Church folks have divergent views about what ought to happen when we gather for worship. We have our expectations about singing and sermons and length. But have you ever wondered what God wants for us in worship?
One of the clearest pictures of the early church in worship is found in 1 Corinthians 14:26-33. It begins with "When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All these must be done for the strengthening of the church."
This picture of the Spirit-filled church tells me that God is present when we gather. He wants to speak to us so that we will grow in Christ. Now he could do that with an audible voice, but he chooses to use me and you. Because of this we need to encourage Christians to learn to listen to the Spirit and to be bold enough to share whatever God wants to bring to his people. The rest of this passage assumes that we will mess up in being God's voice to one another. We will hog the limelight, we will focus on one spiritual gift and ignore others. So God provides guidelines so we will lovingly bring what God is saying to us. Let us welcome the Holy Spirit into our gatherings. Expect God to show up and use us to communicate his message to us.
One of the clearest pictures of the early church in worship is found in 1 Corinthians 14:26-33. It begins with "When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All these must be done for the strengthening of the church."
This picture of the Spirit-filled church tells me that God is present when we gather. He wants to speak to us so that we will grow in Christ. Now he could do that with an audible voice, but he chooses to use me and you. Because of this we need to encourage Christians to learn to listen to the Spirit and to be bold enough to share whatever God wants to bring to his people. The rest of this passage assumes that we will mess up in being God's voice to one another. We will hog the limelight, we will focus on one spiritual gift and ignore others. So God provides guidelines so we will lovingly bring what God is saying to us. Let us welcome the Holy Spirit into our gatherings. Expect God to show up and use us to communicate his message to us.
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