Monday, August 05, 2013

What the Bible says we should do when we worship together.

I have been reading Mike Cosper's book Rhythms of Grace.. Cosper writes about what we should do when we worship both singly and in community. He has good insight on how should we should understand Ephesians 4:15:
Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ
Cosper notes that "Speaking the truth in love" ia commonly misunderstood.
“Speaking the truth in love” is often understood as saying hard things or dealing with conflict: we “speak the truth in love” when we confront sin or say unpopular things lovingly. According to Peterson, though, “speaking the truth in love” is not so much about interpersonal boldness as it is about a community that shares a confession, a unified expression of faith in the God who saved them. The gathered body teaches the Word and proclaims it together; we speak the truth in love as we sing, read the Scriptures, and remember the gospel together.” (Rhythms of Grace, Mike Cosper, p. 80).
Mike Cosper writes about the Greek word for Church: "Ekklesia."
We gather because we have work to do—to remember the gospel and hold fast to our confession. The Greek word for the gathered church offers some insight into how the apostles saw their gatherings. Though the language offered a variety of options for words to describe the gathering church, the authors of the new Testament chose ἐκκλησία. According the scholar Larry Hurtado, it was an odd choice. “In its historic Greek usage, ekklesia designated the gathering of citizens of a city to conduct civic business. Such events always had a religious character and would be commenced with offerings to the gods, but the ekklesia was not precisely a gathering to conduct worship.” We gather because we have work to do. ἐκκλησία emphasizes the work of the people. We gather to do our work, which is to say, we gather to remember, to encourage, and to spur one another on.

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