Depth Step #2: Evening Service
Jamie (faithful elder at CHBC) told PJ (faithful intern at CHBC) that a second reason this congregation seemed to have unusual depth of community and relationships was the evening service. Let me briefly explain.
We understand Sunday as a Christian Sabbath. Not equivalent to the 4th commandment in the OT. We think that is fulfilled in Christ. But we also see the Lord's Day in the NT (e.g., Rev. 1:10). We think Hebrews 10:25 requires us to assemble regularly. That is normally on the Lord's day in the morning (in continuity with the earliest Christian history, long before it was a day off for Christians from their jobs, and in celebration of the Lord's Resurrection). However, we as a congregation also exercise our liberty by deciding as a congregation that we will ALSO assemble on Sunday evenings for praise & prayer. We don't understand that Scripture requires this of us, but we chose to for our edification.
So we have a second meeting on Sunday, at which most members come, and some visitors (they are welcome). At this service (which runs from about 6:00pm to 7:30pm) we will sing (6:00-6:15), and conclude by hearing a 15-minute sermon (after which we close with a hymn). This 15-minute sermon is delivered by someone other than the regular preaching ministers. It may be one of our non-staff elders, a deacon who is gifted in teaching, a member who works on the Hill but is considering being a preaching pastor long-term, a member of our church who works for a non-profit but is a good teacher, etc. The text is chosen by me. It is given to them weeks or months in advance. It is from the opposite testament of Scripture as the morning passage, but should contain a related theme. This helps the congregation to hear from more people and focuses us less just on the preaching pastors (especially me & Michael Lawrence). God works powerfully in the lives of members through other members. This strengthens the community of the church.
But the core of our time on Sunday evening probably does this even more. This is the period from 6:15 to 7:00 or 7:15 in which pre-screened prayer requests (they ask me through the week, or on Sun AM) are shared & sometimes questions asked by the congregation, or volunteers gotten, and then they are prayed for by members of the congregation. So, this past Sunday night, various members said good-bye, told us where they were going, thanked us for various aspects of their life here, and shared prayer requests. One couple who have been here for 5 years shared about going to become associate pastor of a nearby church. Mike's sharing of his gratitude to God for a number of ways He has used the congregation in his life put a number of us in tears. Another sister shared about a practical way women in the church could help an evangelism prjoject in the Middle East. Another brother stood up and shared about his having preached his first sermon that morning. (A church in Delaware had asked us to cover their pulpit for them this past Sunday morning, and we asked this brother to do it.) Another brother who is stationed in Afghanistan was back for a couple of weeks and shared how things were going & took questions. We prayed for Matt & Jonathan as they were headed to South Africa for a couple of weeks to do 9marks work. And this is just HALF the things that were shared & prayed for.
People feel sad when they miss Sunday mornings. But, it has to be said, at least they can get the audio of the sermon. When you miss Sunday EVENINGS, you just don't feel like you know what's going on. And people stand around forever and talk.
How to establish this kind of culture would be a different entry. It certainly happened slowly, over time, and took deliberate leadership. (I had to "move" the requests from mainly about health to being mainly about more spiritual matters, and from being mainly individual to being more about ministry or some corporate activity of the church.) Some of this shift was difficult. Much of it had to be carefully done. In all of this we had to be patient. But I think Jamie is right. This, by God's grace, has been greatly used by God to establish a deeper community here among the congregation. And we thank Him for it!
We are going to do a patriotic presentation - complete with a brief simulcast message from the president - and a red, white, and blue laser light show ... instead of a sermon ... to see how many people we can convince to join 'another kind of church'!
Seriously, I agree with everything you said. We are Christians first, American Christians second. And since being Christian makes being American not really that important, no reason to attract attention to nationality (any nationality) in the worship of God.
Now, if I were able to become a citizen of some cool country like Scotland, that might be another story!
Posted by: Kurt Strassner | Jul 3, 2008 10:29:46 AM
OOOOOOPS! Above comment should have gone on the July 4th post!
Posted by: Kurt Strassner | Jul 3, 2008 10:32:48 AM
Hmmm...I think having worship and prayer is great in the evening service. That's what we do at our church. The pastor picks on people to pray.
But, I think the evening service (or any service for that matter) should be an opportune time for more teaching - not just 15 minutes. It's an opportune time to take and go through a book in the Bible for several months or pick an important topic like the Atonement or the attributes of God.
I mean there just isn't enough time in the week whether it be a Bible study a Sunday school to cover a lot of subjects that need to be covered.
That doesn't mean you can't do other things. Like have a member give a testimony to the church. But I think every service should include a good sermon on an important topic or expository teaching of a book in the Bible.
Posted by: Carlo Rose | Jul 3, 2008 7:18:11 PM
I would love for someone to explain how Sunday is a "Christian Sabbath" but "not equivalent to the 4th commandment in the OT."
Posted by: Bill Combs | Jul 5, 2008 10:35:29 AM
Bro Carlo,
As a member of CHBC please allow me to add some info to what Mark said and to reply to your questions/comments about more preaching/teaching on Sun night. Because CHBC is very heavy on preaching (Core Seminars; small groups; discipling relationships; the books we read/discuss; 9Marks interviews with pastors, et al; Henry Forum Lectures; Thurs morning Theology Breakfast; our seriously expositional Wed night Bible study--interactive, verse-by-verse, over a course of many months; etc etc) we do not suffer from want of teaching. Our Sun eve service does indeed have expositional preaching (and as Mark mentioned is tied closely with the text of the morning service) but it adds more to that. As a person who has attended many churches over the course of my life, I can attest to the singular effect this kind of consistent, complementary, expositional preaching (whether 15 mins or 1 hour) has done in teaching me to see the continuity of Scripture and God’s revelation (between NT and OT). Additionally, having several preachers consistently not only keeps the congregation from making idols out of their “favorite preachers” it also displays how God has gifted the church differently in these men and-- more important I think--exalts the scripture as the focus of attention. Another CHBC member and I were discussing this very thing a couple of weeks ago, praising God for His manifold blessings to the church in this way but also appreciating the fact that having many different preachers forces the congregation to be active, disciplined listeners instead of going into audio “auto-pilot,” having grown accustomed to one man’s style over the years. Finally, the time spent in our Sun eve service given to prayer/sharing and singing exercises deeper congregational participation in worship; a too often neglected corporate spiritual discipline of the church to which we are called (Eph 4:11-13). I hope this helps a bit. Lord bless.
Posted by: gl | Jul 7, 2008 4:04:13 PM
PRAYER REQUEST(JOHN/MELISSA/FAMILY/FRIENDS)As the Holy Spirit leads: Breakthrough, Relationship, Move God’s hand, close necessary doors, open doors, divine appointments, deliverance, miracles, remove barriers, overcome complications, face to face and with LORD, finger of God, Increase faith in relationship and time, Hall Faith, friend God, marriage, partnership, parenting, adoption, moving, health, perfect & mutual love, gifts, acceptance, design, service, interests, radical conviction, surrender, transformation, boldness, long-term commitment, risk lives, envelop in His arms, His will, Almighty, powerful God remove scales & veil be lifted, Lord stay by side, His light, blood lamb, strike mark, flame burns, fire heaven, living water, fresh wind, inspiration, Holy spirits counsel, Holy mighty angels, hedge protection dwell in mind and heart, counsel and the people to direct, advocate, resurrection power, bread heaven & life, Jehovah Jireh, multiple blessings, provision, double portion, help, giving, clear leading, hearing, guidance, perfect timing, spiritual electricity, connection, stability, safety, weapons, focus, vision, refreshment, maturity, obedience(gen-rev), I AM, humility, Fear of Lord, wisdom, revelation, insight, understanding, discernment, sensitive, strength, endurance, perseverance, courage, righteousness, hope, purity, holiness, sojourners, heart, truth, accountability, standing firm, discipline, diligence, genuine, gratitude, transparency, fruits spirit, like-minded, eternal, pre-destined/determined, unswerving, great, true faithfulness, devotion, companionship, friendship, inner circle, sacrifice/selflessness, teaching, fellowship, contentment, persistent, consistency, investment, same season, listening, connection, compatibility, fidelity, loyalty, honor, integrity, feelings, intimacy, affection, romantic, passion, find favor, unity, harmony, togetherness, thoughtfulness, encouragement, healing, restore, rest, stillness, time love, uproot, refrain, silent, peace(Gen.1-3;5;4:24;17; 24-26; 32:10-29, Ex., Lev. 6:12;8;25:18-21;26:1-13, Num., deut. 6:17;32:13, Josh. 5:13-15; 7:8;24, Judg. 6:10;10:1, 1 Sam. 20:1-19, 2 Sam., 1 Kin. 2:28; 11:4;18:4, 2 Kin. 2:22; 20:5, 1 Chr. 16:34;2 Chr. 7:11-22;20:12, Neh. 5:8;10; Job 1:10;4:16;5:18, Ps. 6:2; 7:11;8:4;11:7;16:10;20;21:2;23;24;25;28;29:7;30;33-34;35:18; 37;41, 42:11; 46:10;51:10;56:4;71:19;78;85;87;91-92;97;102:2; 103;107:20; 112:3; 116;118:8; 121;122:2, 123:4;124:4; 125:4;126:4;127; 139;142,145:9, Prov. 1;3:4-8;10;13:20;18:24;25:28;28:20;31, Eccl. 3:1, Song, Is. 6; 9:6; 19:12;30:21;40-41;52:12;53:4-5;55,57:18;61, Jer. 17:4;18:7-8;29:11-12;32:7 Ezek. 4; 18:31;34:11-31;36-37, Dan. 3:28;10;Joel 2, Amos 5, Jon 5:5, Hab. 3:17-19;Zech., Mal. 4:2, Matt 5:6-8;6:16-33;7;9:38;14:31;16-28;22:34-40;23;25:21, Mark 1-20;10:29-30;26:41;35:40,Luke 4:18;6:19;10-11; 14:26-27,33 John, Acts 1:3-8;4:29-30;5:12-17; 9:4-19;12;10;28:8;38; 13:2-3; 15:9;16:25-26, 23:11;14:9, Rom., 1 Cor. 2:10-16;3;9:24-25;12-15,2 Cor. 4:18;5:14-21;10:5,Gal. 3,Eph. 2:16; 3:14-19;4;5:13;6, Phil. 1-4;13, Col. 1;2:10;4:9-12;16:17,1 Thess., 2 Thess. 1-3, 1Tim. 4:12, 2 Tim. 1:7, Heb., James 1:5-20; 2;4:7-10; 5:7-18, 1 Pet. 2;5, 1,2,3 John, Jude 9, Rev. 1-8:1-5;9:11-16;19-20:3;21:1-7;22:1-21) through a season of trials, tribulations, storms, injustices
May you be richly blessed! (Ex 33:8-23, Lev 25, Is 9:6, 1 Co 13, Joel 2:25)
Posted by: JOHN M | Jul 13, 2008 10:57:41 AM