm flying this big bomber, and I'm throwing these bombs out there for you guys, and some people are taking notes, or you'll listen to the tape, and, okay, I get that kind of thing.

But you're really not relating with me, and I'm not sure that everybody's hearing what I think that I'm saying, and all that kind of stuff. So then you get down to the life-to-life groups where we talk more in a smaller group, 20 people or whatever, and some of this time is devoted to what's being taught, what do you think is going on? So now you see, well, maybe people are connecting, and but out of that, you're still only connecting with the group. It's not till you go one-on-one with somebody or you actually get in that person's kitchen and say, what do you think? Did you get this or what do you think about what was just said?

Do you really understand if you're connecting with that person and you've made the communication gap? So that's like you're dropping now down to the 10,000-foot level. So in those groups. And the men-to-men, oh, I forgot men-to-men and Titus II, those are kind of a level above the life-to-life. where the women get together and the women are there, and you know what their main focus is? The older women are to teach the other women how to love their husbands. That's their job. Now, that's crazy. You're supposed to love your husband. I wouldn't have married him if I didn't love him. But the problem is, as time goes on, you realize that guy's a jerk and you got to learn how to love him.

It's always fascinating how the bloom wears off and you got to, At that point, now we're loving supernaturally. And that's what we do because we have God's spirit in us, and this whole thing is supernatural. There's no way I'd pick you clowns to be with, right? But since we are together, we have this incredible supernatural ability to communicate against about, and for that person that made that and made us. That's just like, wow, how does that work? And then as we start rubbing off, we go, well, that guy's not so bad. And then it never dawns on us to think about what they think about us, right? But that is the fellowship.

And what's so exciting is to see, as we come together in our small little body, how everybody is just blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and somebody goes off and they got to talk. And like the Martin girl coming back, I mean, it's like seamless. I come into the thing on Friday night and I look over there and there she is. Then she said, well, I'm here to bring grandma now. She's going to take her and Cheryl, where did you go Cheryl? You moved to somebody else's house now because you were staying with grandma. Now you're going to the Vanderbeckens, right? No. Where do you go next? The Hickok House. I mean, that's incredible.

Look at the cross-pollinization that happens, just like that. It's all these little bees out there flying all around. That is Christianity. We are infiltrating the society and as we do that, we realize, oh, that guy, he has crazy theological beliefs, but he's a Christian. When we first started and had to get out of our house, and we went and did the Pentecostal Church when we were up at I don't know what that area is called, but it was a ways away from here. Sean started meeting with that pastor. Yeah, we got some beliefs that we don't exactly align, but this guy's a Christian. He loves the Lord. We need to get outside our box and realize there's a lot of people out there that are going to be in heaven that we don't necessarily want to be with every Sunday.

That's a big thing. That's hard for us that want to cut it straight. We have lots of theology books and we've got lots of notes, and we've taken lots of classes, and we know the truth, and if that guy doesn't see it that way, he's a heretic. Well, you know what? We're all heretics. Every one of us has heretical beliefs, and we got to keep refining those things. As we talk with people and see that they love the Lord, Sometimes they so outshine our golden rule, right? The issue is that if the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart and then your neighbor as yourself, how are you doing?

And I know we're not doing so well. We do good with the people we like, like Jim said. But the problem is the one I don't like, How do I do with him? And love can take a stiff thing. There is tough love. I mean, there are those times where you've got to be tough, and that is the loving thing to do. But most of the time, it's you being a jerk. That's why you're not being nice to the guy. And the idea is, as you're nice to that person and as you involve yourself with them, they are going to see your flaws too. I mean, any time you disciple somebody, they say, oh, I want to meet with you because you're a great man of God and all that.

And I always laugh at that because they get together with you and all of a sudden they see, well you're just a dude like I am. You got a few more facts in your head but so what? And the excitement is, is when they catch that and realize, oh they do, they can collect those facts too. But the real issue is to put yourself, surrender to God so that he's the one driving your life. That the spirit is driving you, not you. You know, which is what? Walking in the spirit. And when you do that, you know when you do it, and you know when you don't do it. And we're, those of us have been church for a while, we can be pretty good.

We can pretend for a while. You know, we can go along, but those of us that know us, they just know. Their radar's beep, beep, beep, and he's not walking in the spirit. You know, give him some room, what's happening. And what you wanna do is then you come over alongside that person, what's the problem? What do we gotta do? How do we fix it? How do we move ahead on that? And all of that is what? Life on life, living the faith with each other. That's huge. That is the Christian life. And when you do that, I mean, I've met with guys, and they've been married a long time, and the lady doesn't want to have kids, and the guy wants to have kids.

And you think, well, you're a Christian. You should just, let me give you this Bible verse. You should have a kid. It says right here, be fruitful and multiply. And you say, what does your wife like doing? Well, she likes all these sports things and all of that kind of stuff. I said, well, no, I mean, she married you, clown. What does she like about you? Well, she likes movies. Yeah, I know, the chick flicks, right? No, shoot them up movies. Well, that's true, but she likes the chick flicks. Well, why don't you watch movies with her? And well, okay, three weeks later, it was like, whoa, what happened? And what happened was those people reconnected.

And there's always that kind of thing. And it never gets stale. I mean, I've been around with Gail for a while. And she's hung in there. But it, and I'm, I am, we have a kind of a bizarre family, especially living with Sean and Morgan and the grandkids and everything. It's like, whoa. And Morgan and I are like super social. I mean, you got to sit right next to us. We want to talk about everything. What do you think about that? What do you think about this? Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Morgan and Sean are like, whoa, give me some space. I want to think. I don't want to, I won't just, you know, fly off the handle about everything.

gales that way and I'm always huddling up. We got to do this together. I live in it 24 hours a day. We live in the same house. We've got the same little tiny room. What are you doing? I said, well, I can't get enough of that. See? Leave me alone. And you have to learn. Sometimes she needs her space. And so the exact reverse of my first story is that I need to give her her space sometime. And when she gets her space, then she comes back and refreshed. So it's all these balances. There is no one answer. You don't go to some seminar over the weekend, save your marriage. It's like throwing a twig in the fire and now you're saved.

No, man, it's way more than that. Once you get saved, there's all kinds of transformation that goes on and you will develop into something just amazing. And you just don't know what God's gonna do with you. So that all-encompassing lordship of Christ is huge in the picture of this thing. Now, the next thing that happens is as we look at the church and we realize, OK, we've got this gathering. We've not done this for 13 months. We got life-to-life groups going. And they've been going, what, a big six months now? Whoa, boy, we really have done that well. But as that's happening, we see different relationships happening.

And as you meet in a life-to-life group, then a person says, well, I want to meet with you one-on-one. And if it's you and you've never done that, you're going to go, what does he want to meet with me for? Is he mad at me? Is he going to confront me? All of that goes through your mind. Do it. Just do it. And if you don't like somebody, go up and tell them, hey, you know what? I don't like you. But I'd like to get to know you. Think about it. Would that be like a different way to get acquainted, right? But the idea is if we're his people, we should be able to go up and, you know, what you're doing there bugs me. And I bug a lot of people.

I mean, Terry even warned me that I shouldn't say stupid or fool in this message. See, I didn't say it to anybody. But the idea is your enthusiasm should override that. And if people get to know you, I mean, you can't be just a jerk, okay? But be yourself and be that way. I mean, your mom, is she here somewhere?

Wait, there, where are you? There you are, yeah. Now, you wanna know what's going on? Ask Erika, right? She'll tell you straight up, I don't like this, I do like this. And that's really good. And for those of us that are doing this church, we want to know that. And we're trying to demonstrate that to you as we go around and visit the groups and all of that. We want that feedback. That's why the Men to Men group has been going on 13 months through that book on elders. And you've seen, sometimes we go through a few pages, sometimes we get stuck on one principle, and it blows the whole thing up. Because people, when they come and visit, Different guys have come that don't go to this church, and they always go away going, wow, I have never seen people that are in charge of the church stand up there and defend themselves and lay it all out there like that and have that discussion.

We're doing that on purpose, because we think the Bible teaches that you don't lord it over them, you don't tell them what to do, you do by example, you lead by example. And if my example is bad, don't follow it. But if the example is good, but you're a different personality than I am, don't think you've got to be some nutcase like I am and jumping and doing all kinds of different things. The nice calm guy can do the same thing and have the same joy at whatever level he's doing it with. And all of us are uniquely gifted so that we contribute to the body and the unique ways that we are. So we're not trying to squelch the different viewpoints or the analytical viewpoint or the Just happy-go-lucky guy that wants to have a party.

Or the guy that's just a good, hard-working guy that doesn't talk much, but he wants to serve and he wants to do whatever. But you want to encourage the guy that doesn't talk much to talk. You want to encourage the guy that's always running his mouth, tell him to shut up sometimes. I mean, like, if I go to the group, I need to keep biting my tongue because I want to jump in and say something and I realize, no, don't say anything because the idea is we want to encourage other people to say stuff. So it's always this balance, but as you work through all of that, it's amazing how God will teach you that. And you see that as you, one of the books that I've read just lately is a book by John Milton Gregory, right?

Seven Laws of Teaching. And this guy wrote this book back in the 1850s, I think. And his big point in the book is if you're not speaking the same language to somebody, they can't understand you. And you know what I found out? I wasn't speaking the same language to my wife. Now, we've been married how long? 41 years, yeah. Now, that's a problem. Now, obviously, you know, we get to the same place on time and stuff, but we have a business that Gail does the books on, and I was not talking, and she was not talking the right language to me. And Morgan became our kind of moderator going, she read the book and she's going, yeah, I think there's something to that.

So as we started realizing I needed to phrase something differently or ask it in a different way so that I was getting the answer I was asking for. I thought I was being very clear. I was being very business like, this is what I want, that, that, that, that. She doesn't want to hear it that way. She wants to hear it a different way. Now, am I compromising? Yeah, for a guy like me, I don't want to compromise. I told him what to do, I just want to hear it. But no, that doesn't work so well. If I talk the same language, then we communicate, and it goes a lot smoother. That's probably a bad example, explained badly, but you probably feel out how that works with people.

There are ways to get it done, and that's not being unchristian to compromise, find a way to communicate with that person. Be different with some people. Some people do need the club, some people need that hug, and that's just the way it works. The problem is that even when you make the mistake, that can open up the door to get it fixed even better. You say something stupid or somebody takes it the wrong way, go to that person and say, did you really mean to say that? You go, well, yeah. What's wrong with that? They say, well, I think that that was personally talking about me, and you insulted me. Well, if it fits, yeah, but if it doesn't fit, no, I wasn't talking about you. I was talking about the principle out here. And the thing is that we are so ignorant, all right? We have been raised in a secular culture for the last hundred years, and it's crept into where we just accept all this stuff. And we don't And we don't think about it in the world view way, and that Christ is Lord over it.

We just know, okay, I go to school now, I'm going to take this class and evolution, and I need it to get my biology degree, and okay, I'll argue with a professor, but I better get the answers right. I got to do that. Now, maybe that's the right thing to do. Maybe that's what you sacrifice to do. But the thing is, when you do that, you're buying into a system that is not looking at God as Lord overall. So you do have to work around that. But the thing is, you gotta get it done. We gotta be somewhere. There's all these wisdom calls that come up all the time. And for those of us in the truth camp that like hard edge, this is the way it is, we need to make those decisions and think about it.

And some of us wanna go out and be the sacrificial bomb in the thing. Others wanna work quietly. All of that's part of the action. That's part of the body life. That's all, that's how it works and that's the way it should be. So I wanna end on this. This is kind of a bizarre quote to talk to you about.

But it kind of talks about what we're doing. The neighbors and how we love unto each other in our society. R.L. Dabney was a preacher from the 1800s And he made this statement in a pamphlet. And he said, government is not the creator, but the creature of human society. Now, all of us that are Bible people go, Romans 13, God obey the government, all of that. But what he's saying is, listen, government is not the creator, but the creature of human society. Human societies made Julius Caesar. Human societies made Marx and Engels and Barack Obama and whoever, you know. Those people allowed those things to happen by whatever role they played into.

The government has no mission from God to make the community, on the contrary, the community should make the government. That's interesting, isn't it? Our whole thing, our government has evolved into the Big Mama. I will take care of you. I'll take care of your retirement. I'm gonna give you healthcare. I'm gonna make sure that you get this money. and oh, you poor thing, you tripped and fell on the job, and now we'll have this thing come and get you, and all of that kind of stuff. But listen to this sentence. The government has no mission from God to make the community, on the contrary, the community should make the government.

We are the community, and we have a community of God in each one of us. We are a powerful entity together and separately to bring about change. We should be taking care of our parents. Some of us have stepped into that thing. I mean, the Martin girl coming back to live with her mom, and she needs to have the knee surgery. That's a huge example. Those are things that all of us do. I mean, we've been through it with my parents and Gail's parents, and some of us that are getting older. Our kids are a bunch of flakes, so you're going to need to take care of me, you know? And think, oh, well, you're going to get the Nomi when you have to change my diaper, right?

But that's the thing. I mean, well, you guys, Sandy, you brought your mom here, right? That's hard. But that is the right thing. You love your mom and she changed your diapers and now it's your turn, right? And that's huge. And when our body knows that, we should come alongside those people and help them in that. That is community and that's the way God designed it to be. And we've let that go. Put him in the old folks' home. I don't want to deal with it. He's a jerk. That one's a jerk. My mom's mean, all of that kind of stuff. I know all that. Been there, done that. So anyway, those things. Think we are the community that create the government.

Don't resign it over. And this day and age, as far as it slipped, it is hard sometimes to be peppy about it. But there is a generation going on, and we need to think long range. I've said it in a couple of the groups, I wanna say it here, the idea that in the 1600s, the reformers, when they built a church, they had a 300 year building program. They knew we're laying the foundation stone and 300 years from now we'll be done with the church.

Can you imagine that in our day and age? Okay, 300 years from now, we're gonna have a building. okay, do I give to it today? That's what we need to think about, the generations. Those guys are the next thing. Halle, the babies that are just popping out now, they need to be the next generation. We need to think about them investing in them. And our problem is we come from a eschatology that says it's going to hell in a handbasket and just hide out and boy, I hope the rapture comes today because I really don't want to do this job. Uh-uh, we need to be engaged, even if it does come. And I'm not saying we're changing our eschatology, we're not, but the issue is we need to be out and involved, and as we are involved, the gospel will penetrate the society and be out there for everybody.

Okay, so I've come exactly to the right time. How about that, that was good. I have more though, but I'm not going to do it. So now what do I do? I invite you guys back up, right? Yeah, I pray. You guys come up. Well, now they've started up. And you'll notice that we don't do the trick thing. Some churches you go to, and somebody prays. And then all of a sudden the band appeared. And you go, how did they get there? Did they fly up there or whatever happened? And we were admonished by one of our congregants that we shouldn't do that. Have them come up, and then when we pray, they can pray too, and we can all be good.

So let's pray, and then we're going to do communion. And I'll come back up, and we'll explain that. I got some surprises to where we're going to do communion today, too. So. OK. Father, thank you for this time together. I hope that people see that we want to be happy in you.

Just the idea to go and sing a happy song about Jesus that you came to earth to solve the sin problem for us. And with that solved, we should be so excited to move on and be excited about building a bridge or making a piece of furniture or learning a new song, whatever, and help us to be those people, help us to be those good citizens and those people that are infectious and change the society. So we thank you for that, and of course, we thank you most of all for your son, amen.

Our mission as Christian parents is to raise a generation of Christian parents who hope in God as a witness to the world for the pleasure of the Lord. We talked last time about how to give our kids a taste of Christian life, a taste of joyful Christian parenting. We're not giving them the recipe, measuring ingredients, and telling them to make something. We're giving them a taste. God will take that taste, make our kids hungry, and a long time from now, they'll start to pick up how to do it themselves.

I hope that was encouraging, providing a renewed in vision and purpose in parenting. Christian parents witness to the glory of Christ for generations. This is a grand mission and I hope you are caught up in the greatness of your calling.

Because parenting is hard. :) Parenting, especially younger kids, is such a daily grind that the grand mission often becomes muddy. Even tonight, as you prepared to come to church, some of you had a rough time. Kids were cranky or they didn't nap much, maybe because you were out late at lunch, maybe even because you were fellowshipping with other families. They are hungry and you forgot that you were out of milk, so they got dry cereal for breakfast. They need you to change their diaper because they left something special for you. They need you to find them clothes, but you've been too busy to do laundry so they are wearing dirty shirts again. They need you to tie their shoes for the third time. And maybe you've got more than one of these need machines.

These are the parenting trenches and they are messy. It's great to know that happy families build a platform for the gospel, but all we need right now is a pair of matching socks. We need perspective, not only of the end goal, but what its supposed to look like here and now at this step.

I love that I have something to say about this because I may have been the worst parent of young kids in the history of the world. God has been very gracious to help me grow and learn and become a much happier parent when we're already 10 minutes late because one of the kids needed some extra time with the rod only to find out that another kid has mashed up french fries in his car seat that's going to get all over his pants and his pants were the only thing clean.

On one hand, what we desperately need is to be better Christians in those moments. That's true, but telling me that I should be patient doesn't actually help me be patient. My goal in this message is not to tell you what brand of wet wipes cleans old fries and dirty faces, but to build some frames for your perspective in the trenches.

I cannot overemphasize how crucial it is to develop your theology proper, that is, your study of God's Himself, God's person. The best parenting theology requires knowing God and one observation we must make is that God loves growth.

This world is His. He created it one way, not another, according to His good pleasure. The earth spins clockwise because that's how He wanted it to spin. Blood is red because He decided it so. And His creation is full of growing, developing things, including humans.

No child is born at 35. For that matter, even when we count a child as one day old, that doesn't take into account the nine months of baking in his mother's belly. Every person who has ever lived--after Adam and Eve--has gone through this process? Why? This isn't a natural law or a physical requirement that some celestial physician's board came up with. This is God's idea and He loves it. For approximately 6000 years He hasn't grown tired of babies and toddlers and kids.

That He loves growth is illustrated annually with the seasons. Year after year, new seed is sown and crops grow to harvest. Perhaps an even more helpful illustration is the Christian life. When God causes someone to be born again, their new spiritual life starts as babes.

[Y]ou have been born again...[so], Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— (1 Peter 1:23, 2:2, ESV)

He could save us into immediate and absolute maturity. We were dead; it already took a supernatural work to give us life anyway. Why not add maturity to it? He could take us to heaven immediately after professing faith. Instead, He regenerates us and then begins to grow us.

This is part of the reason why impatience is ungodly. Part of the problem with impatience is a failure on our part to submit to God's sovereignty. We believe God controls everything, including the timing, so we rebel when we complain. But it isn't only that we fail to submit to His timing, impatience with immaturity in our kids argues against His delights. He does what He pleases, and what pleases Him is growth from immaturity.

We are made in God's image. We were made to reflect Him. When we get annoyed and angry because the seed isn't bearing fruit on the second day after we planted it, we show our own immaturity.

Of all the beings in the universe, who is most concerned about maturity? God is. And yet the Trinity isn't freaking out that we're not now where we will be then. Growth is part of the process.

I've said it before, but for sake of illustration, in the church, we ought to be thrilled to have a bunch of immature people. Why? It isn't thrilling if they've been around but not grown, but if a steady stream of newborn Christians come by His grace, then they are going to have issues that come with their new life. That's great! As parents, it doesn't take too long before the excitement of the baby's birth wears off because dad, and especially mom, are exhausted from getting up in the 2am trenches because the baby is hungry again.

What you need at that moment is...coffee, and...perspective. The cry is a sign of life. Spaghetti sauce all over your floor means your daughter is alive and home and healthy enough for food. She's growing. God loves that.

We need patience in the trenches, which comes from knowing that God dug the trenches and has glorious plans for us to be there for a while.

Immaturity from someone who should be mature is rebellion. Many times, though, parents take their two year old's coloring on the walls as disobedience. They desperately need the discernment to know the difference.

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. (1 Corinthians 13:11, ESV)

One of the most well-used parent verses assumes that a child does not know the way he should go, that it takes training, and that it takes time.

Train up a child in the way he should go;

One of the best illustrations I've heard is that children are like concrete; they don't set right away. We've got to keep working to shape them by grace until the concrete is hard. They are easier to work with at the start, so start early.

Coloring on the walls isn't okay. We're not allowed to do that, ever. However, kids need to be trained. They apparently don't come out knowing the difference between dog food and people food. They may not be out to control you or run the house. They may be acting like kids.

Running around and being loud is childish. It's okay for children to do it. We can help them by showing them where a better place for it is. And if we've cooped them up for a few hours (like at church), we ought to find a place for them.

We should not get angry with a five year old who doesn't know how to frame a house. It is not a compromise to give him a little construction set and let him practice.

It's so easy to take it personally, to take it as an attack on our authority. Again, there are times when we need to discipline disobedience. A one year old can rebel, and more so as they get older. But the point is that many of the things that frustrate us are parts of what it means to be a kid. We need perspective to know which is which. The grandparents, and other more mature parents, can help us younger parents by calmly working through a case and encouraging patient discernment.

Certainly, most of you have heard the phrase before: "Cleanliness is next to godliness." We say God likes certain things, but is it possible that we're missing a lot of what He's actually doing?

Some of the mess we can blame on Adam's fall and as a consequence of sin being in the world. But what about before Genesis 3? Consider that God assigned Adam to tend the garden before God cursed the ground. God added thistles and sweat to the work, but He didn't add dirt, dirt was already there. Adam's hands would have gotten dirty. Adam was made of dirt to work in the dirt (Genesis 2:7, 15). That's messy.

Consider, since the majority of us are parents in the room, what sex would have been like before the fall. Sex is great, that's how we get to be parents in the first place. God made it for reproductive and pleasure purposes, but it is somewhat messy. It's one of Hollywood's cheapest tricks, to make it seem like there's no clean up.

The point is, at its best, life is messy. We live in one of the cleanest parts of the world with some of the highest cultural standards and with a ridiculous amount of science and technology applied to give us disposable wipes and Swiffers and electronic dishwashers and indoor plumbing--hot or cold water, whatever you like. But even for us, life is messy.

So, most of the time, our kids are just living. They aren't doing anything that needs punishment per se because they get grass on their knees. God gave them knees and the gift to use them, He supplied enough water to cause the grass to be green, and money to buy the pants to cover their knees in the cold. We've got 1000 more things to be thankful for than reasons to complain or get angry because it's messy.

This is more than a physical need for growth, it is also a spiritual need. Kids come out with sinful hearts. How we respond to their messy hearts shouldn’t be sinful.

Blowing up at your children because they were squabbling is jumping into the river to get out of the rain. (Doug Wilson tweet)

We won't win our kids to joyful obedience by being disobediently angry ourselves.

I am not saying to leave your house a pig pen. I'm not saying to bathe your kids only once a month because they're just going to get dirty again. I am saying that the trenches are messy, so jump in and clean up. That's what godly parents do.

Also, I'm definitely not saying to let disobedience go. I'm saying it shouldn't be surprising. It is the opportunity to train them, especially to teach them about the gospel, and we should be examples of joy in the clean-up.

As usual, there are ditches on both sides of the road. One ditch is all "grace" and no requirement of obedience, the other ditch is never being happy with obedience because it isn't perfect. Grace doesn't lower the expectations of the law, it makes getting there joyful. But obedience is never optional.

Laziness is not mercy. Just as you scrub the floor, pursue whole-hearted obedience with joy. We know a friend who has her kids sing a fun song after spanking to see if their hearts are right. Don't allow excuses. Teach quick and honest confession. Don't allow laziness.

When it's messy, that means life is happening. That's how God likes it.

Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean,

This brings us to the good news, that is, the really good news of the gospel. One of the principles that fills the world we live in is that death brings life.

As Christians, we know this most clearly because we got life from Christ's death and resurrection. God gave His only begotten Son to die in our place so that we could have eternal life. He died so that we could live. That's the gospel. It is also our calling. We are to give our life so that others may live.

Unlike Christ's death, our dying cannot redeem anyone. We have our own sin so we can't be a substitute for them. But we can be a reflection for them. Paul referred to his dying to bring life in 2 Corinthians 4:10-12

[We are] always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. (2 Corinthians 4:10–12, ESV)

In ministry, our calling is to die, and not for Paul that this wasn't a one time deal; it wasn't his physical martyrdom, otherwise he could be "always carrying about" or say that "death works in us." His dying was serving, giving himself in suffering to embrace their mess.

This is exactly what Paul instructs husbands to do for their wives in Ephesians 5:25.

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, (Ephesians 5:25, ESV)

Christ gave Himself for His bride, a husband must give himself for his wife. Husbands are to be like Christ, dying to self for another.

The principle is: my life for yours. That's the gospel on display. That is the need of the hour for Christian parents: to illustrate the serving sacrifice of Christ, to die so that others may live. It starts at home.

I'm not kidding when I say that parenting is a daily grind. It requires daily, hourly dying. Someone needs something when is not convenient, and usually their needs always correspond to the times when we are already most exhausted. It is at those moments when we need to think: what would Jesus do? It is at those moments in the trenches when we need to laugh. God is. It's a glorious hassle, and it is life.

God doesn't mind taking His time to make a point. He's happy with babies crying and toddlers falling and little girls giggling and little men building birdhouses. He's happy with our progressive sanctification and with spiritual battle that has not been finished yet. He's growing us. He promised to conform us to the image of Christ. It's messy, and He's taking His time.

Parenting is a glorious hassle. It requires our daily deaths.

If parents wait to be finished before they’re happy, they will never be happy.

The Patterns of Worship (Part 2)

Understood correctly, worship is an end not a means to an end. When we offer acceptable worship to God, we're not waiting for something else to happen. The thing we want is happening while we worship.

So what is the "thing" we want that we get as we worship? There are a number of things that we want that are good:

All of these things are good and right. Each one is included in what we really want. But by themselves, even added together, without the glue and ultimate goal, these are not the end of worship.

Again, what is the "thing" that we want? What is the thing that we get during worship, not after worship? Whatever it is, it ought to be the same thing God wants, right? Our expectations should match God's expectations. The end that we have in mind shouldn't be different than His or either we'll fall short or we'll end up in a different place. What is the "thing" that God wants when we worship? What does God want from the assembly?

Certainly He wants recognition. He wants to be known and honored. All men are required to acknowledge Him. This is the fundamental suppression of the truth by godless men who, though they know God, do not honor Him or give Him thanks. Certainly He wants righteousness. He wants to be obeyed and served. All men are responsible to obey His law. According to Romans 2, even those without God inspired revelation have God-given conscience that either accuses or excuses according to His standard. But neither our recognition of Him or righteousness before Him is the end of worship. What, then, does He want with us?

In order to answer that question, we must go back to who God is, His nature, His eternal existence before Genesis 1:1 as triune Life. Did the Son recognize the truth about the Father? He knew with omniscience, with all wisdom. Did the Spirit serve in righteousness? He served perfectly and will total holiness.

If God wanted righteous recognition alone, He should have kept to Himself. Even if finite beings had never sinned, they still could never put their minds around infinite attributes. We do not add any understanding to His. And even as redeemed people, we do not make His righteousness more clear. What are we good for? What does He want with us? What do we get when we worship?

RELATIONSHIP. All our systematic theology doesn't add anything to His truth. All our combined good works and praise songs, over generations and across the globe, add nothing to His holiness. But, we do add to the pool, so to speak, of eternal life. We do increase the fellowship of the Trinity.

God wants relationship with the assembly. The thing we want is to enjoy being together with Him, to meet with Him, to share in His goodness and love.

Adam lost fellowship when he sinned, both with his wife and with God. Sin separates. Yes, sin makes stupid. Sin keeps men from recognizing truth. And yes, sin soils. Sin keeps men from righteousness. But the first and worst work of sin is to remove us from God's fellowship. Likewise, the first and best thing the gospel does is restore us to God's fellowship.

Corporate worship is meant for fellowship. Fellowship is built on God's revealed facts, the Word. We do learn about Him. Fellowship is built on God's redemptive forgiveness, Christ's sacrifice. We do offer humble praise to Him. But the goal of revelation and redemption, the goal of worship, is loving relationship.

If fellowship is the goal of worship, how do we communicate and enjoy that in our service? Is there a pattern for us to approach Him?

Last week we observed the three main categories of offerings in Israel's sacrificial system. Aaron and his sons performed these sacrifices in a particular order in Leviticus 9. The progression of the offerings makes the same point we've considered so far this morning. The goal of worship was fellowship with God, and that's what their liturgy expressed.

We didn't read all of the instructions for each offering, though the initial explanations for the various offerings is found in Leviticus 1-7. For that matter, Israel's own understanding (or disregard) increased throughout their history. Nevertheless, the sin offering, burnt offering, and peace offerings outlined how God's people draw near to Him.

Worship followed this sequence because worship was more than simply people ascribing "worth-ship" to Him. Worship was about His people meeting with Him. Israel's liturgy focused on drawing near to God.

As great as the sacrificial system was, however, it was only a shadow. The animals couldn't completely substitute for a sinful man, so they were offered over and over again. The priests who offered the sacrifices weren't perfect, so they had to sacrifice for themselves first. And even when all of God's instructions were followed exactly, the people still couldn't get into the holy of holies, the place of God's presence.

These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing... (Hebrews 9:6–8)

The priests represented the people, but the people could not draw near. They weren't welcome "inside" with God.

Before we move on to the realities, by way of summary, the OT sacrificial system represented not less than, but much more than forgiveness of sin. The sacrificial system represented God's covenant in which He made provision to forgive them and fellowship with Him as they served Him. The liturgy of their offerings demonstrated that aim.

So does our liturgy. We have a time of confession to lay hold of Christ's completed sacrifice. We move on, forgiven in Christ, to consecration where He transforms us for His service. Then we commune with Him in a meal of peace before going back out. In Christ, who fulfilled the sacrifices, we are forgiven, sanctified, and drawn near to God. Because of Christ, we draw near ourselves, not through a man-mediator. We know the way in.

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, (Hebrews 10:19–20)

The "holy places" were previously out of bounds. They are no longer off limits in Christ. So "let us draw near" (v.22). The worship of the assembly is a meeting with God, and the goal of worship is also the goal of the gospel.

It shouldn't surprise us that the Gospel follows the same pattern. The New Covenant realities fill in the Old Covenant outline. Perhaps part of the reason whey we have a hard time seeing the point of the OT offerings is that our Gospel understanding is slim. When we reverse engineer the Gospel, we should see the OT sacrifices, the liturgy pattern, the aim of men meeting with God.

We rightly understand the gospel as Paul summarized it.

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

But these verses summarize Christ's sacrifice on the cross that secures the new covenant. They don't describe what do we do with the gospel or what it does to/for us?

Jews and Gentiles, obviously immoral and hypocritically moral, disobedient and dead men everywhere are called to repentance and faith in the gospel. The gospel calls them, not only to forgiveness, but to life, to worship. The gospel upsets people, not as much because it offers forgiveness, but mostly because it calls for submission to Christ as Lord. The gospel summons all men everywhere to come to God.

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:20)

The call of the gospel is, "Come and worship."

Who will not fear, O Lord,

We begin our service with the same call: Come, now is the time to worship. Come let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our God, our Maker.

This is the first, though not the only, part of the good news. The wages of sin is death, Jesus died as a substitute so that all who believe would be saved. In order to participate in His sacrifice, we must confess our sin, turn from it, and receive His forgiveness. He promises all those who confess and believe that they will be saved, they will be justified, counted righteous in God's sight.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Believers also confess their sins. "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8).

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

Justification is the beginning of salvation, not the end. He forgives our sin and then, through His indwelling Spirit, begins to form us into the image of Christ. The gospel delivers us from the penalty and the power of sin. That's part of the reason Paul was eager to preach the gospel among the Roman believers (Romans 1:15), a letter with the theme of the gospel of righteousness. Christ's sacrifice fulfilled the burnt offering, too, and in him we "present [our] bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is [our] spiritual worship" (Romans 12:1).

We're not sin offerings, we're burnt offerings. Rather than being consumed as dead, we're consumed as living. We died with Christ and we live with Christ (Romans 6:1-11). With sacrificial vocabulary, Paul exhorted the Romans:

Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. (Romans 6:13)

God doesn't demand worship, forgive those who repent, begin changing them, and then keep them at arm's length (which for Him could be a solar system's width). When He saves a man, He shares His eternal life with that man, He dwells in and with that man, He identifies with that man with intimacy like that of a husband and wife.

If I come home and blow up at Mo, then come back before dinner and ask for her forgiveness, what am I wanting at that point? I should want more than her legal declaration that she won't bring up my offense again later. I should want more than being told I'm forgiven while she keeps her back turned from me. I (should) want an embrace! I want to sit down for dinner and enjoy being together. I want the relationship restored.

That's why we have communion every week. We share a meal with God every week. He does not reluctantly forgive us because He said He would, hear our songs from across the universe, and leave it. He meets with us in a glad meal. (see 1 Corinthians 10:16-18)

We're the wrong side of humble when we're afraid of glory. We all, "beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another" (2 Corinthians 3:18; see also 1 Peter 1:7; 5:10).

If God alone is all glorious, then no one else is glorious at all. No exaltation may be admitted for any other creature, since this would endanger the exclusive prerogative of God. But this is to imagine a paltry court. What king surrounds himself with warped, dwarfish, worthless creatures? The more glorious the king, the more glorious the titles and honors he bestows. The plumes, cockades, coronets, diadems, mantles, and rosettes that deck his retinue testify to one thing alone, his own majesty and munificence. He is a very great king to have figures of such immense dignity in his train, or even better, to have raised them to such dignity. These great lords and ladies, mantled and crowned with the highest possible honor and rank are, precisely, his vassals. This glittering array is his court! All glory to him, and in him, glory and honor to these others. (Thomas Howard, Evangelical Is Not Enough, 87)

In other words, we go out to call more worshippers (of all nations, Matthew 28:18-20; Psalm 86:9). He is our God. He covenants to forgive us and take care of us and eventually bring us to Himself. In the meantime, He blesses us for our image-bearing work. He blesses our relationships and our responsibilities so that we honor His lordship everywhere.

The process will continue for as long as His wisdom determines, over generations and among all peoples. As His redeemed, reconciled people say so, God topples death and rebellion and unbelief.

Why do we do what we do each Lord's day when we assemble for worship? Why do we do we follow this particular order of service? Why does it matter?

Our liturgy communicates the eternal aim of the Trinity. He calls us to worship, forgives us, changes us, communes with us, and blesses us for serving Him in dispersion-mode. Our liturgy embodies the potent progression of the gospel which itself is the fulfillment of God's aim to draw men near. The form functions to communicate the goal. The evangel pattern shapes our expectation of what happens here.

When we assemble, we don't do less than offer humble thanks and praise. We don't do less than learn about Him and identify ourselves with His name. But we do all of those things because we're "in." Christ brings us into the holy place of God's presence.

We do this, we follow this progression because it communicates that God wants fellowship with the assembly, and it communicates it with our practice not only by our proclamation. Our kids learn every week that God wants fellowship with His people, not only because we tell them, but because they WATCH us. They watch us enjoy gospel realities, not merely hear us explain them. They will watch and, by God's grace, will want what we have.

This ends up being an evangelistic service after all. The Gospel fingerprints are all over it.

In our liturgy, we celebrate the gospel as:

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:28–29)

Or, Ordering the Offerings of the Assembly

The Patterns of Worship (Part 1)

God's people assemble for worship according to His instructions and, since the sin of Adam, worship required sacrifice. The shedding of blood was necessary in order for sinful men to fellowship with the holy God. God made covenants with His people, He promised not only to forgive them, but also to care for them and commune with them. These covenant agreements always included sacrifices.

His people are defined by their worship, their worship is ordered by covenant sacrifices. So is our worship, even if we don't think about it that way.

We are studying and hopefully stimulating our own corporate worship. Things happen when the corpus, the body, gathers in His presence that do not happen in isolation. Serving God together shapes us, unites us, orients us. We are His people, His temple, His dwelling place. We are a priesthood, enjoying direct access to Him. We are His sacrifices, offering our lives to Him in Christ. True worship wages war against idolatry. Through the church, God batters down unbelief and rebellion and death. The church is His propaganda, His point to heavenly rulers and His battering ram against the gates of hell.

As I emphasized last Lord's day, worship is the work of the assembly. Some men may lead the assembly, but the corpus, the whole body meets with God.

What are we to do for worship? Are there particular components that are required? Elements that are allowable? Practices that are prohibited? Once we know the components, do they follow a particular pattern?

A couple qualifications before I try to answer some of these questions.

First, God has not revealed His one-and-only order of service anywhere in Scripture. We won't find the ultimate inspired bulletin for Israel's worship at the temple, let alone for a local church's Lord's day gatherings. There is, therefore, a measure of freedom in what we do and in what order we do it.

Second, God has revealed some explicit priorities for corporate meetings, not only in the example of the early church but also in His instructions to church leaders such as Timothy and Titus. In particular, there is a heavy emphasis on the Word. Timothy was to be devoted to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, and to teaching (1 Timothy 4:13). Timothy was to "preach the Word, in season and out of season" (2 Timothy 4:2). Paul required attention on the instruction components, though he did not say that they alone should receive attention.

Third, we always say something by what we do and how we do it. This is the liturgical opportunity. It's not whether but which. It's not whether there will be liturgy, but which liturgy it will be.

Most of us have learned that learning is the point of corporate gatherings, not only because that's what we've been told, but also because that's what we've seen. Singing prepares our hearts in order to learn. Praying asks God to make our hearts ready to learn. The Scripture reading is often what we're going to learn about that day. And then the sermon takes center stage as the main attraction. Preachers work overtime to say that sermon listening is worship because we devote so much time to it. The message is the bus that takes us to the learning destination, and everything else is just trying to get everyone on the bus.

Without doubt, elders should be apt to teach and always ready to preach the Word. The pastors and teachers equip the saints just as they themselves are fully equipped by the inspired Scriptures (see 2 Timothy 3:17). But more happens during this time than information transfer. As we examine it's place in corporate worship, we'll see why the Word is so important and it's more than a data download.

So, because we have liturgical freedom and priorities and opportunities, this is more of a "get to" than a "have to" discussion. We don't "have to" eat steak. And again, this is a "which" not "whether" discussion. We will make some point, what point will we make?

Having considered the purposes of corporate worship and the people, we're going to consider the patterns of worship today and next week. This morning we'll consider the predominant pattern of Israel's worship as ordering the offerings of the assembly.

In the Old Testament, under the Old Covenant, the Lord gave His people specific instructions for their corporate worship. He provided an order for their sacrifices intended to draw them near to Him in fellowship.

We have almost no appreciation for their sacrifices, except as a reason to be thankful that we don't need to go through all that anymore. Leviticus is a killer, not of animals as much as of our Bible reading motivation. Who can keep track of all the sacrifices, all the blood, all the mess? We thank God for Christ.

Of course, the reason we give thanks for Christ is because He fulfilled what the OT sacrifices symbolized. But that doesn't make them unimportant, that makes them paradigmatic. They are the pattern that Christ's offering fit perfectly.

Though we read about many different types of sacrifices under the Old Covenant, the regular offerings can be summarized under three main categories:

What also stands out is that when these sacrifices were performed together, they always follow the same sequence. In other words, there is an predictable order of offerings as His assembled people draw near.

All three categories are found in Leviticus 9. Aaron, his sons, and the elders inaugurated worship at the tabernacle, starting with these daily sacrifices. Moses instructed Aaron to offer sacrifices for his own sin first, and then for the people.

On the eighth day Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel, and he said to Aaron, “Take for yourself a bull calf for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, both without blemish, and offer them before the LORD. And say to the people of Israel, ‘Take a male goat for a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both a year old without blemish, for a burnt offering, and an ox and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before the LORD, and a grain offering mixed with oil, for today the LORD will appear to you.’” (Leviticus 9:1–4 ESV)

Notice the sin offering, burnt offering, and peace offering (the grain offering is mentioned, but connected). Aaron offered the sin and burnt offerings for himself and his sons (verses 8-14) and then "he presented the people's offering" (verses 15-24).

The point of worship was to "draw near" to (v.7), to "meet" with (v.23) God. The point was so that "the glory of the Lord may appear to you" (v.6). Before men can approach God their sin must be addressed (see verses 8-11, 15).

In all of God's covenants with men, the starting point is man's sin. The penalty for sin is death. God's offer of forgiveness always required a die-er, and sacrifices were substitutes. Priests slaughtered animals and spread blood on the altar to show that death had occurred. This was part of the covenant. God demanded confession and repentance from sinners as well as a substitute sacrifice represented in the guilt offering. The sin offering, therefore, always came first before men could draw near to God.

"Aaron drew near to the altar and killed the calf of the of the sin offering, which was for himself" (v.8) and then "he presented the people's offering and took the goat of the sin offering that was for the people and killed it and offered it as a sin offering, like the first one" (v.15).

One reason Christ's offering is so significant is that He did not need to offer for Himself before the people because He was perfect. He had no sin that needed forgiveness.

Once sin was forgiven, the sacrifice was cut up, placed on top of the altar by the priest and then burned in its entirety as a sign of total consecration.

Then he killed the burnt offering, and Aaron’s sons handed him the blood, and he threw it against the sides of the altar. And they handed the burnt offering to him, piece by piece, and the head, and he burned them on the altar. And he washed the entrails and the legs and burned them with the burnt offering on the altar. (Leviticus 9:12–14 ESV)

The fire burned the entire sacrifice and represented the complete consummation of the worshipper. The symbol was total consecration, whole devotion to the Lord. The smoke from the fire drifted up into the Lord's presence and this is why we read about some aromas pleasing the Lord. The meat was being cooked and consumed.

Just as the animal represented the guilty worshipper in the sin offering, so the animal represented the consecrated worshipper in the burnt offering.

Connected with the burnt offering was the grain (or Tribute) offering.

And he presented the burnt offering and offered it according to the rule. And he presented the grain offering, took a handful of it, and burned it on the altar, besides the burnt offering of the morning. (Leviticus 9:15–17 ESV)

The grain offering was a consecration of the fruit of one's work, a recognition of the Lord's provision. It was placed on top of the burning animal and connected with the consecration of the worshipper.

The third sacrifice in the liturgical sequence was the peace offering. Another animal was killed and then cooked on top of the altar, on top of the burnt offering.

Then he killed the ox and the ram, the sacrifice of peace offerings for the people. And Aaron’s sons handed him the blood, and he threw it against the sides of the altar. But the fat pieces of the ox and of the ram, the fat tail and that which covers the entrails and the kidneys and the long lobe of the liver— they put the fat pieces on the breasts, and he burned the fat pieces on the altar, but the breasts and the right thigh Aaron waved for a wave offering before the LORD, as Moses commanded. (Leviticus 9:18–21 ESV)

The difference between the burnt offering and the peace offering was the the burnt offering was consumed in flame, the peace offering was consumed as food. The burnt offering represented the worshipper's entire devotion to God, the peace offering represented the worshipper's communion with God. It was a shared meal, a feast, between parties now at peace.

Verse 22 summarizes the whole service.

Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them, and he came down from offering the sin offering and the burnt offering and the peace offerings. (Leviticus 9:22 ESV)

Three categories of offerings. Then observe what happened.

And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting, and when they came out they blessed the people, and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people. And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces of fat on the altar, and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces. (Leviticus 9:23–24 ESV)

The worship brought God and His people together in meeting. The meeting brought God's blessing and they saw His glory revealed. As His people saw His glory they responded with more worship and honor.

I've been a parent for (only) nine years. At this point, Mo and I are stewards of four young souls: Maggie (9 years old), Calvin (almost 6), Hallie (3), and Keelah (18 months). I've never been so proud, humiliated, exhausted, exhilarated, affectionate, and angry with any other group of people or doing any other job. I pray that God will continue to grow me and our family for another decade.

I am not a parenting expert. In many ways, you couldn't know if I was until you met the kids of my grandkids. In other words, the final conclusion on my parenting skills won't be available for a while. However, by way of some qualifications, here's what I might put on my parenting resume.

So again, I would be a fool and a liar to claim expertise. But in many ways, this is exactly what God made us for and it's great to be overwhelmed by this amazing task if we depend on Him.

The title for this message has a double-meaning and those meanings get to the root and show the fruit of parenting.

On one hand, raising parents is aimed at the root of parenting, that is, at raising, training, equipping, helping parents to be better parents in Christ. No parent starts as a mature parent. This is no small problem because problems in a family, even problems with kids in that family, usually (not always) spring from dad, mom, or both. Kids grow as their parents grow. Parents who believe that they have it figured out, and it's just their immature kids who don't get it, don't realize how bad the situation really is. The situation is bad most of all because they are the first (not only, but first) problem.

When it comes to helping parents, here is the "secret," the single most important requirement of being a good parent: BE A FAITHFUL CHRISTIAN. There are perspectives and plans and principles for parenting, and we will cover some of them. But no schedule, no chore chart, no brand of diapers, no type of schooling, no set of entertainment standards, no consistency in spanking, no daily servings of fruits and vegetables will make the ultimate difference. What we do--in all of life, including parenting--comes from who we are. The most important thing is for us to be in Christ, growing in Christ, loving Christ, and doing that in front of and with our whole family.

In a general sense, raising parents is about raising Christians. We'll consider this connection in Colossians 3 in a few minutes.

Before we do, like I said, there are two meanings to the sermon title. The root of parenting is being good parents in Christ. The fruit of parenting, our goal, the mission, is to raise good parents in Christ. I've got no problem with the phrase "raising kids." But a moment's reflection may cause one to ask, "raising kids...to be what?" So we would be more precise to say that we are raising parents.

I understand that not everyone, in God's providence, will grow up and get married. I understand that some who are married won't have children. But isn't the norm, at least as the Bible reveals it, two becoming one who are fruitful and multiply and fill the earth? A parent should assume, should plan for the day when his five year old will have a five year old of his own.

The fruit of good parenting is reproduction. Good parents parent in a way to raise good parents. Not only are we far too short-sighted in our goals ("How can I get Johnny to eat his green beans at dinner?"), but it is incomplete. We're not raising adults. The goal isn't only to prepare them to get a job, work hard, pay their bills, and eat some green beans without us threatening to spank them. The goal goes beyond that to fruitful adulthood: being good parents to the next generation.

This is part of the reason why being faithful Christians is so important. The fruit comes from the root. If the root is rotten, the fruit probably won't be healthy. This is not the same as guaranteeing salvation for every kid of every saved parent. But if you want your child to be a Christian, then isn't the place to start actually being a Christian yourself?

The mission of Christian parents is to raise a generation of Christian parents. That starts by being Christians.

The apostle Paul connects Christian life with family life in two of his letters: Colossians and Ephesians. These epistles provide the most extensive instruction for parents (along with spouses, kids, and household servants) in the New Testament. Each letter offers its own emphasis, but they are clearly parallel passages in many ways. I'd like to show some observations from the context of the instructions to parents. Ephesians 5:22-6:9 and Colossians 3:18-4:1 have many similarities. The first similarity is that, in both places, the household instructions follow personal instructions.

We'll hang out mostly in Colossians. The most important relationship is the relationship of the parent to God through Christ in the Spirit. The parenting task must not be separated from Christian behavior.

Parenting life comes out of Christian life. Parents must be killing sin, putting off sin, and not lying (Colossians 3:5-11). The sin of greatest consequence is always one's own sin, not that of another. We start by mortifying our own anger and pride and selfishness and dishonesty. Where did your kid get his sin from? Adam, yes. And they learn how to submit to their flesh or slay their flesh from us.

Parents must also be putting on the heart of Christ (3:12-17). Our kids need us to be patient and tender. That is Christian. Note in particular verse 16:

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:16, ESV)

So many really crucial things are here. When the "word of Christ," Scripture, the Bible, is in us, it can't help but come out onto others. Too many Christian parents see a need and go looking for a verse to plug the hole. There are times for that but mostly we should be filled with the Word so much that it will overflow onto our kids. Of course, that would help us apply Deuteronomy 6.

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. (Deuteronomy 6:4–7, ESV)

We should aim for full cups, not to fill the cup just enough to empty it and need to fill again to empty it. That's exhausting.

This sort of Scripture indwelling leaves a certain aroma in the house. The Word does reprove and correct (2 Timothy 3:16; see also 4:2). Scripture cuts us and lays our souls bare (Hebrews 4:12). Parents should get specific references to deal with specific sins. Nevertheless, the overall aroma will smell like gladness! A heart that overflows with the Bible is thankful! There is melody! Parents indwelt by the Word will speak in "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness" in their hearts to their kids.

Christian parents should be better and singing songs to/with their kids than quoting verses at them. Christian parents ought to be the most thankful people in the house; they certainly should not blame their lack of thankfulness on the kids. Thankful parents raise kids who give them more reasons for thankfulness.

The parallel in Ephesians 5:18 should be considered. The same sorts of results are seen, but instead of the word richly indwelling, the Spirit is filling.

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, (Ephesians 5:18–19, ESV)

The Word life can't be disconnected from the Spirit life (not too surprising since the Word was inspired by the Spirit) and visa versa. I point it out to emphasize that parenting responsibilities come out Christian basics.

Parenting life also comes out of married life. The second most important parenting relationship is between the husband and wife. In both Colossians and Ephesians, the spousal responsibilities come first in the list of household members. By putting husbands and wives first (Colossians 3:18 wives and 3:19 husbands; Ephesians 5:22-24 wives and 5:25-33 husbands), Paul puts a premium on how moms and dads act as a married couple. The linchpin of family relationships is the marriage relationship.

A child learns about respect from his mom. Mom who disrespects her husband, who doesn't obey him, provides the pattern of disrespect and disobedience in the family. A child learns about love or laziness by watching his dad. If dad serves himself, is distant and/or a bully to his wife, so the kids will grow up to produce similar fruit.

According to Ephesians, the child's first exposure to the gospel is watching his dad, not necessarily listening to him read the Children's Bible at bedtime.

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, (Ephesians 5:25, ESV)

One reason our kids grow up and leave the church is because dads and moms make Christ with His bride look like they have no interest in each other.

Yes, kids need the stability of knowing mom and dad aren't leaving each other. But it's more than that. Dads teach their daughters what to look for in a husband by how they act. Daughters learn how to be submissive wives by submitting to their dads and watching their moms. Boys learn how to be sensitive while leading like a man by watching their dads.

Mom and dad, you need to be on the same page when it comes to standards and discipline. That starts by being faithful Christians and devoted spouses, loving Christ first and each other next. Your kids need that.

Before we even get to the details of parental responsibilities, we must be putting off sin, putting on Christ, letting the Word of Christ dwell in us richly, being filled with the Spirit, with wives submitting to their husbands and husbands lovingly serving and sacrificing for their wives. Parents, are you making Christ look good? Are you making the Word seem sweet? Are you making marriage appear fantastic? If the goal of parenting is to raise parents, these are the basics of that foundation.

The actual instructions in these two verses is--surprisingly little and somewhat negative.

Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. (Colossians 3:21, ESV)

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger; but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:4, ESV)

Don't provoke them to anger? Don't discourage, don't "exasperate" (NAS) them? Really? Is that the best we can do?

No. The Old Testament has more specifics which are helpful. The context we've considered provide more proactive helps, too. So why so little and so negative? Because these are the things parents, especially fathers, are most likely to struggle with.

What is the Christian's challenge? Walking in the flesh, not the Spirit. What is a wife's temptation? To control her husband rather than submit. How about the husband? To do the least amount possible. The kids? To disobey. We parents, and dads the most, are prone to exasperate and discourage our kids.

How?

If we are NOT to discourage them, what do we do? Isn't the opposite to give them hope? Especially hope in Christ? Hope that the gospel forgives, that the Word guides as a light to our paths, that the Spirit transforms and knits us together in love. Hope that marriage and family and child-raising is meaning and effective in Christ!

Our mission as Christian parents is to raise a generation of Christian parents who hope in God.

Observe also that, in context, the family responsibilities prepare the way to our community witness. After addressing the household slaves and masters, Paul moves to instruct the Christians about their outreach (Colossians 4:2-6). Our personal Christian lives must be consistent. Our families function as platforms for evangelism. How much do happy families stand out? How much do happy, obedient, non-complaining parents stand out?

Why would you want to get married? Why would you want to bring kids into this world? The hope of the gospel! That hope must be more than our mantra, it should be our practice.

Raising the next generation is part of our mission to this generation. We should love family like God does. As we function with thankfulness and melody and hope, we will stand out, and the only explanation will be the Lord. Family is evangelism. Making disciples starts at home. Whether or not we change the culture, we will at least be witnesses to it.

Our mission as Christian parents is to raise a generation of Christian parents who hope in God as a witness to the world.

Do you see how many references there are to Christ, the Lord, in this section? (see the diagram handout: 3:18, 20, 22, 23, 24, 4:1) In the broad and narrow context, in the marriage, in the family, and community, He is the ultimate ground and goal. We live in Him and for Him.

We are raising parents, Christians reproducing by grace more Christians for this generation and those to come. Parenting is a glorious privilege with an eternal purpose.

Our mission as Christian parents is to raise a generation of Christian parents who hope in God as a witness to the world for the pleasure of the Lord!

There is good news if sin is the problem in parenting, with the parents and with the kids. Jesus has done something about sin. We are evangelical parents. We are parents who confess our sins and believe in Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross so that sinners can be forgiven and reconciled to God for everlasting joy. That's the evangel, the gospel. Living as Christians changes everything.

This is radical parenting. The English word "radical" derives from the Latin word radix or radic- meaning "root." Living as faithful Christians will affect the fundamental nature of our families with far-reaching consequences, both in our community and for generations.

If the goal is to raise parents, most of what we do in the early years is give our kids a taste of Christian life, a taste of joyful Christian parenting. We're not giving them the recipe, measuring ingredients, and telling them to make something. We're giving them a taste. God will take that taste, make our kids hungry, and a long time from now, they'll start to pick up how to do it themselves.

More than likely, if you've spent most of your church life in a Protestant, Bible-reading places, you've heard a hundred times that the church is not a building, it's the people. This is true, mainly. Worshipping God does not depend on a particular place. Worship can, and should, happen in all places. God doesn't accept some worship because it takes places within a certain set of four walls.

But, worship does involve a building. Worship can't happen without walls, it's just that the walls of this building have faces. We are God's building, we are the place for worship. Our assembling together makes a worship center.

One unfortunate by-product of right thinking about the spiritual reality of the church is the wrong thinking that the church has no physical manifestation. We have confined church and worship to our cerebral gray matter and, therefore, anything outside the brain doesn't matter. Following that way of thinking, we eventually come to think that we can be an assembly without assembling. The disconnect kills our fellowship, not only with each other, but also with God.

Our lives are disconnected, within and without, because we do not really know who God is, what God is doing with us, or who we are. Our lives are disconnected because we do not really understand worship. It's no surprise that a disconnected church of disconnected people who worship in ignorance makes such little impact in an unbelieving world. Our Boom! can't help but be muffled.

This series is an attempt to evaluate and fuel our corporate worship. Last week we examined some of the purposes for a worshipping assembly. When we gather to worship, God transforms us, He unites us, He directs us, and through us He batters down unbelief in the world. Things happen when we get together that do not happen when we're apart. That's because of who God is, what God's doing with us, and who we are. That's what we'll consider today: the people of worship, the who? of worship.

On a worship train, Who is the engine that pulls the What, When, Where, and How cars. Stated another way, doing always comes out of being, even in God's case. God does what He does because of who He is. So do we. And as we consider our part in corporate worship, who are we?

From eternity past, God planned to make a people for Himself. In particular, He chose to redeem a group of rebels through His Son, for His Son, by the work of His Spirit.

The story's timeline starts in Genesis. God chose Seth, Noah, then Abram. God promised Abram, in particular, that He would make Abram into a people (Genesis 12:2-3). From Abram, God chose Isaac (not Ishmael), then Jacob (not Esau), and renamed Jacob, "Israel" from whom came the twelve tribes. What is it, from a human perspective, that set God's chosen people apart? Worship. God gave them His law, the covenants, the sacrifices, the temple, the Sabbath. All those things defined Israel's worship (see also Romans 9:4).

God's promise to Abram extended to all the nations. Though many Jews didn't understand it, God intended to make Gentiles His people as well. "Scripture, forseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham saying, 'In you shall all the nations be blessed.'" (Galatians 3:8). That group of believers are known as the Church. The Church doesn't replace Israel as God's chosen nation, but the church (of Jews and Gentiles) is God's people.

Paul describes this in Ephesians 2:11-22.

You were...separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ (vv.12-13) You are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundations of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone... (vv.19-20)

Peter makes the same point in 1 Peter 2:4-11.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (vv.9-10)

Being God's people means what? It means that we have relationship with Him. We are not far off, we are close. We are not strangers, we are well known. We're no longer enemies, now we have peace. We are not separated, we "have access in one Spirit to the Father." The point of being His people is that we get to have fellowship with Him. Fellowship is what Adam and Eve lost, fellowship is what sin destroys, fellowship is what Jesus Christ came to restore. We are, in Christ by grace through faith, God's people. We are defined by our worship of Him, which means we are defined by our fellowship with Him.

In the Old Testament, God set aside a certain place for His people to be with Him, to fellowship in His presence, to worship Him. As we already studied in John, though, Jesus said He was God's temple (John 2:19-21). People meet God in Jesus because the fulness of deity dwells in Him bodily (Colossians 2:9). That's part of the reason that Jesus told the woman from Sychar that true worship, true fellowship with God, can't be restricted to one mountain.

When He told her that she would have a living fountain inside of her (John 4:14), He was saying (without these words) that she would be a temple, that God Himself would dwell in her (see more explanation in John 7:38-39). Paul later wrote that we are, each individual believer, the temple of God because God's Spirit lives in us.

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16)

do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, (1 Corinthians 6:19)

I can say, "I am God's temple," but that's not the whole story. We are God's temple.

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:19–22)

As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house. (1 Peter 2:4-5)

God redeems persons into a people. He saves individuals into a body, into one Bride for His Son. Yes, we are, each Christian, a temple, but we are, all of us Christians, His temple (see also 2 Corinthians 6:16-18).

We are the Ship of Orthodoxy, not three-hundred fifty separate rafts in a lagoon. (Monte E. Wilson, quoted in The Lord's Service, 140).

What happens in/at the temple? This is really important. All the temple activities facilitated fellowship with God. So, for whatever else we do on the Lord's day, we assemble as God's temple to meet with Him.

Jesus is the cornerstone. We are the living stones, the faced-walls. That means that we are not being built as an assembly when some of the stones don't show up. It also means that we are not being built as an assembly when some of the stones think that worship is done by other stones. We worship together, we assemble to meet with God. As Christians, we don't have to go to a worship center, but we do have to gather as a worship center.

A people are known by their worship. They meet with God in a temple and we meet God together because we (together) are His dwelling place. We are also His priests.

In the Old Testament, God set aside certain persons to be priests to Him and for His people. What was the primary purpose of a priest? A priest, for all his assignments and duties, for all the singing or sacrificing or speaking, was a go-between, a fellowship facilitator. A priest's work was to mediate from God to men and from men to God.

The ultimate priest was Jesus Christ, the God-Man. He is our high priest (Hebrews 2:17; 4:14), whose work not only mediates but brings us to God.

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, (1 Peter 3:18)

That isn't the end of the story. He has made us priests.

you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood (1 Peter 2:5). you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9). [He, Jesus Christ] made us a kingdom, priests to his God and father (Revelation 1:6)

One of the glories of the Protestant Reformation was an understanding of the priesthood of all believers. We no longer depend on someone else for our access to God. We don't need any human mediator. We have direct, firsthand access to God in Christ.

This does not mean that all of us have the same tasks or must do the same thing. We do not depend on men to go between us and God, to do worship for us. But we do depend on men to lead us in worship to God.

Are you being led or are you depending on the leaders? Do you view corporate worship as the one work of the many or as the work of one (or a few) for the many? Do you come to meet God, or to hear someone else talk about meeting God? Are we an assembly or mostly an audience?

People are identified by their worship. Worship involves a temple, priests, and sacrifices. In the Old Testament, God provided His people with a number of sacrifices, some of which we're going to examine next Lord's day. For now, what was the reason for the sacrifices? They were for fellowship. Sin/guilt sacrifices dealt with the hindrance to fellowship with a holy God. Peace sacrifices were to share communion with God. The offerings weren't merely a means to the end of worship, they were part of it.

Just as Jesus replaced the temple, just as He is the high priest, so He fulfilled all the animal and grain sacrifices. In His sacrifice, we are forgiven, we are sanctified, and we commune with God.

And also, as with the temple and the priests, so we are now the sacrifices. Peter said,

to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:5)

In that sense, we offer sacrifices. But consider Paul's appeal:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. (Romans 12:1)

For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. (2 Corinthians 2:15–16)

We are sacrifices, not in order to redeem ourselves or others, but because we have been redeemed. As our lives are burned up for God, there is a certain smell about us.

Someone may point out that we are individual sacrifices, true. But this worship isn't mean to be separated from the whole body, so the following paragraph in Romans 12:3-8.

Worship usually includes a temple as the place to meet God. Worship involves priests who bring God and men together. Worship involves offering sacrifices that make fellowship possible. All of this defines a people.

We don't go to a temple - now we are God's temple.

We don't go through a priest - now we are God's priests.

We don't offer sacrifices - now we are God's sacrifices.

We weren't God's people - now we are.

How does the world know that? Because the church is a Trinitarian worship center.

In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:22)

In the Son we are being built into a dwelling place for the Father by the Spirit. That's who we are.

And in our worship, as His temple, His priests, His sacrifices, we are His propaganda.

through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 3:10)

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9)

In 1 Peter 2 verse 5, we are a temple/priesthood "to offer spiritual sacrifices." In verse 9, we are a priesthood/nation "to proclaim His excellencies" in a dark world. In other words, the church's worship is the ultimate "anti-idolatry campaign" (John Witvliet, "Series Preface" of Our Worship). When the believing, submitting, living assembly fellowships with God, it is an act of war against the world of unbelief, rebellion, and death.

It is little wonder that our lives are so disconnected. We've boiled down meeting with God into listening to a message. Fellowship for us, then, basically means we don't disagree with their sentences. No wonder we don't know how to relate to others, we have no practice relating to God.

We don't know how to communicate love. Worship isn't about corporate enjoyment of God. We don't share anything, we do our own thing at the same time under the same roof. No wonder conversation is so hard at the dinner table. No wonder everyone prefers to hang out in their own rooms at home.

We're a spectator people. The godly ones are those who really pay attention, not those who participate. We love when other people do things so that we don't have to. We learn that attitude right here.

In all of this, we don't make a dent in the domain of darkness. If the enemy can keep us sleepy and separated and spectating, the gates of his domain have no worries.

Maybe we need to know who we are, an assembly of worshippers, not an audience. When God builds up His people as a dwelling place, as a kingdom of priests who give themselves as living sacrifices, God knocks down unbelief and rebellion and death.

All together now, Boom!

Or, The Weapon of a Worshipping Assembly

Or, The Purposes of Worship

The church of Jesus Christ is defined by its worship. We express our beliefs as we worship but, perhaps even more powerfully, our beliefs are shaped as we worship. Worship changes who we are. Worship is not a static result, where all the action happens before we start. Worship changes us, we walk away different than we were at the start.

One year ago today our local expression of Christ's church held our first corporate service of worship, and we talked about the heavenly worship of the Worthy One in Revelation 5. When every eye is on Him, it's hard to be distracted or discouraged. Because of the timeline in Revelation, we observe that most of the churches addressed in chapters 2-3 were struggling, some even sinful. The judgements on rebels, the battles of chapters 6-19 remained to be fought. And still, in chapters 4-5, the celebrated coronation of the Lamb occurs before the final victory.

Getting away to worship is not getting away from the battle. We do not meet together in order to distract ourselves from the righteous fight; we assemble together as believers in worship of the Lord Christ as an act of war. Worship isn't running away, it's running toward the roar. It's as if we said, We believe that things are so bad, we're going to do something about it. We're going to worship God.

Originally, my burden was to lead us away from the F.O.G.--the fellowship of grievance. My burden was also to expand our worship horizons and challenge us to develop and diversify our praise arsenal.

Because we've focused on it, because many elements of our service are unfamiliar, and because we've been trying it for a while, I think it's appropriate to pick up the subject explicitly again. Over the next month or more we're going to consider the people, the patterns, and the particulars of worship. Today we'll start with the purposes of worship.

If you had to answer, how would you fill in the blank: the reason a church gathers on the Lord's day is for sake of [BLANK].

There are a variety of good answers, good but insufficient by themselves. Those answers may include:

Certainly, each of these elements belong in our thinking. But we can do better. We must. In fact, there is a sense in which all of these could be done at home, by oneself, rather than assembling together. Also, I understand that there are not too many direct passages about church "services" in the New Testament, but I think we can demonstrate some principles that have immediate bearing on our services from both the Old and New Testaments, which we'll supplement over the next few weeks.

I still believe that the culture of our congregation grows out of the soil of our corporate worship. What is the purpose of assembling together on the Lord's day? The answer comes in four objectives of our worship operation.

We cannot skip this, and many things go into it.

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)

See also Psalm 115. God, through the psalmist, wrote that "those who make [idols] become like them; so do all who trust in them" (verse 8). Men who worship senseless gods become senseless: dumb, deaf, unable to smell or feel or walk. They are senseless. They are lifeless. They are mere shells, dead weight on the shelf.

The opposite is true, too. Those who worship the living God live. Those who worship a loving God love. Those who worship a righteous God obey. Those who worship a faithful God grow in faithfulness. Those who worship a patient God wait. Those who worship a glorious God bow before His glory and are being transformed into glory.

Because we were made to reflect another's image rather than produce a self-image, we cannot know who we are supposed to be without examining the original. Copies depend on the master.

In this case, we are not reading an instruction manual as much as we are looking at a Person. We're changed as we fellowship, as we spend time with someone else, as we linger in His presence, not by following a three step formula or accumulating more parts. We're not parts, we're persons. We're not outlines. If the outline is our focus rather than God, we fail.

Why can't we be transformed in isolation? Why can't this first objective take place at home or work, any time we give ourselves to meditate on God's word and pray? To some extent, yes, any fellowship with God affects us. And yet, is it possible to be made like the Trinity all by yourself? Can you become a more accurate reflection of a relational God without relationships? Can you be social if you're out of communion? We all are being transformed.

As we are transformed, as we are made more like God, we will necessarily be knit more closely together.

We are one body under Christ's headship. When do we demonstrate that? We demonstrate the many and one reality when the many are assembled as one. How are we united? As we draw near to God, we can't help but be drawn closer to each other like two lines moving toward the same point of a triangle.

Our union with each other is part of God making known "through the church [His] manifold wisdom...to the rulers and authorities in heavenly places" (Ephesians 3:10). In context, Paul is explaining his ministry of making known "This mystery...that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel" (Ephesians 3:6).

It isn't because we are all alike. It is because we are not alike. Even more than that, it's because we're with others we didn't like, with others we have sinned against and/or who have sinned against us, and the gospel reconciled us. We forgive one another and are restored to fellowship. We give up our grudges and criticisms. The world has no such happy assemblies.

The unifying happens as we eat and drink the gospel. It happens as we join in the common work of worship. The more we do it together, the more we learn about and come to enjoy one another. Obviously, we cannot do this in isolation. Two strands of yarn must be worked together by needles in contact with each other. Speaking the truth in love, we grow up into Him and the body is built up in love (Ephesians 4:15-16).

We come together to get our marching orders, to see the map of the battlefield, to be directed. Week by week we watch His Word charge ahead of us. His truth plants the joy flag out in front for us to run after. It's His world, we are His body, and His word lights our path (see Psalm 119:105).

There are responsibilities for individual Christians, There are also many plural imperatives, commands to the many, not just ones. That means we must gather to get our corporate assignment. Corporate worship does more than that, though, it turns us the right way, gives us our bearings, orients us.

I mentioned it at the very beginning of the message. Our corporate worship IS battle. Our meetings are not merely preparation for the war, our meetings are a crucial offensive campaign.

A couple passages tie this to corporate work. For all the interpretation challenges that Matthew 16:18 has provided through church history, a phrase at the end often gets overlooked.

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18, ESV)

Gates are not offensive, gates are defensive. If we make it to this part of the verse, we usually consider that the enemy is on the attack. And he is. But in this particular verse, the church is on the attack. Gates were a symbol of strength, but Jesus promises that His church is unstoppable. The gates of hell or "gates of Hades," "gates of death," represent the passageway from this life to the grave, the way of sin and unbelief.

The meeting of the church for corporate worship, following the illustration of Doug Wilson, is a battering ram against the gates of hell. I love Wilson's description of it.

As we gather in the presence of the living God on the Lord's Day, He is pleased to use our right worship of Him as a battering ram to bring down all the citadels of unbelief in our communities. Just as the walls of Jericho fell before the worship and service of God, so unbelievers tremble when Christians gather in their communities to worship the living God rightly. Jesus promised us that the gates of Hades would not prevail against the Church. It is not often noted that the gates of Hades are not an offensive weapon. Hades is being besieged by the Church; it is not the other way around. We need to learn to see that biblical worship of God is a powerful battering ram, and each Lord's Day we have the privilege of taking another swing. Or, if we prefer, we might still want to continue gathering around with our insipid songs, dopey skits, and inspirational chats in order to pelt the gates of Hades with our wadded up kleenex. (Doug Wilson, A Primer on Worship and Reformation, 32)

This is not the work of individuals, but rather the work of the church. There is a handle on the battering ram with your name on it.

BOOM!

Some of the guys, many of the guys leading us in singing, greet each other with "Boom!" We talk about three days until "Boom!" A song starts and they think "Boom!"

So, we need all the soldiers present. More than that, we need everyone to grab a handle and run. A worship service is war, not a performance. The war is fought, not by the few looking at the many, the few standing behind a guitar or a pulpit while the rest sit back and watch. We are an army that advances together. Are you advancing?

If we take this perspective, we will be less likely to criticize. This isn't to say we can't run better or be more effective in our battering, but music style and sermon length and communion elements are not the biggest problem. The biggest problem are those who decide to "sit this one out." The arm-pew worship quarterbacks. Grab a handle and run. You may not have the best hold. We can talk about your grip. Mostly, let's get after the gates.

Paul provides an interesting perspective in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5.

For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, (2 Corinthians 10:3–5, ESV)

How are we doing that destroying? It isn't only with our apologetics and evangelism answers. It is with our worship. Again, running at the gates is the work of the one of many's, not the many ones. The church goes after the gates.

We do not only come to worship on the Lord's day to prepare to do something else. We come to worship because worship is doing something. The purpose of Sunday is more than providing instructions for what to do on Monday. We are being changed so that whatever we do on Monday morning isn't done by the same person. God doesn't only tell us to be unified, He unites us. He doesn't only command transformation, He changes us. He doesn't only provide a map, He turns us in the right direction.

Does it matter if you're not here? Yes and no. God never needs us. But He does use us. If the point of gathering together was gathering truth, sure, just stay at home and read a book. Download the sermon later in the week. Buy a good worship CD (whatever that is) or take banjo lessons for yourself, get a hymnal, and go for it.

But worship is more than how you feel when we sing, more than counting accuracy points of the sermon. We don't gather to collect statements, we gather to make a statement. Worship is the work of the assembly announcing to the world our belief in and love for the Lord Jesus Christ. So, our statement isn't the same without you. We are an outpost of the heavenly throne room and every week we're knocking down more walls and occupying more of His territory.

How does the purpose of Lord's Day Worship fit with the (shepherding) purpose of L2L groups? Among other things, here are some types of questions that are always appropriate:

Our Lord's day assembling, if acknowledging our big God and the potent gospel, creates a gravitational pull around which our lives orbit. It is a group privilege, a group effort, and a group joy. We want every eye on Him, every ear eager for His word, every hand on the battering ram, and every shoelace tied as we run toward the enemy.

Let's make it loud. Boom!

On our 52nd Lord's day together and on this first day of a new year, it seemed appropriate to review some of the Lord's blessings on our body and consider how our assembly can continue to mature for His honor.

We have come a long way in a relatively short time under relatively difficult circumstances. We have cried, prayed, laughed, hugged, sang, and worked together. For all the challenges of planting a new church, for the stink of the fertilizer, there has been a sweetness in the soil as the seed sprouts out and peeks its head above the surface.

I was talking with Jesse Martin a few months ago when he discussed his idea to FaceBook about Trinity, that it was "a plant like no other." [Actually, this morning, he clarified "Not your ordinary church plant," though he thought my phrasing is more sermon title worthy.] He meant it on a couple levels, not including the level of thinking that we are better than other church plants. Yet there are unique parts of our story, parts of who we are that make us a plant like no other.

Do you remember the days of bringing your own folding chairs to our house? Do you remember waiting until Thursday or Friday just to find out where we'd be meeting that week? Then we moved to the Assemblies of God building and were surprised that we basically packed it out on our very first Sunday. We moved to this meeting place the Sunday before Easter, which may seem like a long time ago, though that means we've only been here eight and a half months.

We've started five Life to Life groups, supported a short term trip, created a website, found some men to lead us in corporate singing, had outreach on the Tulalip reservation, adopted a doctrinal statement, held two baptismal services, had a Christmas party, all while trying to wave our joy flags.

As a congregation we've worked through worship issues, marks of a maturing church, four chapters of John's gospel, implications of being image-bearers, the importance of affections, and a new worldview wheel. We've challenged the typical attitude of truth-tubes by defining Christian life as more than thinking, as necessary as thinking (and theology) is.

All of this has been done while trying to live up to our name: Trinity Evangel Church. I taught a brief series on our name, including a follow-up message on various offenses that would be aggravated and others that would be assuaged if we lived up to our name. Each of the three names, first-middle-and last, are meant to remind us of who our God is and what He is like, as well as who we are and what our lives should reflect. For various reasons, it seemed appropriate to examine our plant on this day. I haven't gotten tired of thinking about our name, and hopefully you haven't either.

In the ecclesiological world, our plant is in the Trinitarian kingdom, the highest taxonomic classification.

Everything starts with the Trinity, really. The Triune God is life and all of the universe is from Him and through Him and to Him. We, His creatures, were made to worship Him, but that worship isn't merely observing Him from a distance, as if He were three overlapping paintings on a distant wall for us to admire, say nice things about, and make coffee table books about Him. We were made to worship Him in joyful fellowship with Him.

One of the most important considerations for us is that the Trinity has application, maybe the most important practical theology in the Bible. We are to know God in truth and, in knowing Him, we also take on His shape, His mannerisms, His delights, His interests. Whether or not it was part of our congregation's name or how many leaves are on our logo, to the degree that we ignore the Trinity we will fail to be the baptized community of disciples that Jesus commissioned.

How can we tell if our plant is taking a Trinitarian shape?

The way this is stated doesn't require an all or nothing answer. God saves persons, but He doesn't put us on individual paths to heaven.

For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. (Romans 12:4–5)

If we believe that podcast, pajama worship at home is acceptable, we might be frustrated in heaven at how many other people are there. Trinity reminds us that our God is eternally social and that He made us to enjoy relationship. Eternal life is Trinitarian life.

Why can the members of the Body be different and united, without competition?

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.(1 Corinthians 12:4-6)

And

If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. (1 Corinthians 12:17-20, 24-26)

It's not just fact that we're different yet connected; it's better because we're different and connected!

The current elders are a good example of this, I think. We are pursuing equality with wide diversity in personality and giftedness. Our intentional approach with the body, taking responsibility rather than proving power or position.

The whole body should be thankful for differences rather than being annoyed by them or seeking to remove them.

It shouldn't be too hard to imagine husbands and wives practicing authority and submission as a dance rather than a boxing match at home. Trinity reminds us of unity without uniformity, but harmony and equality with diversity.

God is love. Or, the Trinity is love. We learn what love is by considering love between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They are in eternal, committed, affectionate service of one another. They give themselves for each other and this is why we must do the same.

We are recipients of His love in Christ and by the Spirit who pours it out in our hearts (Romans 5:5). It is the great and greatest commandment (Mark 12:29-31), the first facet of spiritual fruit (Galatians 5:22).

We were planted in a context where relationships are not valued, perhaps even mocked as subjective and unnecessary. Trinity reminds us that if God's Son can take on flesh for us, if God's Spirit can take up residence in our hearts, if God the Father will have fellowship with us, then our distance from others, our unwillingness to engage with them and serve them is our offense no matter how accurate our sentences are.

So how are we doing, Trinity? Do we reflect an individualistic (distant), proud (despising), entitled (demanding) sort of church life, or a connected, humble, and loving church life?

Like chlorophyll that provides energy for growth (photosynthesis), the gospel generates life, it is the power of God to salvation for all who believe.

Because of sin, the Trinitarian life requires grace. In other words, the three Persons of the Trinity must work to enable us to live with Them and like Them. The evangel, the gospel of grace, the good news is that the Father planned, the Son purchased, and the Spirit propagates His life in us. Evangel reminds us that our God is holy (holding the highest standard) and gracious (bending to save).

How can we tell if our plant is growing by the power of the evangel? In other words, how can we measure if our corporate life is worthy of the gospel? (Philippians 1:27)

We proclaim a gospel of death that brings life, and this is our platform for proclaiming the message. The dying happens mostly for us in being worn out, being afflicted, perplexed, persecuted, and struck down.

Paul said not only that he was brought to the breaking point over and over (2 Corinthians 4:8-9), but also that death was at work in him (which means that ministry is a dying life). He wrote:

[we are] always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. (2 Corinthians 4:11-12)

These are ways of dying for others. Being brought to our breaking point is a sign that we are being used.

It is not about getting from others. Philippians 3:18 describes those whose god is their belly, with minds set on earthly things.

Through this giving of our lives we are being conduits of grace as it extends to more and more people (2 Corinthians 4:15). Evangel reminds us about sacrifice.

The gospel is good news for us, for sinners, because we don't deserve it. It is surprising how easy it is for us to act like we deserved it after receiving it. As evangel people, though, we are called to forgive as we've been forgiven. This is an impossibly high standard, but a necessary one.

Forgiving is hard work because it means someone did something against us that required forgiveness.

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. (Colossians 3:12–14)

Holding grudges is particularly Christian, but not an okay one. Christians get guilted into being around others and being around others usually results in problems. Evangel reminds us that we're expected and enabled to handle those problems with tenderheartedness and patience like Christ.

Here we are challenged greatly, but here is where we need to live up to our name. "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). To live by faith is what the righteous do, and it is hard to do righteously in this regard. So much of what we see, so much of what we feel fights against us in this matter.

But Christ is no longer dead and we who believe in Him cannot die eternally. Nothing can separate us from His love though we are slaughtered. We must live by faith when it is dark. He promises light soon enough. Evangel reminds us that God wins.

Our church was planted in a context where gospel is a only a message, not a life.

How are we doing, Trinity Evangel? Do we live a self-protective, petty, pessimistic church life or an abandoned, big-hearted, and confident church life?

On one hand, this may be the most self-explanatory part of our name, but how can we evaluate the health of our church plant?

In other words, do we care more about people or programs? This doesn't mean that programs and structure are no good, but they must always serve the life and certainly they must not take life. This is one reason why we want to be careful how many things we plan for the body, even on Sundays, so that we do not wear people out just by looking at their calendar. Church reminds us about the Body of Christ, not business or busyness.

We will not be in a good position to think that we are the only ones in the know, the only ones who truly please God. That doesn't mean that we must work alongside, or join, every professing fellowship. It does mean that isolationist, elitist, narrowing boundaries reveal we're not in a good place. Church reminds us of our historical and global contacts. "the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world"

It cannot be nominal recognition that Jesus leads His Church. We follow Him. He gives direction. He is the captain of the ship.

And he [the Father] put all things under his [Christ's] feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:22–23)

We must be in constant recognition of His preeminence, in constant dependence on Him to grow and guide His people. That's obviously much easier to say than to do, but it must be done. Church reminds us that Christ builds His.

So how are we doing, church? Are we churching for sake of the organization, separation, and self-determination or are we churching for the organism, doing our part, and submitting to the Lord Christ?

We have done a good job, by God's grace, of not defining ourselves by what we're against and, rather, by what excites us. We're running toward a Trinitarian life, an evangel life. By grace, at least for the most part, God has kept our plant out of the FOG, the fellowship of grievance.

The Trinity doesn't fellowship over their complaints, though I'm guessing with omniscient reign over unrighteous hearts, they have plenty of material. While we could (and many do) whine, we are delivered and defined by the evangel as a church. It's been a crazy, great, challenging, heavy, happy, growing year. May year two, 2012, for Trinity Evangel Church be blessed by Him.

Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved. (Philippians 4:1)

What image comes to mind when you think about Christmas? Do you think about a decorated tree, with presents all around it? Do you think about a table full of steaming food, surrounded by family? Do you think about snow, hot chocolate, cookies, candles, credit card bills, long lines at WalMart? Or if you're more spiritual, do you think about a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger, where ox and ass are feeding?

Nothing is necessarily wrong with any of those images but, when we think about Christmas, the central image should be the Word becoming flesh, Immanuel--God with us, the Son of God and the Son of Mary, Jesus born in Bethlehem.

What do we learn from the original Christmas image? Do we not, in the incarnation, see the image of true man as he is made in the image of the true God? In Jesus, we see both what humanity looks like and what deity looks like. At Christmas, we see what we're supposed to be like.

We are image-bearers. A few months ago, we spent a couple Sunday evenings studying Genesis 1 and 11 as we considered that God made man, Adam and Eve, in His image. Human beings are the crown of God's creation, the only beings privileged to reveal God's glory by reflecting Him in the world. We considered that there are a least two general ways of describing how we bear God's image.

The Trinity deliberated about making man: "let us make man in our image, after our likeness" (Genesis 1:26) and, in order to accomplish this, He made "male and female."

So God created man in his own image,

It was not good for man to be alone (Genesis 2:18) because God Himself has never been alone. We are made for relationship, for intimacy, family, society, because of who God is, not simply because of what God wanted.

After God created then He commissioned Adam and Eve regarding relationship: "be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth." They were meant to know one another, enjoy each other, share with each other, serve one another, and spread out. Not only did men have horizontal relationships, but also vertical, in fellowship with God.

God gave Adam responsibility in the garden a few hours before the nap that changed everything (Genesis 2:21). Adam was put in the garden to tend it (Genesis 2:15). God also provided man with responsibility to name the animals (Genesis 2:19-20), which was part of God's clear mandate to the man and woman.

As they filled the earth, they also were to "have dominion and subdue the earth" (Genesis 1:28). These responsibilities were no less Trinitarian, no less a reflection of God who formed and filled His world. Though men don't create out of nothing, they still have responsibility to take responsibility as image-bearers.

The first Adam was created from dust, given life to reflect God in the world. Within a few days, or maybe a few weeks, Adam blew it. He disobeyed the only prohibition God gave and subsequently suffered the consequences. Sin's effect hit at his very being. Sin broke relationship, it separated, both between man and God and between the man and woman. Sin also brought God's judgment on responsibilities. Adam made excuses, he passed the blame rather than shouldering fault. His work in the ground was made more difficult and woman would bear children in pain (Genesis 3:16-19).

The image of God in man was not totally lost, but it was fallen, marred. He was still made for relationship and responsibility, but he could no longer reflect the Trinity's life because man's spirit was dead. Sin keeps men from faithful image-bearing, sin keeps men from even knowing and seeing God's image accurately.

What could fix the broken image? Christmas, by which we mean, the incarnation.

Christmas really is good news. The incarnation reveals the true image of man, what man was meant to be which is the true image of God, which Jesus fulfills. Jesus is the image of God.

He [God's beloved Son] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. (Colossians 1:15)

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, (Colossians 1:19)

For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily (Colossians 2:9)

And the Word (see John 1:1-3) became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. (Hebrews 1:1–3)

In Him the fulness of deity dwells. In Him the reality of humanity shines. In light of the two categories of image-bearing, consider Jesus as the ultimate image-bearer. He is the supreme self-disclosure of God, the clear revelation of God Himself.

Jesus is the ultimate image-bearer who reveals the relational nature of God. He taught us some about relationships among the Trinity, in particular, between Father and Son.

Christmas is the ultimate revelation of God's relational nature with man. God took on flesh and dwelt among us. Not God at us, but God with us. He lived and communicated and taught and discipled and served and died for men.

No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. (John 1:18)

He did so in great humility. He came as a baby without global fanfare. It was relatively quiet and unknown. And He came as a servant (cf. Philippians 2:4-11). When we want to learn about God's relational character, we look to Christ.

Jesus did not come to men in a good situation. He came to rebels. He came to weak, mortal flesh. He takes responsibility, for others. He fulfills God's promise.

an angel of the Lord appeared to [Joseph] in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). (Matthew 1:20–23)

Then, at the right time:

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6–8)

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him (Colossians 1:21–22)

He is the ultimate responsibility taker and so the ultimate image of God. Not only that, His responsibility enables relationship. This is the work of reconciliation. He redeems us from sin and reconciles us to God that we might fellowship with God and with each other.

the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. (1 John 1:2–3)

With the incarnation, with Christmas, we understand that:

So, in Christ, we see the height of humanity. He is the aim of image-bearing. He also redeems our relationships and responsibilities, He enables us to bear God's image. That's what Christmas brings.

He has redeemed us for purpose, to reflect Him as we are conformed to Christlikeness, as we live our Christ at home with our families (part of relationship), as we worship and make disciples, and as we pick up our cultural tasks given by God in Genesis 1. Because of Christmas, our labor done in the Lord is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).

He has redeemed us to reflect Him as we live out the gospel toward each other. Husbands die for their wives. We humbly serve others as more important then ourselves because of Christ's example (again, Philippians 2). We are many members but unified as one body (John 17; 1 Corinthians 10). We have true fellowship with God and with each other (again, 1 John 1), and this is not merely with those that we find easy to get along with.

A Christmas chiasmus (a parallel structure in an "x" shape like the Greek letter "chi," the letter that also starts Χριστός, Christos, Christ).

What image comes to mind when we think about Christmas? The image of true man and true God--Jesus. His incarnation reveals God among us.

How do we see this today? We ought to see the image of God in each other. We were made to bear God's image, and because of Jesus, we now work and relate as He made us to. We have His example and His enablement. Because of our union with Him, we are His body and we have His power. Not only in Him do we see God's image perfectly, or, what we did and do wrong, but also in Him we are made able to reflect well again.

In His person is revelation. By Jesus we know God. In His propitiation we are redeemed. By Jesus we relate to God. Through His power we obey God. By Jesus we live for God. Because of the incarnation, we understand, we fellowship, and we enjoy God. It's what we were made for in the first place.

Therefore, every Christian should be an image of Christmas. We are not God in flesh, but we do have God's Spirit in us in flesh. We incarnate, we image, we reflect God to the world.

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. (1 John 4:9–12)

Where will men see God's image? In us as we love one another.

From the last verse of Charles Wesley's Hark the Herald Angels Sing:

Adam's likeness, Lord, efface,

When we take responsibility to give gifts and provide food and to humbly serve one another, we show Christmas truth. We are images of Christmas. When we do this for the sake of fellowship with others, to bring people together, to share life and enjoy each other, we are images of Christmas.

Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. (1 Corinthians 15:49)