Togetherness is a characteristic seen in the Lord’s church throughout the book of Acts. Let us briefly consider the examples of the church gathering together and see what lessons we can learn.
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April 6, 2016
The Church Gathered Together
September 7, 2015
The Psalm of the Word (Part 8): Portion
The Lord is my portion;
I have promised to keep Your words.I sought Your favor with all my heart;
Be gracious to me according to Your word.I considered my ways
And turned my feet to Your testimonies.I hastened and did not delay
To keep Your commandments.The cords of the wicked have encircled me,
But I have not forgotten Your law.At midnight I shall rise to give thanks to You
Because of Your righteous ordinances.I am a companion of all those who fear You,
And of those who keep Your precepts.The earth is full of Your lovingkindness, O Lord;
Teach me Your statutes.(Psalm 119:57-64)
The theme of this lesson is David’s statement, “The Lord is my portion” (Psalm 119:57). What does this mean? And how is it connected to the overall theme of this psalm (the word of God)? Let us consider these questions.
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October 1, 2014
“Do Not Be Conformed”
“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).
Paul warned the saints in Rome that they were not to be conformed to the world. Why was such a warning necessary? What is it that makes conformity to the world such a temptation for Christians? And why does the world want Christians to conform? We will consider these questions in this article.
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June 11, 2014
Why Do We Meet on Sunday Evening?
I recently read an article about the declining number of churches having a second worship service on Sunday evening (Whatever Happened to Sunday Evening Services?). The article mentioned several possible reasons for the decline – too demanding for busy families, too difficult for “pastors” to prepare two sermons each week, lack of attendance/interest by the members, etc.
Though the article was written from a denominational perspective, the discussion of this trend is also helpful for us in the Lord’s church. Often, God’s people follow the trends of the religious world around them. Even if we ignore current trends of eliminating the Sunday evening service, it is generally true that attendance is lower on Sunday evening than on Sunday morning in the majority of local churches. The reasons why Sunday evening services are in decline among the denominational world are often the same reasons why churches quit meeting on Sunday evening or why Christians simply choose not to attend the evening service. So in this article, I want to briefly discuss seven reasons why we assemble on Sunday evenings.
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March 6, 2014
Lessons from the Conversion of Apollos
There are several accounts of people being converted to Christ in the book of Acts. One such example was the conversion of Apollos in Ephesus.
“Now a Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was mighty in the Scriptures. This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus, being acquainted only with the baptism of John; and he began to speak out boldly in the synagogue.
“But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. And when he wanted to go across to Achaia, the brethren encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him; and when he had arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ” (Acts 18:24-28).
September 18, 2013
Not Getting Anything Out of the Assembly
“I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord’” (Psalm 122:1).
David expressed the attitude that we must have when it comes to assembling to worship the Lord – gladness. The assembly of the saints ought to be something to which we look forward.
Unfortunately, many do not look forward to this time. But rather than acknowledging their own poor attitude and making efforts to change their mindset, they often attempt to shift the blame to others. They will say, “I’m not getting anything out of the assembly!” In their minds, this provides justification for them to complain, become sporadic in their attendance, or quit assembling altogether.
In this article, we will focus on the attitude of one who claims to be getting nothing out of the assembly of the church. It is a dangerous attitude and we must guard ourselves against it.
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March 18, 2013
The Application of Wisdom: Speech (Part 1)
The next area of application has to do with our speech. Exercising wisdom is not just about what we do, but includes those things which we speak.
“Excellent speech is not fitting for a fool, much less are lying lips to a prince” (17:7).
