Why Church? 2

Ephesians 5:19-20

Many years ago in our previous church there were a great number of professional people in the congregation – insurance salesmen, doctors, lawyers, and accountants. Week after week I noticed how much of the conversations before and after worship were centered around business transactions and financial agreements. Even churches that do not have members using Sunday mornings as business opportunities we can find people who engage in conversations (or even arguments) that have nothing to do with God or spirituality.

This passage from Ephesians gives the early church and us some guidance in how to behave in our times of worship. What are we to do? How does a person make music in his or her heart?

Gathering for church and for worship is not only a time of togetherness with God, it is also a time of communing with other believers. That time should not be spent in petty squabbles or in marketplace transactions. Instead, it is to be a holy time, a time of worship and spiritual focus.

When we gather to worship we should engage in words and music that offer praise to God. We should engage in instruction and encouragement, times of comfort and courage. God should be the center of our attention and activities when we have church.

And, as we offer praise and thanks to God, we can also build one another up in the spirit. We can allow ourselves to be edified and strengthened in our faith, allowing God to equip us and prepare us for the “church” we need to do outside the walls of our place of worship.

If we can follow the instructions of Ephesians by keeping our spirits and actions focused on God and the betterment of His kingdom, then church will begin to lose that negative connotation that it has been given for so long. If we can come together with music in our hearts, music of praise and fellowship, then we can make church that time of holiness it should be.

DAILY CHALLENGE: What can you do to put that music of praise and thanks in your own heart?

Fellowship with One Another 1

Ephesians 5:19-20

This Sunday I asked the congregation if they could tell me why we were meeting together. One of the first answers was, “so we can make it through the rest of the week.”

While I was hoping for someone to say that we come to church to worship God, the answer we heard was equally valid. Having fellowship in worship, coming together as one, in one place, to praise God and receive instruction in our faith equips us to face the world.

The primary reason for worship is to give our adoration, thanks and praise to our heavenly Father. But we are also supposed to have fellowship with one another. It is essential that the body of Christ come together on occasion to be reminded that we are indeed the body of Christ.

What does this letter to the church at Ephesus encourage believers to do? How can you make music in your heart?

These two brief lines give us an abundance of instruction for times of fellowship with one another. They teach us that we should sing songs of praise to one another and with one another. Our times of fellowship, of being in the presence of those we love as brothers and sisters in Christ, should put a song of love and joy in our hearts.

Our times together can strengthen our spirits. Our time in fellowship with one another can allow us to set down our burdens, share our sorrows and joys together, and face life with a renewed attitude of happiness in Christ. We can be filled up in worship so that we can go out into the cold, bitter world wrapped in love – love from God and love from those who share our faith.

We may claim that we cannot sing; therefore the instruction to “speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” does not apply. But the word used is “speak.” Even if we can’t carry a tune in a bucket we can say the words of faith and encouragement to each other. We can build one another up in our times of fellowship so that all are strengthened to go out into life.

DAILY CHALLENGE: How can you put a song to the Lord in the heart of another?