Thoughts on Church, part 3

Romans 12:1-2

1 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. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Hebrews 13:15

Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.

A sacrifice of praise? Our bodies are a living sacrifice? Sacrifice is worship? Transformed? What does this mean? If God requires my worship and He calls this a sacrifice, where would I go to figure out what worship and sacrifice are?

Leviticus 9

9:1 On the eighth day Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel, 2 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. 3 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, 4 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.’” 5 And they brought what Moses commanded in front of the tent of meeting, and all the congregation drew near and stood before the Lord. 6 And Moses said, “This is the thing that the Lord commanded you to do, that the glory of the Lord may appear to you.” 7 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Draw near to the altar and offer your sin offering and your burnt offering and make atonement for yourself and for the people, and bring the offering of the people and make atonement for them, as the Lord has commanded.”

8 So Aaron drew near to the altar and killed the calf of the sin offering, which was for himself. 9 And the sons of Aaron presented the blood to him, and he dipped his finger in the blood and put it on the horns of the altar and poured out the blood at the base of the altar. 10 But the fat and the kidneys and the long lobe of the liver from the sin offering he burned on the altar, as the Lord commanded Moses. 11 The flesh and the skin he burned up with fire outside the camp.

12 Then he killed the burnt offering, and Aaron’s sons handed him the blood, and he threw it against the sides of the altar. 13 And they handed the burnt offering to him, piece by piece, and the head, and he burned them on the altar. 14 And he washed the entrails and the legs and burned them with the burnt offering on the altar.

15 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. 16 And he presented the burnt offering and offered it according to the rule. 17 And he presented the grain offering, took a handful of it, and burned it on the altar, besides the burnt offering of the morning.

18 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. 19 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— 20 they put the fat pieces on the breasts, and he burned the fat pieces on the altar, 21 but the breasts and the right thigh Aaron waved for a wave offering before the Lord, as Moses commanded.

22 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. 23 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. 24 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.

Thoughts on Church, part 2

Before I post my response on what I believe is the purpose of Church, I have a few comments that may help to shed some light on my answer.

First, as my friend Kevin mentioned in the previous post, church is the corporate gathering of local believers. This is key. In America, individualism reigns supreme. So it is the case with Christianity as well. We are taught to believe that salvation is primarily about a personal relationship with Christ. We are on a “pilgrim’s progress” – thousands of solitary journeys on the road to redemption. This is why there are so many books out there targeting the “purpose driven life” or the “wild at heart” or “your best life now.” This is why many contemporary praise songs focus on the inward feeling leading to outward reactions (I will sing to and worship, the King who is worthy, etc.). This is why many churches have invitations following their sermons.

Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s true that part of salvation is a personal relationship with Christ – but is this the primary relationship? No, it’s not. In fact, this is one of the reasons why we gather as a body of believers every Sunday. This is where salvation is found – in the church. Just as God used Israel to bring about the salvation of the nations, God has established the church to bring about salvation to the world. Christ does not work separately from His bride. This is why your church (should) rightfully discipline those members who refuse to attend on a regular basis (barring health and other legitimate excuses, of course). It’s for their own good. There’s no such thing as a solitary Christian. More on this, though, in a later post.

Second, just how does Christ empower us? Where do we draw our strength from? For that matter, what is grace? What exactly is the relationship between Christ and His bride?

Here’s an analogy: Denise and I love each other. But what is love? Is it some mystical power that connects us to each other. Is it some emotionless commitment that binds us together through thick and thin? Of course not. Love displays itself in many symbolic ways – a hand held, a kiss, a first date, a beautiful wedding ceremony. An exchange of rings, an exchange of looks, three beautiful girls. These are all symbols of our love for each other, but they’re not empty. In fact, these are some of the things that make us more in love with each other. It’s a symbolic relationship with phyical realities. So how does this translate into our relationship with Christ? Well, what are the symbols of the church? Prayer, the Word, baptism, bread and wine, fellowship, singing, etc… are these empty? Are these just “personal” reactions to the truths we find in the Bible (I believe John 3:16, therefore I worship God, etc.)? As Christians, what does Christ do for us and what do we do for Christ that makes our relationship a reality?

Oh, and I still am curious about the questions in the previous post as well!

Thoughts on Church

Here’s a typical American, evangelical, protestant church service – be it Baptist, Presbyterian, or the now popular non-denominational:

The service begins with song – maybe three or four – with a few interspersals of prayer and/or scripture reading. Usually if there is a baptism or a baby dedication, it occurs at the very beginning of the service or right after the first song. Around this time, many churches have a time of greeting, although I think this is becoming extinct. Now, depending on the type of church we’re talking about, a quarter of the way through there is usually either a skit, video presentation, testimony or some scripture reading. Then comes the musical performance. Hopefully after that there is some sort of time of confession – corporate prayer, maybe coming down front to kneel, or a pastoral prayer with a moment of silent prayer for the congregation. After this, probably another song or they may just jump right into the sermon. The pastor then closes his sermon with an invitation (many variations here) and a quick prayer. At this point the offering is taken – although many churches like to do this sometime before the sermon. Finally there is a bit more music and if you happen to be there on the right day, you might get the Lord’s Supper.  Then you’re dismissed.

I think that pretty much captures the average structure of the average protestant church. Of course, there is much difference in the way many of these churches carry these services out. Some are upbeat and “full of the spirit,” while some are more serious and solemn. Some are more formal, while some have  a relaxed feel. Some prefer traditional hymns on an organ and piano, while some are all out contemporary with a full on rock band. Some have preachers who exposite the scriptures verse by verse, and some have preachers who preach topically (5 keys to impoving your relationship with your kids).

Have you ever thought about why you do things in this order? Or why do you do any of these things at all? Is it because of tradition? Is it because of Scripture? What is even the point of gathering on Sundays (or other days of the week, as the case may be) to worship God?

 Well, my answers to these questions are the reason why I want to puke when I see the video from my previous post. And other’s answers to these questions are why they disagree with my previous post. Now there are certainly a wide range of answers to these questions, but I’m going to attempt (again) to characterize these answers in a general response: Church is where we come to worship God and strengthen our personal relationship with Christ. Church is where Christ meets/speaks to me through the preaching of the Word, thereby reassuring us in our spiritual journey, convicting us of our sin, or giving us instruction for our daily walk. Church also provides an outlet for us to worship God with our whole being – as we sing praises, pray, and place our needs on the altar. Church also provides the opportunity for Christian fellowship that is essential to our lives – there’s nothing that encourages me like worshipping with the body!

Am I way off with this? Before I continue with my answers (and because this post is long enough already), I’d like to know if ya’ll agree, or what you would add or subtract – either regarding the structure of the church service or the reasons for having church.

Auburn Doesn’t Need Another Church

http://www.auburn-doesnt-need-another-church.com/

I think I threw up a little bit when I saw this.

BTW Andy Stanley, just what is the “churchy church” stuff that you need to get away from?

Oh, and thanks Jed for posting this on your blog.

At least my Table of Contents is OK

This past Wednesday my gut started hurting. Not too bad, but enough to worry me. I thought it was a virus that had been going around, so I declined Denise’s offer to look up my symptoms on Web MD. About midnight I woke up and it was really hurting and the word “appendicitis” popped into my head – which is really weird, because I wasn’t really sure what appendicitis was. So I got up and typed “appendicitis” on Web MD and it gave me a list of symptoms – all of which applied to me. By the time my parents came over to keep the girls and Denise had got me to the hospital I was in a lot of pain. They gave me some morphine and set up surgery for that day – which really wasn’t that bad. The worst part was having to spend the night in the hospital – very uncomfortable! They filled me up with so much fluid that I had to pee like every two hours – and I refused to use the little bottle they gave me – so Denise had to help me out of bed throughout the night. The surgery went well, and the recovery time is pretty quick – about a week or so. The worst was yet to come, though.

Today (Saturday) I woke up about 7:30 after a good night’s sleep anticipating a nice day of being lazy and watching t.v. (Believe me, I plan on taking full advantage of my ailment). So I hobbled outta bed, brushed my teeth, popped two painkillers in my mouth, and sat down to check my e-mail before breakfast. Thus began the worst 5 hours of my life. My prescription said that food was not required with my medication and I had not come close to exceeding the dosage, but for some reason I overdosed – at least that’s what the doctor said. I’ve never experienced that before. My temperature dropped below 95, I had massive chills and sweating at the same time, vomiting, and extreme dizziness. But when I closed my eyes I had these horrible and crazy hallucinations! It was miserable! I used to get migraines really bad, but I could always turn all the lights out and sleep it off… not this time. I just had to hold on until it wore off. Denise called the doctor and prescribed a weaker painkiller, plus a pill that prevents nausea. We finally got it a few hours later and it helped a bit. Once I finally recovered, I refused to take even the weaker painkiller… Denise finally talked me into it a little while ago – thankfully nothing happened!

So, how was your week?

Lucy’s Debut

Okay, I know, I know all babies are cute…. but she is just sooo cute! Little Lucy Angelina is not so little anymore. She is talking! Well, in a way that babies do- rrrrrs and aaaauuuus and she varies her tone along with those sounds so I am certain she has plenty to ’say’. Weighing in at 12lbs and 24inches here she is.  She is in the 95th percentile in height – imagine that?!  We are all doing well here.  I’m making it to the Y pretty regularly so I am getting pretty used to getting mobile with 3 little ones. Molly has been such a big help and Katie is a great fetcher! 

Here are also some pics from Molly’s first official visit to the dentist- she was sooo brave. I can’t believe how big she is getting.

Some of the other pics are from some playtime we had with some friends and costumes the girls were trying on.  I can’t get over how Molly keeps talking about Buzz Lightyear from ToyStory and was so excited to find the costume in the large pile.  Katie is in the ladybug – of course and the pooh bear.  We were laughing out heads off!

A word from Rev. Charles

I’ll take this guy over Joel Osteen anyday!