And the Lord Added to Their Number

And the Lord Added to Their Number.  Everything is not worship, clearly, because it is a distinct, biblical possibility to have wrong worship (i.e., objectively, e.g., idolatry) or to worship wrongly (i.e., subjectively, e.g., hypocrisy). But anything can be kindling for meaningful worship. Worship might occur anywhere, if it is directed to Jesus by faith (John 6:29), offered in spirit and in truth (John 4:24), and motivated for the ultimate glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31). Much more than a style of music, and much greater than any shared experience, we worship formally, informally, individually, collectively, directly, indirectly, inwardly, and outwardly in line with the psalmist who sang: “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!” (Psalm 150:6).

Luke, in Acts 2:42-46, summarized the earliest church as a worshiping community. The first converts worshiped Christ in seven representative ways, by: (1) learning the apostles’ doctrine, (2) engaging in fellowship with one another, (3) observing the Lord’s Supper, (4) praying, (5) sharing what they had for the purpose of distributing what they collected, (6) praising God, and (7) having favor with all the people. It was not a stretch to interpret within each of the church’s core activities an expression of authentic worship to God. A fitting summary statement, like a narrator’s note to the reader, tied it neatly: “And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47). While the church worshiped, it was the Lord who added worshipers.

Worship was not merely one aspect of the ingathering of the church; evangelism was not contained in one department of the outreach of the church. Church was all worship, and all worship was evangelistic. Evangelism was the (super)natural byproduct of worship, the overflow of love for Christ, shown toward one another in Christ’s church, and given to others in the community and world in Christ’s name. Jesus gave a similar summary in his prayer for the unity of his followers as having an evangelistic byproduct in the world. “May they all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they may be in us, so that they world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one. I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me” (John 17:21-23).

Therefore, it is never appropriate to downplay worship, as if “going to church” were disconnected from “going to all nations.” Worship is evangelism, too. By God’s design, it is through our unified, multi-faceted worship of Christ that the world will see, know, and believe in God’s great love to send his only begotten Son to save sinners from their penalty of death through his perfect life, substitutionary death, and triumphant resurrection.

And the Prayers

And the Prayers.  The church is a versatile group. It is simple, adaptable, scalable, and mobile. It does not belong to any one culture but finds a home in every single culture. Our methodologies in the church may change, but our message does not: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15). Christian worship encourages stylistic variations yet, wherever it appears, always includes these four priorities: (1) learning sound doctrine, (2) loving one another in the congregation, (3) remembering the Lord’s Supper, and (4) praying. “And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42).

Our prayers this week are many, therefore our worship this week is ongoing—whether we are inside or outside a church building. We pray because we are commanded to pray, because the Lord Jesus modeled prayer for us, gave us a pattern for prayer, granted us permission to use his name when praying, and mysteriously meets us in our praying to accomplish what he already providentially willed to do on earth as it is in heaven. He wants us to pray because in prayer our union with him is solidified and magnified. God is glorified when we pray in the name of Jesus. “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples” (John 15:7-8). So then, let’s pray!

Christ Jesus Became for Us Wisdom from God

Christ Jesus Became for Us Wisdom from God.  1 Corinthians 1:18-31

 ¹⁸ For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

 ¹⁹ For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart."

 ²⁰ Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

 ²¹ For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.

 ²² For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,

 ²³ but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,

 ²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

 ²⁵ For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

 ²⁶ For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.

 ²⁷ But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;

 ²⁸ God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,

 ²⁹ so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

 ³⁰ And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,

 ³¹ so that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord."

Behold, the Fear of the Lord, that is Wisdom

 

Behold, the Fear of the Lord, that is Wisdom.  Job 28:1-28

 ¹ "Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold that they refine.

 ² Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted from the ore.

 ³ Man puts an end to darkness and searches out to the farthest limit the ore in gloom and deep darkness.

 ⁴ He opens shafts in a valley away from where anyone lives; they are forgotten by travelers; they hang in the air, far away from mankind; they swing to and fro.

 ⁵ As for the earth, out of it comes bread, but underneath it is turned up as by fire.

 ⁶ Its stones are the place of sapphires, and it has dust of gold.

 ⁷ "That path no bird of prey knows, and the falcon's eye has not seen it.

 ⁸ The proud beasts have not trodden it; the lion has not passed over it.

 ⁹ "Man puts his hand to the flinty rock and overturns mountains by the roots.

 ¹⁰ He cuts out channels in the rocks, and his eye sees every precious thing.

 ¹¹ He dams up the streams so that they do not trickle, and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light.

 ¹² "But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?

 ¹³ Man does not know its worth, and it is not found in the land of the living.

 ¹⁴ The deep says, 'It is not in me,' and the sea says, 'It is not with me.'

 ¹⁵ It cannot be bought for gold, and silver cannot be weighed as its price.

 ¹⁶ It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or sapphire.

 ¹⁷ Gold and glass cannot equal it, nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.

 ¹⁸ No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal; the price of wisdom is above pearls.

 ¹⁹ The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it, nor can it be valued in pure gold.

 ²⁰ "From where, then, does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding?

 ²¹ It is hidden from the eyes of all living and concealed from the birds of the air.

 ²² Abaddon and Death say, 'We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.'

 ²³ "God understands the way to it, and he knows its place.

 ²⁴ For he looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.

 ²⁵ When he gave to the wind its weight and apportioned the waters by measure,

 ²⁶ when he made a decree for the rain and a way for the lightning of the thunder,

 ²⁷ then he saw it and declared it; he established it, and searched it out.

 ²⁸ And he said to man, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.'"