“I took her aside after we finished a study we had been doing together, and I said we were going to start from scratch. I wanted to throw out anything about church that was not taught in the Bible. So we set about studying.” Will looked at his wife.
“Our main books were Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, Ephesians, 1 Timothy, and Titus. But we cross-referenced a lot,” said Anne.
“There is a big push about worship in the evangelical community these days. We have studied worship from a New Testament perspective, and in some ways we’re getting closer. I’m the first to admit, though, that the church tends to pick and choose which verses to which they want to adhere. It was hard for us not to do that.” A faint smile flickered across Will’s face.
Anne’s wide, welcoming smile remained the same. “Finally we worked out a rough sketch, based on what we could learn from the Bible, of what church looked like in the New Testament era.”
“I did some research on what synagogues were like just before Christ and His ministry. This was the model of church that the new Christians had to reference. Then when we realized how different our sketch was from practically every church we’d ever heard of, I went back to church history and studied how we got church as we think of it.”
“You know,” Anne elaborated, “church where you walk into a building with a cross and a steeple. A man in a suit, or Hawaiian shirt these days, hands you a pre-printed agenda. Then you sit in neat rows of pews or chairs. Opening prayer. About five songs led by anywhere from one man in front to a praise team to a choir. Then a sermon usually from the senior pastor lasting about thirty-five minutes. Invitation in most churches, offertory, prayer, and usually a benedictory song. And you’re free.”
Their audience nodded their heads at the familiar scene. Of course. Anyone could describe church services. They were the same, week after week. If a pastor or worship leader got brave, they might switch around the offertory. That’s about it.
To God be all glory.
See index for first and additional chapters.
“Our main books were Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, Ephesians, 1 Timothy, and Titus. But we cross-referenced a lot,” said Anne.
“There is a big push about worship in the evangelical community these days. We have studied worship from a New Testament perspective, and in some ways we’re getting closer. I’m the first to admit, though, that the church tends to pick and choose which verses to which they want to adhere. It was hard for us not to do that.” A faint smile flickered across Will’s face.
Anne’s wide, welcoming smile remained the same. “Finally we worked out a rough sketch, based on what we could learn from the Bible, of what church looked like in the New Testament era.”
“I did some research on what synagogues were like just before Christ and His ministry. This was the model of church that the new Christians had to reference. Then when we realized how different our sketch was from practically every church we’d ever heard of, I went back to church history and studied how we got church as we think of it.”
“You know,” Anne elaborated, “church where you walk into a building with a cross and a steeple. A man in a suit, or Hawaiian shirt these days, hands you a pre-printed agenda. Then you sit in neat rows of pews or chairs. Opening prayer. About five songs led by anywhere from one man in front to a praise team to a choir. Then a sermon usually from the senior pastor lasting about thirty-five minutes. Invitation in most churches, offertory, prayer, and usually a benedictory song. And you’re free.”
Their audience nodded their heads at the familiar scene. Of course. Anyone could describe church services. They were the same, week after week. If a pastor or worship leader got brave, they might switch around the offertory. That’s about it.
To God be all glory.
See index for first and additional chapters.
No comments:
Post a Comment