30, 2024
General Superintendent
Max Edwards
At the conclusion of his post-resurrection appearances, Jesus instructed His disciples to wait for the promise of the Father – the filling of the Holy Spirit. In humble obedience, they assembled in Jerusalem waiting, and because of Luke’s faithful account we are not left to wonder what occupied their time. They were worshipping! In his words, they were “constantly united in prayer.” (Acts 1:14)
Worship was as natural to them as breathing. And why might that have been? Because that is what their Rabbi Jesus had modeled for them. And we know that worship is not simply (or only) singing. They did sing occasionally as is recorded by Mark, “And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” (14:26) There is no doubt that heart-felt spiritual singing is worship, but so is prayer … so is quiet contemplation … so is scripture reading. Worship is the surrender of the heart, mind, and will to God.
After the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, and Peter’s bold sermon that pointed the way to Christ for thousands of Israelites, the church returned to its natural “resting” position, if I might put it that way. They prayed, and praised, and blessed one another, and the LORD. Worship is elemental to the Christian life. The closing of the 2nd chapter of Acts records the ongoing actions of the early church, and we see that “prayers” and “praising God” were staple activities among them:
“And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:42-47 nkjv)
In the local churches I pastored, I tried to find creative ways to help people remember the things we felt Scripture identified as core values or behaviors. Two such tools I’ve used are: 1) “WIFE”, and 2) “Compass for Life.” We used WIFE as an acronym to remember Worship, Instruction, Fellowship, and Evangelism (after all, the church IS the bride of Christ) In another church, we used the points of the compass (N, S, E, W N - Neighbors (Connecting with Neighbors); S - Study (Growth through Study); (Sharing through Evangelism); W - Worship (Surrendering in Worship); and M - Ministry (Serving in Ministry). You might find those tools helpful … if so, feel free to use them or something like them. Or you might think them to be somewhat cheesy, and that’s okay - - you’ll think of something better.
In any case, I do urge pastors to preach a vision-casting series at least once a year to help folks remember to be intentional about the church’s most fundamental values.