The great importance of the Lord’s Supper can be seen by the fact that Christ Himself instituted the Supper. On the night of His betrayal and after celebrating the Passover we read:

And while they were eating, Jesus took {some} bread, and after a blessing, He broke {it} and gave {it} to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave {it} to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. –Matt 26:26-28 NAS

The bread, representing the Lord’s body, and the cup, representing His » Continue reading “Is The Partaking Of The Lord’s Supper Important?”

One of the first impressions obtained by a visitor to our services today is the fact that mechanical instruments are conspicuous by their absence. Being so commonly used in churches of today, the fact that we do not use mechanical instruments of music causes surprise and wonder on the part of many and not infrequently the question is raised, “Why do churches of Christ refuse the use of instruments of music in worship?”

Essential to a proper understanding of this matter are two very important questions: First, “What is the purpose of our worship anyway?” The Scriptures are crystal clear that our worship must be for the purpose of pleasing our Heavenly Father, inasmuch as that is the design and end of all of our worship. Jesus said, “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and » Continue reading “Did The First Century Church Use Instrumental Music In Worship?”

From the time “the morning stars sang together” at creation, and “all the sons of God shouted for joy” (Job 38:7), to the song of the Lamb in the New Jerusalem (Rev. 14:1-5), singing is given great emphasis in the Bible.

Christianity is the religion of song. Ours is a courageous, victorious, singing faith. The privilege of singing praise unto God is part of a wonderful heritage—one of the grand blessings God gave His people. Singing has been a powerful force through the centuries. Our singing probably expresses and reveals our faith as truly as anything we do.

The divine motivation of singing is expressed and enjoined in the Scriptures: » Continue reading “Why Do We Sing In Worship?”

As the church was established in Acts the second chapter we read of the Christians worshiping in harmony with God’s will. We read that, “And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:42 NAS). Among the acts of worship mentioned is “prayer.”

Unfortunately there are many in our modern world that refuse to believe that God hears and answers prayers. These skeptics consider prayer a delusion. Even among Christians there are many who do not make use of prayer as God intended. With them prayer is often infrequent and ineffective. While they say they believe in prayer, they act as if they do not. Perhaps this is because they have never been » Continue reading “Is Prayer An Essential Requirement In Worship?”

The important element in preaching is the message of God. Paul wrote to the Romans, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Rom 1:16 NAS). The same apostle wrote to the Corinthians, “For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not {come to} know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe” (1 Cor 1:21 NAS). Then Paul also said, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves” (2 Cor 4:7 NAS). Man is a means through which the message comes, but the message itself is the absolutely essential element in preaching because it is from God. » Continue reading “How Important Is Preaching In Worship?”