Where Are We When We Go To Church?

Dear OBC Family, When it comes to the idea of liturgy, you may find yourself thinking that this is something High Church Anglicans or Roman Catholics do, but not Bible Church evangelicals. Equally, the word itself may be new or unfamiliar, even though leitourgeō is used throughout the New Testament. If asked to explain what liturgy is, most who have come to faith in modern evangelical churches might not have an immediate answer. But I guarantee you, if you have been in church for any length of time, you are more familiar with what liturgy is than you realize.

Every Sunday, you are called to worship with Scripture, and on many Sunday’s you have confessed your faith as we have recited the Apostles or the Nicene Creed. Likewise, we have corporately confessed our sins and heard the good words of pardon. And if you are baptized member of our church, you have also partaken of the bread and the cup. So, whether you know it or not, you already have a certain competence to the liturgy. Even more, going beyond the liturgical elements just mentioned, OBC’s Sunday worship has matured too. This has included our song selection, our single-service, and our weekly communion. All of these have changed (for the better) over the last decade. 

Put all that together and you have a good foundation for understanding liturgy, even if you weren’t thinking about it. But now, it is time to think about it and to go from doing the right thing to knowing why we are doing the right thing. 

For this reason and more, we are beginning a new sermon series entitled, On Earth as it is in Heaven. This sermon title comes from the center of the Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6:10). But more than that, it is the aim of every Sunday gathering. When we gather on the Lord’s Day, we are not simply coming to enjoy heavenly thoughts while we remain on earth. Rather, as we will see most explicitly this Sunday, we are actually ascending the hill of the Lord to meet with God who comes to meet with us. Truly, if only spiritually, gathered worship is a time where heaven touches earth and God’s saints commune with their Father in heaven.

Still, to see that invisible reality, we need to consider what Scripture says about worship. So, for the next eight Sundays (as the Lord allows), we will focus our time on answering questions like these:

Where are we when we worship? 

Who is present when we worship? 

What are we doing when we worship? 

When are we commanded to worship?

These questions and more will animate our time. And it is my hope and prayer that by means of this sermon series, it will not only purify our worship, but it will mature all of us in our communion with God. For in fact, how we worship is determinative for everything else about us—just read Psalm 115.

So, take time to pray for this sermon series and for your own heart to grow in understanding of what it means to come and worship God. My prayer is that we will all delight more in the liturgy of the Lord’s Day and that over the next eight Sundays, the Lord will purify our praise and glorify his Son in our midst. For this Sunday, take time to read Hebrews 12:18–29. That is where we will begin our time, as we think about where we are when come to church on Sunday. And to see the whole blog on our new series, visit the OBC website.

As the Lord allows, I look forward to seeing you on the Lord’s Day.

For His Glory and your joy in Christ,

Pastor David 

Discussion & Response Questions for Hebrews 12:18-29

What does liturgy mean? And what churches have a liturgy?

Why does liturgy matter? What does 2 Samuel 6 teach us?

Where are we when we go to church? What does Hebrews 12 say?

How does the Old Testament help us understand the language of Mount Zion?

What is the contrast between Sinai and Zion meant to teach us?

Read Hebrews 12:22–24. Who are the seven different people named? What does that mean?

How does the location of worship (ascending the hill of the Lord) impact you? Your worship? Your preparation for Sunday?

What encouragement is found in considering the unshakable nature of God’s heavenly mountain?

What is shaking in the world today? How does worshiping God (in heaven!) encourage you amidst the shaking?

What else did you learn about God and his instructions for worship?