NEHEMIAH 8:1-3 – And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel. So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.”
THEME OF THE DAY: WOULD WE BE IN ATTENDANCE? In our church, the morning worship service last about ninety-minutes. For the most part the sermon is forty-five to fifty-minutes of that time. Every week we also have a public reading of the scriptures which takes us through whole books over the course of a year. That takes another five to ten minutes. Two other Word-based elements in our service are the call to worship which is led by an elder that always contains a public scripture reading and pastoral prayer, also given by an elder and preceded with a public reading of scripture. So, all together, we are looking at about an hour to an hour and a few minutes of the Word being publicly shared in our worship. Oh, we also ensure every song and hymn is based first and foremost on Biblical theology and scripture. If it doesn’t bring us away from ourselves and into the Word, we don’t sing it.
So, let’s imagine you were attending my church one Lord’s Day. I go through some announcements of what is happening in QBC and I say, “Next Sunday, the service is going to be a little different. Instead of gathering at 10:30 a.m., we will be meeting at 6:00 a.m. and be reading and explaining a portion of the Bible for six hours. There will be no announcements, no music, and nothing else in the service. We are going to hear the Word of God publicly proclaimed and expounded.”
Would you be there? Would you be there as God’s people were in today’s scripture – And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law? Friends, these are extremely important questions because they tell a lot about our hearts, and particularly, our love for God’s Word which means our love for the Lord Jesus. And let’s remember the setting. No padded pews. No air conditioning. No entertainment like drama, skits, and other worldly things churches do to hold people’s interest. This was straight preaching for six hours. Again, would we be there with anticipation, even an eagerness to be under the public preaching of God’s Word?
A clear indicator in the lives of God’s spiritually healthy children is the hunger for the Word of God publicly proclaimed. They long for it. They won’t absent themselves from it. They cannot get enough of it. And when it comes to churches? The spiritual health and direction of them starts from the pulpit and the place preaching the Word of God holds in the corporate worship setting. Remember, preaching isn’t just another element in the service. It is the main element in the service, and everything else is to point to and build towards the sermon. If it isn’t, we violate God’s desired practice in our churches.
So, next Sunday arrives. We are gathered at 6:00 a.m. for the service. Six hours of the Word of God is about to unfold. Are you there? Think about it. Unless physically unable, we should be, after all, it is the Word of God, the food for our souls, we are about to enjoy!
PRAYER: “Father, give me such a hunger for Your Word that leads to the delightful self-discipline to hear Your Word.”
QUOTE: “Our desire for the Word is our desire for Christ. Our diligence in the Word is our diligence to know Christ.”
In the affection of Christ Jesus,
Pastor Jim