Worship and Sacraments
What Local Churches Do Together - Biblical Ecclesiology in Eight Sessions
The gathered church expresses its shared life in Christ through practices that are both divinely ordained and culturally embodied. Scripture reveals certain essential elements of church gatherings—teaching God's Word, lifting voices in song, baptizing new believers, and sharing the Lord's Supper—but refrains from detailing specifics, allowing practices to take culturally meaningful forms under the guidance of faithful overseers. This balance between biblical constants and cultural variables appears throughout the New Testament. In this session, we will explore the New Testament precedents and examples for Christian gatherings as the guiding norm for how we may honor Christ through our gatherings today.
How should the church conduct its gatherings?
1 Corinthians 14:26-33, 40
Noting the specific elements mentioned in this passage, encourage discussion about how these principles might apply in various worship contexts while maintaining focus on edification and order.
Paul's guidance on church gatherings reveals both structure and spontaneity working together to build up the body of Christ. The phrase "When you come together" in 1 Corinthians 14:26 gives a glimpse into early Christian worship in the context of the Corinthian church by listing several of its elements: hymns, teachings, revelations, tongues, and interpretations. This diversity of participation suggests that early church gatherings were both orderly and participatory, with various members contributing to the overall edification of the body. This snapshot contrasts sharply with the practice of churches today.
The overarching principle Paul establishes is that "all things should be done for building up." This fundamental purpose—edification of the church—serves as the criterion by which all worship practices should be evaluated. The repeated emphasis on understanding and order (verses 27-33) demonstrates that even spontaneous contributions must be regulated by this principle of mutual edification.
Verse 40's simple yet profound instruction that "all things should be done decently and in order" provides a timeless guideline for church gatherings. This order isn't meant to stifle genuine worship but rather to facilitate it, helping the gathering achieve its purpose of building up the body of Christ. The balance between order and freedom reflected in these passages suggests that church gatherings should be both intentionally structured and spiritually dynamic.
What roles do singing and teaching have in church worship?
1 Timothy 4:13, 2 Timothy 4:1-2, Colossians 3:16-17, Ephesians 5:19-20
Guide participants in exploring how these passages encourage singing and teaching in churches for the sake of edification and spiritual formation and how these practices facilitate the fulfillment of the broader purpose of the church.
The staples of most modern church meetings, songs and teaching, have deep biblical roots in both Old and New Testament worship. Paul's pastoral letters emphasize the centrality of teaching ministry, as he charges church leaders to "devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching" (1 Timothy 4:13) and to "preach the word... in season and out of season" (2 Timothy 4:1-2). This instruction establishes teaching as a fundamental responsibility, encompassing both the careful exposition of Scripture and its application to believers' lives.
Corporate singing emerges in Scripture as a distinct and vital aspect of church gatherings. The parallel passages in Colossians 3:16-17 and Ephesians 5:19-20 reveal several key purposes of congregational song: to express gratitude to God, to encourage one another, and to give voice to the Spirit's work in believers' hearts. The variety of musical expressions mentioned—"psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs"—suggests that early church worship embraced diverse forms of musical expression while maintaining focus on spiritual substance.
Both teaching and singing serve the broader purposes of church gathering: edification of believers and glorification of God. While teaching primarily engages the mind with truth and singing facilitates a full, embodied praise of God, both are meant to work together in forming believers into Christ's image. Paul's instruction that everything be done "in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him" (Colossians 3:17) reminds us that both teaching and singing find their true purpose in honoring Christ and building up His church.
What is the meaning and practice of baptism?
Matthew 28:19-20, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 2:38-41
Lead participants in examining both the theological significance and practical implementation of baptism in the early church. Point out how baptism connects to both individual faith and community identity.
In Scripture, baptism is discussed as a profound act that simultaneously expresses personal faith, incorporates believers into the church community, and symbolizes spiritual transformation. The Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) establishes baptism as an essential part of disciple-making, explicitly connecting it to both evangelism and ongoing spiritual formation. The Trinitarian formula provided here—"in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit"—reveals baptism's deep theological significance in expressing a convert's relationship with the triune God. Note the process implicitly laid out in Christ’s teaching here: Disciple making leads to baptism and teaching. This is the basic process of church growth, with the personal practice of discipleship as the precursor to baptism.
Romans 6:3-4 unveils the rich symbolism of baptism as participation in Christ's death and resurrection. This passage presents baptism as more than a mere ritual—it's a powerful picture of the believer's union with Christ and the transformation this union produces. The imagery of being buried with Christ and raised to "walk in newness of life" captures the radical nature of Christian conversion and the new identity believers receive in Christ.
While we may wish to be prudent in our baptisms, baptizing only those who are truly transformed by Christ, Acts 2:38-41 demonstrates the early church's practice of baptism as an immediate response to faith evidenced by repentance. The sequence here—hearing the gospel, receiving it gladly, being baptized, and being added to the church—establishes a pattern that connects individual faith commitment with incorporation into the Christian community. Baptism, in this way, inaugurates and commemorates one’s membership in the Body of Christ.
How should the church observe the Lord's Supper?
1 Corinthians 11:17-29
Guide discussion toward understanding both the solemn significance and the communal aspects of the Lord's Supper. Explore how proper observance practically builds up both individual faith and church unity.
Paul's extended teaching on the Lord's Supper in 1 Corinthians 11 addresses both the sacred significance of the meal and its lived, embodied practice in church community. This passage clearly demonstrates that the early church celebrated the Lord's Supper within the setting of a shared meal, where the community's true character was displayed in how they treated one another. Paul's strong correction of the Corinthians' practices stems from their violation of both the meal's sacred meaning and its expression of church unity—their divisions and selfishness at the table demonstrated a failure to "discern the body" in multiple senses: both Christ's physical body given in sacrifice and His corporate body, the church.
Practicing the Lord’s Supper as a Christian fellowship meal naturally reinforces several key metaphors for the church. As God's household sharing food together, we express our identity as His family. As members of Christ's body, we demonstrate our unity by sharing one loaf and one cup. The intimate act of sharing a meal together—a universal human expression of fellowship and acceptance—becomes a powerful vehicle for experiencing and expressing our supernatural unity in Christ. This embodied practice of communion helps transform abstract theological truths about church unity into lived reality. However, as the Corinthian church aptly displayed for us, such a time of close fellowship also serves to reveal the true character of those who gather, presenting the gathered church with opportunities for discernment, discipline, and sanctification.
Acts 2:42 places the "breaking of bread" alongside teaching, fellowship, and prayers as fundamental practices of the early church. This integration into the church's regular gathering suggests that the Lord's Supper was not an occasional ritual but an integral part of how the community expressed and experienced its shared life in Christ. Additional passages reinforce this picture of regular communal meals—Acts 2:46 mentions believers breaking bread together in their homes, while Acts 20:7-11 describes an extended gathering centered around breaking bread together. Early Christian writings like the Didache provide further evidence that these communion meals were a central practice of church life, with prescribed prayers and practices for sharing the meal together.
Thus, the Lord's Supper is a multifaceted practice that simultaneously proclaims Christ's death, builds church unity, and provides a tangible experience of our shared identity as God's family. Both its sacred significance and its communal setting deserve careful attention as churches seek to practice this ordinance in ways that honor its full biblical meaning.
Conversation Starters:
How does your church balance maintaining biblical faithfulness with cultural relevance in its gatherings? Why do you practice worship and sacraments in the way that you do?
What aspects of the early church gatherings described in these passages challenge your current experience of church life?
The early church seemed to embrace both structure and spontaneity in their gatherings. How might churches today foster this kind of dynamic while maintaining good order?
What role should tradition play in shaping church practices? How can churches honor their heritage while remaining open to Spirit-led adaptation?
How do your church's practices help build and express unity within the body of Christ (both that of your local church and that of the universal Church)?
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