Mar 12

Nehemiah 8:8
Memorise 2 Timothy 4:2
“So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading”

If you go to different churches, you’ll see that they often have different orders of worship! And the difference could be rather shocking! Many years ago, when I was undergoing my medical training in Jerusalem, I went to the Mount of Olives and wandered into a church there. Suddenly all the doors were closed, and the whole church plunged into darkness except for a few candles. The whole place was also completely silent, except for the chanting of the priest. I later realised that this was a Roman Catholic Church where the liturgy focused on the priest’s chanting in a language no one understood!

In the early history of the Christian church, the order of worship was divided into two main segments: “The Liturgy of the Word” (preaching) and “The Liturgy of the Upper Room” (Holy Communion). Subsequently, different denominations (Roman Catholic, Easter Orthodox, Protestant churches of different denominations eg. Anglican, Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian etc.) developed different kinds of liturgy, with different emphasis.

Our B-P church is part of the Reformed tradition, and one of the distinctiveness of the Reformed tradition is its focus on preaching. We believe that the mission of the church is evangelism and discipleship – this explains the focus on the Word. The focus of the whole worship service builds up to the sermon, where the preacher is tasked with the role of ‘giving the sense’ of God’s Word, like Nehemiah did in his time. “The Liturgy of the Word” is thus divided into “Preparation” (preparing the congregation for the message – prayers, singing of hymns etc.) and “Proclamation” (the message proper).

Dear teens, do you prepare your hearts for the message when you attend to the pastoral prayer and the singing of hymns? Do you realise that when a sermon is preached, it is a proclamation of God’s Word, and if the preacher preaches in accordance to God’s Will, it is as it were God speaking to our hearts!

Thought: When I listen to a sermon, do I come away from it with a better understanding of God’s Word?
Prayer: Lord, I thank Thee that Thy word is proclaimed faithfully and powerfully each week from the pulpit.