Most conflicts in the Church have to do with worship. Understanding the Means of Grace will solve most before they start. Means of grace: do you remember the story of Daniel & his 3 friends? They were taken into a special program & provided with luxurious meals but Daniel refused the opportunities & ate only as the Lord directed. As a result, his color & health was noticably better than the pampered folks around him. The means of grace are those "means" that God has established to communicate the spiritual benefits of his grace. They are Word, Sacrament, and Prayer. These must be the center of gravity in our worship and before our eyes in the sanctuary. Our temptation is to be impatient with the slow growth in grace that comes from days and ages of faithfulness. Instead we want a mountaintop religious experience today. If we will wait patiently on the Lord and grow from milk to meat, we will have more than a great experience, we will have union, communion, and an assurance with the Lord. Building Christ-likeness is like a journey. The miles that seperate carnal man's habits from holiness and righteousness are many. Science fiction has helped us imagine moving from one spot to another instantly but crafting a life of Christlike obedience to the Father, of the mortification of sin in the body, and of glorifying God with selfless ambitions to serve Him take a lifetime rather than a single mountaintop experience.
What that means is that in the limited time we have together in corporate worship, everything must be done on purpose and with a purpose. The songs, the message, the prayers, the Lord's Supper, and everything in between.
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