The church is the gathering of God’s people in the name of Christ. Each week there are many such gatherings and central to these gatherings is our fellowship with one another. Most of what we do in church we could do at home alone. In fact it has become common for some to no longer gather together. But there is one thing that we cannot do alone and that is to fellowship with each other.
Our fellowship should always seek to glorify God, but this is not the only purpose of our meeting. We meet in this world to encourage one another in love and good works – all the more as we see the day of Christ approaching (Heb 10:24-25). So we meet to build the church and each other by encouraging each other prayerfully to live by the gospel. The way we encourage each other is by using the gifts that God has given us in love. He gave us these gifts so that we would serve each other, and so build each other up and the church as a whole. As Paul said, “let all things be done for building up” (1 Cor 14:26)
Therefore there are many things that we will always do when we gather together. We will always pray to our Father in heaven in the Spirit by the merits of our Lord and Saviour. We will always gather to hear God’s word read and taught. We will always seek to challenge each other to continue in faith and obedience to the Scripture’s message. When we sing to each other, we will do so in words and ways that are edifying, teaching each other in Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs as we express our heartfelt joy to the Lord.
There are other things we will usually do because inevitably, humans are creatures of habit. We meet at the same time each week, and follow a pattern of preaching or series. We will sit in the same chairs and sing much the same songs. There is nothing wrong with doing these things, but they are not of central importance to the gathering. They can be changed without hindering congregational life.
In reality churches often need to change things. We need to change things so we do not settle into a rut and fail to hear God speak. Sometimes we need to change things to make us of the gifts God has given us. Sometimes we need to change things because erroneous and misleading habits have crept into our pattern of church life and once we recognise this we will want to change them. The serpent on the pole that saved Israel in the time of Moses became an idol that had to be destroyed in the days of Hezekiah (Num 21:4-9, 2 Kings 18:4).
It is my hope that each week in our church you will see three things. Firstly, the gospel faithfully ministered (in other words, what we say will honour the Lord Jesus, build his people and save those who do not yet know him). Secondly, sufficient predictability, so that we can concentrate on the content and purpose of our gathering without being distracted by secondary matters. And thirdly, sufficient variety to make every meeting special and not to be missed.
What are your thoughts on our Sunday gatherings?