worship Archives - Page 2 of 13 - Plain Bible Teaching

Andy Sochor May 18, 2022

Joy in the Assembly

“I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord’” (Psalm 122:1).

This is a familiar verse to many of us (and for good reason). In this psalm, David described the attitude that God’s people should have toward worship – particularly the opportunities to assemble for worship. The psalmist described going to Jerusalem and worshiping in the temple (“the house of the Lord”). The parallel for us today is in our gathering with the church as we assemble for worship.

This psalm is a “Song of Ascents” – part of a collection of fifteen psalms (120-134) which are generally recognized as songs that would be sung by those ascending the road to Jerusalem to worship. This would happen at least three times a year (Deuteronomy 16:16) – at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths. This psalm began with an exclamation of joy over the mere mention of the journey to the place where the people of God would be gathered to worship Him.

Today, worship is not something that is confined to Jerusalem (John 4:21); it can be done anywhere. Yet wherever we gather to worship, we need to have the same attitude expressed by the psalmist.Continue Reading

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: assembly, worship

Andy Sochor April 20, 2022

Growing in Wisdom, Stature, and Favor

The four gospels focus primarily on the public ministry of Jesus leading up to His crucifixion and resurrection – a period of approximately three years. In addition to this, Matthew and Luke include some information about His birth and infancy. Luke also briefly records one event in Jesus’ childhood – the time when He was “lost” in the temple at twelve years old (Luke 2:41-51).

We may be curious about what happened as Jesus grew up, but the Scriptures are mostly silent about this. However, the Holy Spirit did see fit to include a statement about the growth of Jesus:

“And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men” (Luke 2:52).

This may seem somewhat obvious and, therefore, almost insignificant. Yet this statement was given for a reason. If Jesus grew in wisdom, stature, and favor, then it should be expected for us to do the same. In this article, we are going to consider how we can grow in each of these areas.Continue Reading

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: God, growth, idolatry, kindness, meditation, obedience, prayer, study, wisdom, worship

Andy Sochor March 2, 2022

Shout Joyfully to the Lord

“Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful singing. Know that the Lord Himself is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations” (Psalm 100:1-5).

This psalm begins with a universal call to praise God. It gives us some insight into how we offer praise to Him and describes some of the reasons why He is worthy of such praise.

Let us notice some of the things this psalm tells us about how and why we are to praise the Lord.Continue Reading

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: blessings, creation, God, obedience, thanksgiving, worship

Andy Sochor November 4, 2021

Church Asks Judge to Strike No Instrumental Music Clause in Land Deed (11.04.21)

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Plain Bible Teaching Podcast

This week we’re discussing a church in Tennessee filing a lawsuit to determine whether the property deed prohibiting instrumental music is binding. The Otter Creek church of Christ acquired the property from the West End church of Christ last year and this prohibition was written into the deed. Now they want a judge to determine whether this is binding.Continue Reading

Tagged With: authority, instrumental music, worship

Andy Sochor June 2, 2021

God’s Plan for Worship

“‘Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth’” (John 4:20-24).

In this chapter, Jesus spoke with a Samaritan woman by a well. The discussion covered several topics, one of which was the issue of worship. After she “perceived” Jesus to be “a prophet” (John 4:19), she brought up a question about worship. In Jesus’ answer, He explained to her some basic principles about worship. These instructions are helpful for us as well.

In this article, we are going to look at what Jesus said to the Samaritan woman and what He teaches about God’s plan for worship. There are four basic points we can take from His instruction on this occasion.Continue Reading

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: assembly, church, worship

Andy Sochor March 26, 2020

Can Christians Observe the Lord’s Supper Outside of the Assembly? (Episode 5)

Plain Bible Teaching Podcast

The question we’ll discuss in this episode was submitted to me by several people this week:

Can Christians observe the Lord’s Supper outside of the assembly?

As of right now, the situation with the global pandemic caused by the Coronavirus has caused many local churches to suspend their assemblies. In their place, many churches have arranged to have “virtual” assemblies. Others have opted to gather in homes with just family members or small groups. In either case, many are continuing to observe the Lord’s Supper even though they are not in the regular assembly of the local church. Is this authorized? We’re going to consider what the New Testament has to say to address that question.

Additional resources:

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Tagged With: assembly, Lord's Supper, worship 6 Comments

Andy Sochor February 13, 2020

How Do I Know What Church to Join? (Episode 2)

Plain Bible Teaching Podcast

The question we’ll be considering in this episode was submitted via the podcast question submission form:

How do I know what church to join?

There are many different churches around us. How can we know which one we should be a part of? In this episode, we’ll examine what the Scriptures teach about the church and how we can determine what church we ought to “join” today.

Additional resources: