Letter to a Church Member: Corporate Worship (Part Two)

Introduction

My friend, I have noticed that you prefer prayer services and dialogue more than the preaching and teaching of the Word of God. It is okay that you have preferences, but I sincerely want you to see that sermons and lessons are as important as other aspects of Christian fellowship. I am writing you to encourage you to delight in such things. In prayer, we speak to God; in dialogue, we speak to and hear each other; but in the Word, we listen to the Creator of heaven and earth. Without the Word, prayer and dialogue lose their firm foundation, for it is through Scripture that God’s voice communicates with His people.

The Preaching and Teaching of the Word is a Necessity

My brother, I must first say this: I know you have an evangelistic heart because you regularly pray for God to save the lost. That is a good and godly thing, and something all of us must pray for. Yet, Scripture describes this salvation and how it comes about. The Apostle Paul asks, “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” (Rom. 10:13-14). Yes, turning to God in prayer is necessary for salvation according to these verses, but so is preaching. In preaching, the individuals hear the Gospel—that the Son of God became the sacrifice for their sin—and then they respond in faith, turning to God in prayer. In the salvation of the new believer, the preaching of the Word and prayer go hand in hand. As Jonathan Leeman explains on page 64 of Word-Centered Church, “only the power of God’s Word and Spirit can give true freedom—the freedom of obedience, the freedom of righteousness, the freedom of joyful conformity to the character of God (see Rom 6-8).” In fact, God communicating the Gospel through the Spirit-filled ministry of the Word is the gracious answer to your prayers.

Not only does the preaching of the Word show the Gospel to new believers, but it also serves as a guide, informing us how and what to pray and discuss with other believers. On page 268 of The Church, Edmund P. Clowney makes a fine point: “The key here, if we are not to set aside the sufficiency of Scripture, is to recognize that the degree of certainty that we may have as to any course of action must always be directly proportional to the degree of clarity with which we can see how the word of God applies to our situation.” For example, if we experience loss, we pray, acknowledging that God cares for our pain and loss, yet He also gives and takes away (Job 1:21); When we experience love for a spouse, we thank God and treat them as Christ has loved the church (Eph. 5:25). Scripture encourages us to respond to certain situations in the most faithful manner. It is authoritative, yet God also knows that His word is our healthiest guide for all of life.

Conclusion

My friend, you may prefer prayer services and dialogue over sermons and lessons because you see them as overly authoritative, but let me reassure you. Preaching is never meant to manipulate. It is not designed to elicit a particular response, except to lead us into reverence and joy in the Lord; instead, it conveys expositions of declarations from a loving and kind God who knows what’s best for His children and how we should respond in all areas of life. Preaching and teaching the Scriptures are essential elements of our worship together because they affirm that God has genuine love and wisdom for what we are called to do in Christian fellowship.

For these reasons, I hope you begin to see the ministry of the Word as a central element of what we do as a church and why we do it. We wholeheartedly agree with you; we must pray and talk about our Savior, but we also want our prayers and conversations to be informed by Him. Let’s open our Bibles together, pray, and talk this through. I am here for you.