How Deep Is Your Love?

How deep is your love
I really need to learn
'Cause were living in a world of fools
Breaking us down
When they all should let us be
We belong to you and me

—The Bee Gees, 1977


What Are We Here For?

I write this for my own enjoyment. I am embarrassed by the people who say they read my blog.

This entry will not appeal to you. We live in a day of seeker-sensitive, need-meeting oriented churches and services. I am much less therapeutic, preferring to make you look into your Bible instead of inside yourself to get the answer. And I find that sometimes we need to be reminded of the basics.

We were made to worship. Church exists because Christ calls his people to assemble for his worship.

The Old Testament is a narrative of worship. The Patriarchs worshipped as they wandered. Israel worshipped in the wilderness with a tent and an ark. When they settled in the land the tent became a tabernacle, and finally a temple.

God was worshipped in a sanctuary. The sanctuary was a place where God dwelt. It was a buffer zone between a holy God and an unholy world. It was the cusp where the Kingdom of God was conceived. So the sanctuary served as the focal point of worship. But the building was nothing apart from obedience. This is worship.

There was a place and time. They worshipped on the Sabbath and during the Feasts. They prepared for worship by circumcision. The elements of worship were prayer, praise, scripture reading, preaching, almsgiving and sacrifice. But the sacrifice was nothing apart from obedience. This is worship.

We worship God in spirit, but according to the truth. Principles first laid down in the Old Testament transcend dispensations.

The church is the new royal priesthood. Every believer's heart is now the sacred dwelling-place of the divine nature.

We have a time when the congregation comes together: Sunday. Some churches have services Friday or Saturday, but we still honor his resurrection when we meet on Sunday, for he was the sacrificial Lamb of God.

We prepare for worship. Circumcision is nothing, but baptism relates you to a local body. Baptism links us to Christ by a good conscience. Baptism marks our entrance into a body of believers. Baptism states that we are living according to a new life and walking in a new way.

If we make everything worship then nothing is worship. God is worshipped by our coming together. We offer the sacrifice of prayer and praise. Think through this.

ELEMENTS OF WORSHIP
1. Preaching the word (discipleship goal 1)
2. Prayer and praise to God together (discipleship goal 2)
3. Observing the ordinances (discipleship goal 3)
4. Giving an offering (to enable discipleship goal 4)

At the end, there is no temple (Rev 21:22). There is no Sabbath, for it is now the Sabbath rest (Heb 4:9-10). There is unceasing praise, and no need for sun or moon to regulate sacred time (Rev 21:23). There is preparation, for we have washed our robes (Rev 7:14-15).

There are still elements to our worship. We pray (Rev 5:8). We sing (Rev 19:6). The scroll is read and the word is proclaimed (Rev 5,14). We share a supper with the Lord (our marriage supper, Rev 19:6-8).

Even so, come, Lord Jesus.