A Conversation Overheard

The following is portions of a conversation overheard.. What was the conversation about?

• Man we really rock out there.
• We have a free concert every Sunday.
• We have smoke and lights and everything...it’s awesome!
• I am so proud of my dad. He used to set in the back near the door but now he is up front setting in the middle so he can see the band.
• The guy that talks is really cool. He tells us we should do good things but he never does them himself.

So if your guess was church, well that’s what they call it, you would be correct. The question is, is this church?

The church is not a building or a place. It’s a simply God’s people. When God’s people gather to worship, that is worship God, that is church. You see the people in the conversation above were not describing their church but their worship.

So what should church look like when God’s people gather to worship Him?

• Reverence – Leviticus 19:30, Hebrews 12:28
• Founded upon and completely focused on God and His Word. 1Chronicles 16:29, Psalms 96:9, Psalms 99:9, John 4:23, Revelation 15:4
• Confession of faith with fellow believers. Nehemiah 9:3, Philippians 2:11
• Singing of God’s holiness, His attributes and His greatness through the hymns of the faith that have been handed down through the ages. Why? Because God is truly “Immortal, Invisible, God only Wise, in light inaccessible, hid from our eyes”. Because God is “Holy, Holy Holy,” our Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come. Because it is right and fitting that our souls should praise the King of Heaven. He is worthy of all our praise because He is “Lord, Enthroned in Heavenly Splendor”. Psalms, Ephesians 5:19,
• The reading of scripture. Nehemiah 8,
• God’s word preached from a man of God. Preached the way God wrote it, book by book, chapter by chapter and word by word. Why is this important? Because we are in a spiritual battle, and because Satan hates us and will do anything he can to try to take our faith from us. Acts 8:30-39, Galatians 1:11, 2 Timothy 4:2
• Serious prayer, seeking God for His help and wisdom in these dark times, for the needs of the congregation and for the witness of the fellowship in the community. 1 Thessalonians 3:10, Luke 21:36, Matthew 26:41,
• Evangelism and outreach. Romans 1:16-17
  
  Okay, now take an honest look at both types of worship. The first is man centered and the second is God centered. Now, when it comes to church which one is real?