Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20050220.htm

THE BIBLICAL GROWTH OF THE LOCAL CHURCH
Part III: Growing By The True Worship Of God
(Matthew 16:18 with Acts 1:8; 2:40-43a)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

There is a tremendous emphasis on "worship" in many Bible believing Churches today, an emphasis that reveals a need for Christians to feel "connected" to God or to have interacted with Him in some meaningful way in the Church service:

(1) A pamphlet on church growth that I recently received from a "seeker friendly" organization encourages churches to schedule, and I quote: "days of fasting to prepare their hearts for awakening. Jesus said there is mountain-moving power in unified prayer."

(2) A series of activities designed to promote the spiritual revitalization of the Church are encouraged by this pamphlet, including, and I quote: "the habit of weekly worship attendance, daily quiet time [personal devotions of Bible reading and prayer], a weekly group Bible study, and a weekly scripture memory verse. These will keep your people growing long after . . ." the proposed church growth program is done!

(3) Pastor Joe McNally of the Faith Bible Church in Winsted, Connecticut recently told me that he and several other area pastors he knows have seen people begin to attend their church services only to witness them move on to another big church that has much more "lively" music with drums, guitars, cymbals etc. where people can "really" praise the Lord! Somehow many judge true worship is impossible unless you have the right atmosphere and lively format with artistically gifted people that was absent in the Early Church!



Well, WORSHIP services ARE to be MEANINGFUL to God's people, a time when we as a group find FULFILLING joy in our GROUP INTERACTION with God.

The Early Church found its worship gatherings to produce a deep sense of reverence and awe for God according to Acts 2:43a, and HOW it is properly achieved is the theme of today's message as follows . . .



(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )



Need: "Great emphasis is given in various churches on the MUSIC or LITURGY of church gatherings! I know that WORSHIP is to be a necessary part of the local church and that it is to be meaningful to those present, but is there a CORRECT worship versus a FALSE one? IF so, HOW are they DIFFERENT, HOW is TRUE worship to ARISE and WHY?"
  1. Church growth is something JESUS said HE WOULD ACHIEVE in Matthew 16:18; it WILL OCCUR, so we best ADJUST to it!
  2. Well, in TRUE church growth ministries, godly WORSHIP rises SPONTANEOUSLY through the HOLY SPIRIT'S work as a RESULT of the FILLING of the SPIRIT and ADHERENCE to the MINISTRY of GOD'S WORD (as follows):
    1. Jesus revealed the building of His Church would occur through His disciples by the indwelling Spirit's power, Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 1:8.
    2. A CHARACTERISTIC that marked the Early Church was its spontaneous adherence to true GROUP worship that grew out of the filling of the Spirit and an adherence to the ministry of God's Word:
      1. After the word, "fellowship" (koinonia) in Acts 2:42b, instead of the word, "and" that appears in the KJV, the Greek New Testament omits the word, "and" to read: "the breaking of bread and the prayers" (ESV), cf. Bible Know. Com., N. T., p. 360.
      2. Thus, in Acts 2:42, the word "fellowship" (koinonia) is placed in grammatical apposition to the two functions of the "breaking of bread" and "of prayers," Ibid.
      3. This means the camaraderie we learned in our last message that is meant by "fellowship" (koinonia) in Acts 2:42b is EXPRESSED in the "breaking of bread" and "prayers" functions, Ibid.
      4. If we then study the phrase "breaking of bread" as it is used in the New Testament, we note it can refer EITHER to a regular OR a special meal (Theol. Dict. of the N. T., vol. III, p. 728) OR to the observance of the Lord's Table (cf. Acts 20:7a) that doubtless began to be observed in connection with special meals, Ibid.
      5. Since the "breaking of bread" and "prayers" functions are seen in grammatical apposition to the word, "fellowship" in Acts 2:42, Luke's reference to them in THIS context picture the group WORSHIP activities of observing the Lord's Table and group prayers that was practiced in later regular Church services!
      6. Then, with this activity, Luke reported EVERYONE kept ON experiencing (imperfect tense in egineto rendered "came" (KJV, ESV), Ibid., U. B. S. Grk. N.T.; Zond. Analyt. Grk. Lex., p. 112) a deep sense of awe or reverence for God, Acts 2:43a NIV, ESV!
      7. To appreciate the VALIDITY of this spiritual "connectivity" the Early Church Christians knew with GOD and EACH OTHER in WORSHIP, we note that this WORSHIP ACTIVITY SPONTANEOUSLY grew OUT OF the filling of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4) followed by the PEOPLES' CONTINUAL adherence to the Apostles' exposition of God's Word (2:42a). There was NO contrived pressure to get people to gather together and no artistic or "star" worship leaders advertised to attract crowds for a worship event: the worship "happened" and everyone sensed deep reverence for God as a RESULT of their gathering together!
Application: For true worship and sensing as a GROUP a deep reverence and awe for God, (1) may we believe on Christ as Savior from sin to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit, John 3:16; Rom. 8:9b. (2) As believers, may we (a) confess post-salvation sins for cleansing (1 Jn. 1:9) and (b) rely on the Holy Spirit for the POWER (Gal. 5:16) to (c) give ourselves CONTINUALLY to the exposition of Scripture in the Body, Acts 2:42-43a (3) Then (a) we WILL ENJOY the "fellowship" of being "connected in brotherhood of spirit" with other godly believers, and (b) we will be drawn to observe the Lord's Table and to group prayer (c) that will be BLESSED of GOD by each one's experiencing a deep and fulfilling sense of reverence and awe for God!

Lesson: TRUE WORSHIP with its ACCOMPANYING EXPERIENCE of a DEEP SENSE of REVERENCE and AWE for GOD is NOT the PRODUCT OF MAN-AUTHORED efforts, be they in the form of artistic presentations or announcements for special meetings, etc. Rather, TRUE worship SPONTANEOUSLY STARTS for the ENTIRE BODY of God's people from their (1) MUTUAL filling by the Holy Spirit AND (2) their CONTINUED ADHERENCE to the exposition of Scripture, and it (3) EXPRESSES itself in SPONTANEOUS DESIRES as a GROUP to (a) observe the Lord's Table and (b) to pray. (4) The RESULT of such worship is a deep sense of "connectivity" with GOD and EACH OTHER by ALL involved that can EXPRESS itself in artistic forms or special meetings as a RESULT of such TRUE WORSHIP, cf. Colossians 3:16!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

 One of the most fulfilling worship experiences I have ever known occurred seven weeks ago after our January 2 evening service.

A relatively light crowd of members had come out for the service, we had finished singing and I had begun to minister the Word when suddenly a woman who was visiting politely interrupted me and asked, "I am sorry for interrupting you, but I have a question I must have you answer in regards to what you just said!"

She went on to describe a burden of false guilt she had known for many years due to theological error another minister had taught her. She was told a sin she had committed as a Christian could not be forgiven so she could never again partake of the Lord's Table. As a result, she had privately grieved for years for not being allowed to partake of the Lord's Table!

Though her admission was made in front of the congregation present, I was impelled to answer her question right there to release her from her bondage. Thus, I immediately explained 1 John 1:9, noting that if she confessed her sin to God, He promised to be faithful and just to forgive her of it and to cleanse her from ALL unrighteousness!

I then returned to finish delivering my regular message.

After the service, she asked if I might some time serve her the Lord's Table now that she was forgiven and knew God would let her partake of it.

That was communion Sunday, so we still had the elements of the Lord's Table were left over from the morning service. Thus, I offered to host a service for her after the rest of the Church had left.

Accordingly, later that night, this lady, her friend, my wife and I observed the Lord's Table; I served the elements from a small table at the front while the two women sat with my wife on the front pew. I will never forget the "sense of awe and reverence" I "felt" as we each identified with the relief and joy this sister in Christ radiated due to her newfound joy in Christ's wonderful forgiveness!

Afterwards, the woman and her friend each spontaneously gave my wife and me hugs in appreciation for our ministry and God's grace!



TRUE worship, like that, RESULTS from the filling of the Holy Spirit in accord with accurate Bible exposition that is applied to the HEART! May we thus worship GOD with His blessing!!