Ask the Pastor 127

What do we do when we go to church?

As we have noted in previous articles, we go to church to be together. In fact, the word for church comes from the Greek word ekklasia which means called out ones and is also translated assembly. Another word translated church is kuriakon which is belonging to the Lord. So, we have an assembly of those who belong to the Lord. The biblical meaning of church has nothing to do with a building, but rather it is the gathering together of the Lord’s people. We have previously noted that the early Church met together for the teaching of doctrine, for fellowship, for breaking of bread and for prayer (Acts 2:42). We come together to worship the Lord Jesus Christ and worship is to be done in Spirit and in Truth (John 4:23). The word worship is to literally bow down, we are to bow before the Lord as in submission to His will and Lordship. We are called priest (I Peter 2:5) who offer up sacrifices. Therefore, what we do in church is to offer up sacrifices of worship including the thoughts in our hearts, the music that we sing, the Scriptures that are taught and our fellowship with one another and our prayers for one another. Take note how that this is all me giving to the Lord and to His people. So many will come out of a church service and say something to the effect, “I didn’t get anything out of that” or they may say that the reason why they do not go to church is because “I just don’t get anything out of church”. That attitude misses the point entirely, we do not go to get, but we go to give. We give because we have already received from the Lord His great salvation received from our faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. He has blessed us with all the surpassing glory of heaven, our worship is but a little sacrifice to give back to Him.

Have questions about the Bible? Send them to Dr. Greg Koehn at gak4850@gmail.com and read the answer here in this article.