If I were to ask, “What does Worship mean to you,” I would probably get many varied answers depending upon how many people I asked. Jesus tells us in John 4 that His children will worship in Spirit and truth –“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth” –John 4:23-24 (NIV). True worship needs to involve the whole person heart, soul, mind, and strength (Matthew 22:36-40; Mark 12:28-34).

I’ve often heard this phrase, “Worship was great today!” But what they truly meant was “The song portion of the service was great.” “It was uplifting” Yes, part of the “Worship Service” involves singing to our Lord but it’s not really about you, it’s about Him. When we are singing we’re singing praises to Him. This should involve our heart, soul, mind and strength. Yes, we are often blessed by the song portion of the service, but it should be because we’re blessing Him.

Some have said to me “We should skip the song part and go right into the message; the word of God” as if this is the only part that is necessary. Of course learning the word of God is necessary, but it’s not the only necessary thing that happens in the Worship Service. How about encouragement? Isn’t that a necessary part as well? Scripture tells us in Hebrews that we should not neglect the gathering together. Why? To give and receive encouragement from fellow believers. “…not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching” –Hebrews 10:25 (NIV)

And we cannot neglect participating in Communion/ The Lord’s Supper. This, at least at NCC, is the central part of our Worship Service. The elements of communion – the bread which represents His body, which He freely gave to pay the price for our sins. And the Fruit of the Vine, which represents His blood that cleanses us from those sins, so we can have a relationship with the Father while we’re here on earth and a home in Heaven. These elements represent a new covenant with God – the Covenant of Grace.

These are some of the aspects of worship, but worship is not just for one hour on Sunday mornings. Worship of our Lord, Jesus Christ should be in our everyday lifestyle. You see, the ultimate reason for worshiping God is to honor Him. I think it’s a good idea for all of us to take a heart check occasionally and ask ourselves the question, “Am I honoring God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength?” If not, I want to encourage you to seek out those areas that are not pleasing to God. Ask Him to help you change so that your lifestyle does honor Him.

God bless you!

Pastor John

Education Pillar by Davis Watson

We know on Pentecost, the day the New Testament Church was formed, Acts 2:37-41, Peter was speaking the first Gospel message and “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

³⁸ Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call…Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.”

Once people were added “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Ephesians 2:42

Education, the apostles’ teaching, was one of the primary focus of the newly formed church. It’s one of Norwood Christian Church’s five pillars: Evangelism, Education, Fellowship, Worship, and Service. A pillar holds something up; but, if there is only one pillar the structure is unbalanced and will fall over when placed under stress; therefore, other pillars are needed to relieve the stress and stabilize the structure. No matter how many pillars a structure has they are worthless if placed on an unstable foundation. A foundation of sand can easily wash away, a foundation of mud can give way in the raining season; only an immovable foundation of bedrock is suitable for a pillar supporting a structure.

Norwood Christian Church is not a building but a group of people who have been saved, Ephesians 2:19-22, “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.  And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”

Note the phrase, “foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone” the teachings, the Bible. Our goal in NCC’s Education pillar is based upon the solid foundation of God’s Word, the Bible.

NCC strives to provide Bible based education to all its members from toddlers to adults; by gifted teachers; however, these teachers are not the primary teachers. As God warned his people as they entered the promise land, Deuteronomy 11:18-21 “Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates,  so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.”

The family lead by the father as the spiritual leader is the primary teacher. NCC strives to provide all the help the family needs to raise up each member in the family to be “created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10