Order In The Church! Series

ORDER IN THE CHURCH

I Corinthians 14:26-40

S: Worship

C: Understanding, not confusion

Th: Orderly Worship

Pr: WE ARE TO BUILD FAITH IN ONE ANOTHER.

?: How? How do we do that?

KW: Need

TS: We will find in our study of I Corinthians 14:26-40 five specifications that will direct our worship toward edification.

Type: Expository, Propositional

The ____ specification is we…

I. ABANDON COMPETITION (26-28)

II. APPRAISE WHAT IS SPOKEN (29-33)

III. ATTEND TO OUR TONGUE (34-35)

IV. ACCEPT TRUE AUTHORITY (36-38)

V. ANTICIPATE CORPORATE WORSHIP (39-40)

PA: How is the change to be observed?

• Build each other

• Be motivated by love

Version: ESV

RMBC 30 January 05 AM

INTRODUCTION:

Have you ever found yourself in a confusing situation?

ILL Chaos: politician

A surgeon, an engineer, and a politician were debating which of their professions was the best and the discussion turned to which was the oldest.

The surgeon said, “Eve was made from Adam’s rib, and that, of course, was a surgical procedure. Obviously, surgery is the oldest profession.”

The engineer countered with, “Yes, but before that, order was created out of chaos, and that most certainly was an engineering job.”

The politician smiled and said triumphantly, “Aha! And just who do you think created the chaos?”

Perhaps that is something we can all agree on.

When we consider what is happening inside of Erie County, we can say with confidence that politicians really know how to make things more chaotic.

TRANSITION:

Well…

We have been studying I Corinthians 14 for the last three weeks.

It is a difficult study.

I compare it to like nailing jello to the wall.

Every time you think you grasp it, it slips between your fingers.

As slippery as this text is, there are principles we can gather and apply to our lives.

We do know this…

1. The worship in Corinth was chaotic.

Their corporate worship was out of control.

You see, the key word for the church in Corinth was not edification as it was supposed to be.

Instead, it was exhibition.

When it came right down to it, they were showing off, trying to one up the other.

Their focus was in all the wrong places.

We do know this…

2. Worship is primarily directed to God.

When we gather for worship, it is not for ourselves.

This is not an entertainment time.

This is not something for the paid players to put on a good show.

Worship is not something you watch.

It is something you do.

We gather together to honor and glorify God.

We gather together to get our perspective, in the realization that God is to be the center of our lives.

ILL Worship: Peterson in Reversed Thunder

Eugene Peterson, in his book Reversed Thunder, talks about what happens to us when the worship of God is not at the center of our life:

"Failure to worship consigns us to a life of spasms and jerks, at the mercy of every advertisement, every seduction, every siren. Without worship we live manipulated and manipulating lives. We move in either frightened panic or deluded lethargy as we are in turn alarmed by specters and soothed by placebos. If there is no center, there is no circumference. People who do not worship are swept into a vast restlessness epidemic in the world, with no steady direction and no sustaining purpose."

Knowing God, loving Him, and worshipping Him gives us direction for our lives.

And it puts us on the same path together.

So…

3. At the same time, how we worship affects each other.

We must not fail to remember that though worship is primarily directed to God, how we do it when we are together is important as well.

We are called to corporate worship.

We are called to gather to be of one voice and mind.

This means that we must give consideration to what we say and do and how it will affect those around us.

Each church has its own personality, just as each one of us has our own personality.

One of Randall’s quirks is that we don’t clap very much during singing, even thought I know that some of us like doing it.

We know that Scripture instructs us to clap our hands.

And no one will say you can’t clap here.

But when you start to clap, be prepared to be the only one doing so.

Fortunately, this particular issue is not a dividing line in any way for our fellowship.

But there have been some issues that it becomes tempting.

Because I hear concerns, suggestions and criticisms from many perspectives, like…

We are too formal.

We are not formal enough.

We sing too many hymns.

We sing too many worship songs.

We don’t use the organ enough.

We don’t use the band enough.