What we Do Disciples Us

The things we expose ourselves to: what we do, watch, and listen to shapes us.

Some things help us to see Christ more clearly, others confuse reality and draw us away from Jesus. Given that the Christian life is a battle (Ephesians 6:10-20) we shouldn’t be surprised or concerned by this, but we should perhaps think carefully about exactly what we’re doing/watching and listening to. We all need to consider our habits and how they’re shaping us.

One of the key routines in a Christian’s life for their spiritual formation is gathering with the church each week on Sunday mornings. Joining with the church for worship, teaching and fellowship shapes us as followers of Jesus and is therefore something that Christians have thought carefully about over the years. 

Recently as elders we’ve spoken (see here) about the importance of pursuing times of worship that are like the ones described in the New Testament, where every member of the church recognises the part they have to play. Every member of the church, as a part of the body of Christ, ought to use the gifts that God has given them for the good of others.

Being a church like this, with times of worship presided over by the Spirit of God like this is really important for our health. But there's more to Sundays than this and more for us to make use of for spiritual formation than this.

In his book Spirit & Sacrament Andrew Wilson points out twenty different things that have typically been done by churches when they meet for worship and the benefit they offer to the church as a result:

PRACTICE	SCRIPTURAL EXAMPLE	BENEFITS TO THE CHURCH
1. Call to Worship	“Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;     let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.: (Psalm 91:5)	Focuses us on God and his goodness at the beginning. Provides a clear starting point.
2. God’s greeting us	“Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.” (Revelation 1:4-5)	Reminds us that God is already present, and that he is welcoming us as much as we are welcoming him. Begins the service with God’s work rather than ours.
3. Our greeting to one another	“Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.” (Romans 16:16)	Physically enacts what it is to be a family. Welcomes guests. Includes everybody.
4. Baptism	“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” (Matthew 28:19)	Enacts the defeat of sin, the washing away of sin, being drenched in the Spirit, burying the old life, and rising again to new life.
5. Singing	“And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,” (Ephesians 5:18-19)	Expresses and cultivates joy. Articulates lament, expectation, and hope. Teaches theology. Encourages creativity in music and dance. Develops thankfulness.
6. Prayer	“…praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me…” (Ephesians 6:18-19)	Teaches us how to pray, by drawing on the prayers of others. Highlights that prayer is a corporate activity not just a solo one (“Our Father…”). Reinforces solidarity with the worldwide church.
7. Reading the Old Testament	“…devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching…” (1 Timothy 4:13)	Exposes sin. Points us to our need for Christ. Instructs us in Christian living.
8. Confession	“confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed” (James 5:16)	Encourages us to renounce sin specifically and corporately, not vague and individually. Show us our need for grace.
9. Assurance of forgiveness	"If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” (John 20:23)	Heals our consciences. Assures us that God’s grace is greater than our sin. Debunks the accusations of the devil.
10. Using spiritual gifts	"When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.” (1 Corinthians 14:26)	Encourages us to function as an interdependent body, not a front-led show. Demonstrates to unbelievers that God is really among us. Builds us up.
11. The Creed	“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-5)	Centres on the Trinity. Reinforces solidarity with the church across history and across the world. Keeps us focused on the primary truths of Christianity. Teaches theology, especially the doctrine of God. Provides a framework for catechesis.
12. Reading the Gospels	“It seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.” (Luke 1:3-4)	Centres the church on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Builds faith. Grounds us in the gospel. Challenges us to live zealous Christian lives. Reinforces the supernatural shape of Christianity.
13. Reading the Epistles	“I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.” (1 Thessalonians 5:27)	Expounds the implications of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and applies them to us. Equips us. Teaches and encourages us.
14. Preaching and teaching	“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” (2 Timothy 4:1-2)	Heralds the good news of what God has done for us in Christ, and how we should respond. Explains the meaning of God’s word, so that we can be shaped and changed by it. Exhorts and encourages us. Engages with unbelievers.
15. Sharing the Lord’s Supper	“For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.” (1 Corinthians 11:26)	Unites us to Christ and t one another. Proclaims the Lord’s death until he comes. Enacts thankfulness. Brings joy.
16. Offering	“On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.” (1 Corinthians 16:2)	Puts God first where it hurst most. Prioritises the ordinary work of the local church. Serves the poor. Supports the ministry of the gospel.
17. Blessing	“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” (2 Corinthians 13:14)	Closes the meeting with grace, just as it opened. Concludes by reminding us of God’s goodness and favour.
18. Commission as witnesses	“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)	Esteems the ordinary work of Monday to Saturday. Connects the \lord’s Day gathering with the rest of the Christian life. Reinforces the mission to which we are called.
19. The lectionary	“I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.” (Acts 20:26-27)	Ensures that a wide range of Scripture is covered in a year. Prevents a church’s biblical diet from being too shaped by pastors’ styles or preferences.
20. The church calendar	“For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hastening to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost.” (Acts 20:16)	Orients the shape of the whole year in the Christian story. Communicates the value of seasons and rhythms. Encourages both fasting and feasting. Narrates the gospel.

Much of the above we do without realising it, or because it's just part of our church culture (greeting each other warmly for example), but recently as a leadership team we’ve also been thinking afresh about some of the things we do. 

For a few months we’ve asked the worship team to lead us in a prayer of repentance each week and occasionally we’ve read from creeds of the church. Last week we also decided to make some changes to how we share the Lord’s Supper (or Communion) together.

A clip of what I said about that can be found below.

There’s several reasons why we’re making these changes and most of them have to do with a desire to think carefully about discipleship and to be faithful to the Bible. There are however two further reasons for why we’re thinking through some aspects of our gathering: mission and vision.

Mission.

Many Christian leaders in our nation are reporting a ‘turning of the tide’ as increasing numbers of secular people are coming to Christ, both young and old. Interestingly of those coming to faith many are they’re finding their ‘home’ in churches with long and deep traditions and histories. Writers Paul Kingsnorth and Martin Shaw have converted and joined the Eastern Orthodox Church and evangelist’s Glen Scrivener and Justin Brierley are reporting greater numbers of young people joining their Anglican churches. There appears to be increasing interest in monasteries and pilgrimages as well. 

As a church we rejoice in this! Christ is drawing people to himself. 

I believe that part of the reason for this fresh turn is the growing disillusionment with the ‘meaning light’ worldview of secular society. When everything is instant and made to be thrown away, is there anything that really matters? People are looking for anchor points that add stability and security to their lives - Christ and his people offer that. Jesus is the son of the Father, the eternal and wise God, and much of his teaching has formed the basis for western society’s values and laws.

It's no longer ‘uncool’ or a violation of the laws of good contextualisation therefore to offer people words and wisdom that are ancient and old, in fact they’re crying out for it!  On top of this I’m also aware from conversations with new Christians that many new people struggle to find the right words and language to pray with. They need help and they need tools. In short, they need discipling! Jesus in fact gave us just this didn't he when he said “when you pray say…” and followed up with the Lord’s Prayer.

As part of our mission and as part of efforts at discipleship therefore I believe it’s helpful and wise to offer people words that they can use and take into their hearts to help them to pray. For this reason we’ll sometimes invite people to ‘read along with us’ as we pray. The reality is that we pray aloud together all the time in our services it’s just that we do it with melody and call it singing! Times when we pray without music are just another expression of our worship. 

Vision.

Lastly we’ve made some changes to the way we’re doing communion out of a desire to offer a more spiritually ‘holistic’ experience that aims to ensure we’re trying to engage with every learning style and personality preference in the room. To be clear this isn’t the driver but it’s an important component. The 'driver' (the main reason we’re making these changes) is a desire to be more biblically and historically faithful, but there is also a desire to pursue greater unity in the church.

Andrew Wilson, again in Spirit & Sacrament, writes the following:

“If the church encompasses the whole body of Christ - cerebral and emotional, high and low context, introvert and extrovert, spontaneous and controlled, Asian, African, American, European, and so on - then local churches need to worship in ways that helps everyone find joy in God, through Christ, by the Spirit. It is temping for congregations to specialise, to cater exclusively for those who prefer songs, sermons or sacraments… But the unintended consequence of this is the division of God’s people: those who like quiet and routine go this way, those who like noise and spontaneity go that way, and the teenagers are in the room out back with the smoke machine. Specialisation in worship may help gather a crowd in the short term, but in the long term it kills diversity.”

I think he makes a really good point. God has made us all differently and he’s offered us different ways of drawing near to him and experiencing his presence. Consider the majestic beauty, artistry and multi-sensory physicality of the tabernacle and temple in the Old Testament for a start.

If you’re interested in exploring more about the biblical case for ‘why wine?’ Then I’d encourage you to read the following article:  https://thinktheology.co.uk/blog/article/the_case_for_wine_in_communion1 

Our vision is that we as a church might grow up into Christ who is our head. Our longing is that we might know Christ more and experience the power of his resurrection life within us.

For the sake of the lost, for the sake of truth and for the sake of our soul's rest in Christ I'm inviting you to come with us on this journey into all that God has for us.

If you have any questions or comments about any of the above I’d love to hear from you and talk it through. I'd also really recommend Andrew's book 'Spirit & Sacrament' available here.

Peace.