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Lord’s Day Preparation #42: “His Robes for Mine”
We try to introduce a new song to our congregation once a month. And we choose songs that fit what we’re trying to accomplish with our liturgy. So, I’ll typically rotate through a few categories of hymns we want our congregation to get familiar with. Such categories include Praise and Adoration, Redemption and Forgiveness, The… Read more
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Lord’s Day Preparation #41: “Preaching as Central”
The most central aspect to Christian worship is the preaching of God’s word. All the other elements – singing, prayers, Scripture readings, creeds, etc. – serve to prepare God’s people to hear God’s word preached. That’s the first claim. Let me give you another one. Our corporate worship together as a church is central to… Read more
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Lord’s Day Preparation #40: “O Heart, Bereaved and Lonely”
“The clouds are breaking,” Christian. So, “trust on, whate’er befall.” Read more
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Lord’s Day Preparation #39: “Church Growth”
A plethora of books have been published on the subject of church growth. Questions abound on the issue. How do we get more people in the door? Are we doing anything that will repel visitors? Are we doing enough to attract them? What’s the best approach to increasing visitors? What are they asking for? What… Read more
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Lord’s Day Preparation #38: “The Church as Counselors”
“Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in the abundance of counselors there is safety.” (Proverbs 11:14) One of the realities we face in life is making hard decisions. At the moment we’re required to make them, either one we choose can seem right. Life is full of these moments. “Do I take… Read more
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Lord’s Day Preparation #37: “O Church Arise”
Tomorrow is the Lord’s Day, and we plan to sing a hymn that will be new to most of us. This hymn was written by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend. The Gettys, authors of hymns like In Christ Alone, The Power of the Cross, and The Communion Hymn (“Behold the Lamb“), have started a modern… Read more
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Lord’s Day Preparation #36: “Church Covenant”
One of the more encouraging things happening in evangelicalism today is the recovery of the church covenant. This used to be one of the central ways the old Baptist churches, especially the ones drawing from the Puritan heritage, developed a healthy culture of discipleship and accountability within their church community. And today, I think we’re looking… Read more
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Lord’s Day Preparation #35: “Sermon Application”
One of the purposes of preaching is to make the text of Scripture apply to the life of the hearer. It helps curb a common assumption Christians often have when coming to church. That assumption says that church/preaching exists to increase the knowledge of the church-goer. In other words, they want to leave having acquired… Read more
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Lord’s Day Preparation #34: “Suffering and God’s Providence”
Suffering often brings with it all kinds of confusion and questions. Why now? Why me? Where is God in this? Why this particular struggle? What could God possibly be doing through this? The mountains we used to be on seem long gone. And the valleys in which we now find ourselves seem to be our… Read more
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Lord’s Day Preparation #33: “Pastoral Prayers”
Every Lord’s Day, we hear a longer prayer right after the Scripture Reading and before the sermon. In our liturgy, it’s called a Pastoral Prayer. I thought I’d give an explanation of how we approach this important element in our worship service. Over the last year that I’ve been serving at Gethsemane Baptist Church, I’ve… Read more
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