Worship Elements: Preaching: Evangelistic (Romans 1:16-17)

Our confession does not merely say that we preach the word, but we preach the Gospel.  Why not have a mature church that no longer needs the Gospel because they have advanced beyond it.  Then we could have churches that are more geared to young Christians.    What basis do we have to preach the gospel for all members of Christ’s church? 

Glorious Praise (Jude 1:24-26)

Jude is not the first letter that we read for our personal or corporate encouragement as it is a letter that is a challenge to understand.  It is also a letter that deals a lot with judgment. Jude desires to write to the church about the common faith once for all delivered, but instead writes about the pressing matter concerning the false teachers.  So, how can this letter go beyond its immediate context?  What encouragement can we glean from this letter?  Why press forward in this life?

Worship Elements: Preaching: An Assuring Promise (Genesis 28)

Jacob leaves home sent away as a covenantal fugitive to fend for himself at his uncle’s house.  He is left alone in the deserve literally stripped of everything that he valued.  Is all lost?  What can Jacob’s vision in the midst of his existential crises teach us about preaching and the gospel message?

Concluding Exhortations (Jude 1:17-23)

Jude writes a letter with some very strong warnings cautioning people about challenging God. Jude has appealed to angels, battles before history, judgments in history and before history, and he has appealed to many events to make his case. The point of these events is to communicate that God always wins. This is an intriguing book, but how are we to live for the Lord in light of these exhortations? Are we to be terrified of our God?

Worship Elements: Preaching: Redundant Gospel? (1 Cor. 1:18)

We might think that we know the Gospel and we know the Gospel well.  So, why would we think that we need to continually hear the Gospel preached if we know the Gospel message?  Is there a point in our Christians lives when we move beyond the Gospel message?  What wisdom can be gleaned from church history that would shed some light on this issue of Gospel preaching? 

Worship Elements: Assurance and Blessing (Luke 24:50)

The disciples should understand that Christ predicts his suffering, dying, and being raised up to life.  When Christ talked about this part of his ministry Christ really means that he is sent to suffer, die, and to be raised up to life.  The disciples and the women who were around Jesus missed this central truth.  How does Christ react after his resurrection?  How does Christ’s reaction put our worship into perspective and show our parting from worship to be so consoling?

Eagerly Receiving Jude (Jude 1:1-4)

Jude is the brother of James and the brother of our Lord.  This is a brief letter, but Jude is eager to write the letter.  What is Jude so eager to write about?  Why does Jude talk about judgement, and what hope can we glean from a conversation regarding judgment? 

Worship Elements: Confession (Psalm 19)

We have a time of confession at the beginning of our worship service.  As we join together in this time we might wonder why we would engage in such a practice.  Why would we confess our sins if we are forgiven in the Lord?  Why would we join together to confess our sins in a worship service? 

God’s Unfathomable Mercy (Malachi 4:4-6)

We conclude our study on the prophet Malachi.  This is a prophet that we probably are not the most familiar so what is the prophet’s contribution to our canon?  Is this only a prophet who is relevant during the Christmas season when he talks about the Messiah or does this prophet communicate the Gospel in a very profound and significant way?

The Peace of God’s Justice (Malachi 3:13-4:3)

At this point in our Malachi we might wonder if there are any faithful people. Has the Lord forgotten His people? Has the Lord failed to keep a remnant for himself? The Lord gives the assurance that the upside is that the Lord remembers His promise. So, what is the peace of knowing that God remembers His justice?

Worship Elements: Invocation (Psalm 124)

The Lord calls His people to worship Him.  This is something that we understand and assume in Christian worship, but why would we invoke or call upon the name of our God?  If we know that we are worshipping Him anyway it seems that we are going to do the right thing no matter what. So, what is the significance of this invocation?

God’s Greeting (2 Corinthians 1:1-2)

The Lord gives His greeting to the Corinthian church through the Apostle Paul. We might think that this is standard, but what does this greeting tell us about our worship today? What does this greeting tell us about the Christian church today? What can this greeting teach us about our Worship?

Our Unchangeable God (Malachi 3:6-12)

The Lord is the one who watches over His people, but his people have not returned the favor.  Their passion, their love, and their conviction have grown soft towards the Lord.  So, how is the Lord going to deal with this?  Will the Lord give his people what they deserve?

Call to Worship (Psalm 100)

The Lord commands people to worship him.  Why does God need his creatures to worship him?  He is a God who is complete in himself so why does he give such a command?  What do we know about God that makes it a joy to worship Him?  Why will His people want to worship Him?

Proof of Faithfulness (Malachi 2:17-3:5)

The people have failed to love the Lord as they are called to love the Lord. They are a people who have not been faithful and they are contrasted to the Lord who is faithful. How faithful is the Lord? How does the Lord show His faithfulness?