Ps 35:18 I will give You thanks in the great assembly; I will praise You among many people.
I. Worship is a Response to Revelation requiring Obedience and Sacrifice (otherwise we’re just singing a song)
We see God revealed in His dealings with others, being challenged to acknowledge Lordship and worth of God by events in other’s lives
NT Sacrifices start with yourself Rm 12:1…present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, your spiritual service of worship
Heb 13:15 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.
Heb 13:16 But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. Php 2:17 sacrifice and service of your faith…
1Pt 2:5 you as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God thru Jesus Heb 9:28
Isa 58:13 "If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, 14 then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance..." The mouth of the LORD has spoken.
Glorifying God is making Him look good in the eyes of others Ps 29:2 Give to the LORD the glory due His name; Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. Ps 107:32 Let them exalt Him also in the assembly of the people, and praise Him in the company of the elders.
Ps 22:25 My praise shall be of You in the great assembly; I will pay My vows before those who fear Him. Eph 3:21…to Him be glory in the church
II. Instruction w/ Q&A to find out more about God & His perfect will for our lives, so we graciously live in victory, pleasing Him
God’s word gives us Perspective and Perseverance, telling us how to draw on His grace, so that we can experience His best now and then.
NT Model Acts 2:42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
Acts 20:7 on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul…spoke to them and continued his message until midnight v11
III. Fellowship is Sharing of lives, needs and resources. For better or worse, we do become like the folks we hang around.
Relationships are where you can know and are known, both give and receive, fulfilling the “one another” commands
Doubling joys and halving burdens; wise Biblical counsel for challenges involving: work, family, social issues, etc.
NT Love Jn 13:35 "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." Cf. 1Jn 4:20-21 liar
1Jn 1:7 if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, & the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin
1Pt 1:22 Since you’ve purified your souls by obeying the truth thru the Spirit to a sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently w/ a pure heart
Encouragement Heb 10:24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting (parakaleo) one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
IV. Edification -->Evangelism to Equip believers to Learn the Truth, Live the Truth and Love others with the Truth.
NT Plan Eph 4:11 He Himself gave (gifted men)…12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to a measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ-- 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Each 1Cor 14:26 Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, teaching, tongue, revelation, interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.
Acts 2:46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and singleness of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
Questions for Reflection/Discussion/Response:
1. How can an assembly of 10,000 enable people to have the kinds of experiences that equipped NT believers to take over their world?
2. Can someone become a fully functional reproductive disciple as Christ intended without being part of a NT based church?
3. How can someone obey the one another commands, particularly those of unity and submission without being committed to a Body?
4. How should Biblical believers respond to cafeteria Christians? How can one be likeminded (1Cor 1:10) with the universal Body of Christ?
5. What can you do to get the most out of your participation in the Body of Christ? Is the Lord God pleased with your worship?
Big Apple Chapel: We're Different by Design
(excerpt) © 1987-2008 WF Cobb Truthbase.net
In the pages of Scripture, we see believers obeying our Lord's commission to make disciples of every nation, by gathering in public and private places for: - deepening their knowledge and appreciation of God and His desires for them;
- relational experiences with each other…based on the revelation of God;
- witnessing experiences with others…based on their relationship with God.
The New Testament church put a lot of emphasis on being faithful to the Lord and His instructions for the church.
How they obeyed (form) His commission was always subservient to their obedience (function). Believers in each culture and generation have the responsibility to use or develop the forms that help work out or achieve their function.
BAC is a body of baptized believers, submitted to the headship of the Lord Jesus Christ, and to each other, organized and uniting
TO BRING GLORY TO GOD by making disciples of every nation. We seek to accomplish this purpose through our:
I. The Principle: WORSHIP...We provide an environment in which believers can worship in Spirit and in Truth.
We gather to celebrate the person of God, praise the Lord in word and song, exalt Him in the eyes of others, commemorate Him in the Lord's Supper, give thanks to God, pray to Him, offer sacrifices to Him, and respond in reverent obedience to His revelation.
Our Practice: A time of EXALTATION begins our service. Our focus is on the person and works of God. Worship* is a response to revelation. The first Lord's Supper (Communion) was a Passover* meal, in which the participants praised God beginning with how He revealed His power and love in saving them from Egypt. Their contemplation of God was not like viewing an old masterpiece in a museum, but it continued with a review of how God had acted in their lives from that initial salvation experience right up to the present. Nor did it stop there, but included a response to the yet unfulfilled promises of God for the future. It was a time joy and gladness!
At BAC we celebrate the Lord's Supper every week, recalling not just how He saved us by dying for our sins (so we don't have to) nor just remembering the promises He'll fulfill when He returns, but we also share with each other how God has revealed Himself to us during the past week: revealed His power in answering prayer, or saving or delivering from physical or spiritual danger, or worked all things together for good for His children, or how He's revealed Himself in Scripture. We praise Him with our testimonies, songs, and prayers.
II. The Principle: INSTRUCTION...We provide teaching and learning experiences centered around God's word to bring everyone to full maturity as reproductive disciples of Christ. We encourage each believer to grow in Christlikeness and equip themselves for service through: not only exposure to systematic teaching of the Scriptures, but also through personal and small group Bible studies, and discipleship relationships. We desire that each believer be able to apply God's truth in their own lives and in the lives of others,
knowing how to live as Christ's disciple, and how to help someone do the same.
Our Practice: In our EDUCATION time, we continue our response to God's revelation, by focusing on His Word, and its implications for our lives. We look at the Scriptures to see what they say about what God's like, what we're like, what He expects of us, and what we can expect of Him. Our teaching time is interactive, encouraging questions and discussion to deepen understanding, affirmation, and application. Our desire is that as every man matures they will become an elder and participate in the teaching duties.
We encourage development of Bible study skills so that each disciple can feed themselves and teach others to do the same. To that end we gather to study the Scriptures inductively as well as topically, as need and interest arise. Believers are encouraged to understand God’s purpose for their lives and develop a plan for bringing glory to God.
III. The Principle: FELLOWSHIP...We share the Spirit of Christ as members of God's family.
We relate to each other in loyal love, as interdependent fellow servants, in a caring, and accepting community; sharing our lives, needs, and resources; and interacting in such a way that we learn from each other, edify each other, and stimulate one another to Christlikeness.
Our Practice: In our EDIFICATION time we provide opportunity for believers to fulfill their responsibilities to take what God’s given them and use it to build up each other, ministering grace to others’ needs. In small groups we share insights into God’s Word and ways, share prayer requests, and pray for each other. We encourage believers to develop accountability relationships in order to help each other determine and experience the perfect and unique will of God for their lives.
IV. The Principle: EVANGELISM...We individually and corporately witness to the reality of the Lord Jesus Christ in such a way that the Holy Spirit brings people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Our Practice: We promote lifestyle evangelism as the major means of bringing our neighbors, friends, and co-workers to the Savior, and occasionally engage in group outreaches to expose non-believers to witness of the Body of Christ. We encourage understanding and serving the needs of those in our spheres of influence, in such a way that they see the relevance of Scripture to their lives, the love manifested by the Body of Christ, and their personal need for our Savior and Lord.
|
