{"id":55118,"date":"2024-08-02T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-02T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/?p=55118"},"modified":"2024-10-21T14:20:24","modified_gmt":"2024-10-21T21:20:24","slug":"worship-in-the-early-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/worship-in-the-early-church\/","title":{"rendered":"Worship in the Early Church"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Periodically throughout the book of Acts, Luke provides updates on the church\u2019s unity, growth, and worship. One of these glimpses occurs in Acts 9:31<\/a>. R. C. Sproul unpacks this glimpse in the Expositional Commentary Series<\/a> under the rubric of worship. Let\u2019s see how he describes the worship of the early church and challenges our people-oriented approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Worship<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Luke inserts a brief interlude: \u201cThen the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied\u201d<\/strong> (v. 31<\/a>). Before we heard of the conversion of Paul, we heard something of Peter\u2019s ministry in Jerusalem, and then in this brief interval we are introduced to Paul and find out about his conversion, his brief ministry in Damascus, and his return to Caesarea until he was sent back to Tarsus. After this the text returns to the ministry of Peter in Jerusalem before it recounts Paul\u2019s missionary journeys. Paul\u2019s ministry began in Damascus, and it began by declaring that Christ was the Messiah. It began by proclaiming Jesus in His fullness, in His perfect humanity, and in His perfect deity as the Son of the living God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Paul declared there in Damascus is the same thing that Peter declared when Jesus asked, \u201cWho do you say that I am?\u201d and Simon said, \u201cYou are the Christ, the Son of the living God\u201d (Matt. 16:15-16<\/a>). God hates religion because religion is something that humans invent, and religious behavior is something we conjure up. Christianity is about devotion to our creed, not because it has been written down but because of the substance of the truth contained therein. We are to be people who are persuaded that Jesus is the Christ\u2014that God\u2019s Son, His only begotten Son, came into this world for us and for our salvation, which is why we gather together to give the sacrifice of praise and to give honor, worship, and adoration to Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whom Not How We Worship<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

How shall we then worship? The big question today is the \u201cwho\u201d question. Whom do we worship? Who we worship defines how we worship. I almost cry when I drive past churches and see advertisements for worship services that say, \u201c9:30 service, traditional; 11:00 service, contemporary,\u201d or \u201cOur worship is blended. We are an ecclesiastical cafeteria. If you want one style, come at 9:30; if you want another style, come at 11:00.\u201d That is the language of the contemporary church. The church-growth movement is always and everywhere asking, \u201cWhat do the people want?\u201d The issue is what does God want? Who is it that we are here for? We are not here to please unbelievers. Surely we are to evangelize them, but corporate worship on Sunday morning is for the body of Christ, for believers to be brought before their living God and approach Him as holy. So the \u201chow\u201d question must always be answered by the \u201cwho\u201d question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That should be true in every aspect of our lives; how we live our Christian lives should be determined by who we understand God to be and by who Jesus is. We have to deal with the Son of God, and though we are called to enter boldly into His presence, He never stops being holy, and that should be manifested in how we worship Him. I believe that how people worship God speaks louder about their understanding of who He is than any creed or theology ever written.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get R. C. Sproul\u2019s Expositional Commentary Series<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

R. C. Sproul was the longtime pastor of St. Andrew\u2019s Church in Sanford, Florida and the Expositional Commentary Series<\/a> consists of many of the sermons he preached while pastoring. This series reflects Dr. Sproul\u2019s faithful adherence to the text and can easily be used for sermon preparation, group study, or devotional reading. Pick up this nine-volume series of sermons by Dr. Sproul today!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
EXPOSITIONAL COMMENTARY SERIES<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Periodically throughout the book of Acts, Luke provides updates on the church\u2019s unity, growth, and worship. One of these glimpses occurs in Acts 9:31. R. C. Sproul unpacks this glimpse in the Expositional Commentary Series under the rubric of worship. Let\u2019s see how he describes the worship of the early church and challenges our people-oriented<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":55122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7849],"tags":[8628],"class_list":["post-55118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-commentaries","tag-expositional-commentary-series"],"yoast_head":"\nWorship in the Early Church - Olive Tree Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/worship-in-the-early-church\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Worship in the Early Church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Periodically throughout the book of Acts, Luke provides updates on the church\u2019s unity, growth, and worship. 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