Watch Your Worship

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Millions of Christians attend services each Sunday but have you ever stopped to think if the things you do in worship are based on scripture or are they man-made traditions.?The importance of how we worship can’t be overstated so let's examine what acts of worship the apostles taught and compare them to how you worship. Keep in mind that the apostles were ordained by Jesus to start His church. Equally important, they were given all truth by the Holy SpiritI (John 16:13). That being said, we can now examine Acts 2:42. for the church had just been established and we’re given three of the five acts of worship:

"And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers" (Acts 2:42).

 1)  Apostles' Teaching (Preaching)— The early church studied God’s word. The word is for teaching, correcting, and training in righteousness (2Tim  3:16).


2) Breaking of Bread (Communion)— Christians are commanded to take the Lord's supper on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7) to remember Christ's death until he comes again (1 Cor 11:23-26). 


3)  Prayers— The early church offered public prayers of praise and thanksgiving to God. We are commanded to constantly pray (1 Thes 5:17).


 4) Singing— The fourth act of worship can be found in Ephesians 5:19.

"Speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord." Did you notice the verse does not say make melody (music) but it says to make melody in your heart? Music was used in the Old Testament and God could’ve easily reinstated it but He didn’t. 


5) Offerings— We find the example of giving to the church in 1 Cor 16:2. "Upon the first day of the week let each one of you lay by him in store, as he may prosper..."


As I stated earlier, the apostles are the foundation of the church with Jesus being the cornerstone (Eph  2:20). We must follow their teachings and not our own traditions. None other than Jesus, himself, gave us a warning about how we worship: “…‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’” (‭‭Mark‬ ‭7‬:‭6‬-‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬). The apostles gave us five acts of worship– nothing more, nothing less. Are you participating in all five acts each Sunday? Is your church adding things to service that aren’t scriptural? 


Think about it.

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If you would like to know about the history of musical instruments in church or have other questions regarding worship, contact me at TheRealistBlogspot@gmail.com

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