Churching Well Part 2

Acts 2:42-47 (NIV)
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
The church is ultimately about relationships. Relationship with God, relationship with the people of God, and relationship with those who do not yet know Jesus. These relationships are developed in the context of worship, discipleship, fellowship, and mission. All of these relationships also need to be understood in the context of the tension of the Now and Not Yet of the Kingdom of God.
Hebrews 12:22-29 (NIV)
22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, 24 to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. 25 See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken–that is, created things–so that what cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our “God is a consuming fire.”
As citizens of the Kingdom we are partakers of the heavenly Jerusalem now. In Christ, we are able to experience the presence of God and close fellowship with other believers now, and yet the fullness of that reality will be experience when Jesus returns at the end of the age.
Revelation 21:1-7 (NIV)
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” 5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
No matter what happens as we live in the tension of the now and not yet of the Kingdom, our hope rests in Christ and His unshakeable kingdom.
Since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, we are to worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.
The corporate worship of the church to God is more than just an activity or activities, it is a way of living in the world and before God that demonstrates that God is first and foremost. God is the Noun, the church is an adjective. God is the central figure of the Bible, and He should be the only focus of our worship. He alone is the reason the church exists.
When we talk about worship, what people often think about is singing a few songs in order to prepare for the sermon. But worship is so much more than that. Worship is the way that we invite the Kingdom to be established on earth. The Psalmist tells us that the King is enthroned in our praises.
Psalm 22:3 (NIV)
3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel.
When we gather together and worship we are in effect a habitation for His presence. His kingdom comes, His reign and rule are present, His word is alive and active, people are healed and changed and saved and the church is empowered to go and be a people of mission. Worship is primary because it provides an avenue for God’s continued movement into the world. This is demonstrated in the Lord’s prayer which starts with a call to worship and then makes way for His rule and reign, authority and power to come.
Matthew 6:9-10 (NIV)
9 “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
In Christ, the church, the citizens of the kingdom, have become a royal priesthood to proclaim His praises.
1 Peter 2:9-10 (NIV)
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
As we, the church, grasp the incredible blessings that we have received in Him, we are compelled to live for Him. The Apostle Paul connects this process in Romans 11:33-36 and in Romans 12:1-2:
Romans 11:33-36 (NIV)
33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! 34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” 35 “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?” 36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.
Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.
We will talk more about how we worship when we gather next week.