Mosaic Blogs

For this year’s Thanksgiving Sunday gathering, we will gather at Kneadings Bread and Cafe. The gathering itself is an attempt to model after 1 Corinthians 14 for a church gathering. Of course, I doubt if anyone of us is able to speak in tongues. At least, I do not.

In preparing ourselves, let’s take a closer look at a section of this chapter:

26-33So here’s what I want you to do. When you gather for worship, each one of you be prepared with something that will be useful for all: Sing a hymn, teach a lesson, tell a story, lead a prayer, provide an insight. If prayers are offered in tongues, two or three’s the limit, and then only if someone is present who can interpret what you’re saying. Otherwise, keep it between God and yourself. And no more than two or three speakers at a meeting, with the rest of you listening and taking it to heart. Take your turn, no one person taking over. Then each speaker gets a chance to say something special from God, and you all learn from each other. If you choose to speak, you’re also responsible for how and when you speak. When we worship the right way, God doesn’t stir us up into confusion; he brings us into harmony. This goes for all the churches—no exceptions.

 34-36Wives must not disrupt worship, talking when they should be listening, asking questions that could more appropriately be asked of their husbands at home. God’s Book of the law guides our manners and customs here. Wives have no license to use the time of worship for unwarranted speaking. Do you—both women and men—imagine that you’re a sacred oracle determining what’s right and wrong? Do you think everything revolves around you?

 37-38If any one of you thinks God has something for you to say or has inspired you to do something, pay close attention to what I have written. This is the way the Master wants it. If you won’t play by these rules, God can’t use you. Sorry.

 39-40Three things, then, to sum this up: When you speak forth God’s truth, speak your heart out. Don’t tell people how they should or shouldn’t pray when they’re praying in tongues that you don’t understand. Be courteous and considerate in everything.

 

When we gather on Thanksgiving Sunday, be prepared to bring one of the following:

• a hymn (or a song);
• a lesson (or read aloud a Scripture passage that will benefit the community);   
• a story (or a testimony of God’s way in your life);
• lead a prayer (lead the congregation to pray for something that God has laid on our community);
• an insight (something that God has laid upon you that will benefit God’s people).

These are not just any “sharings” or ”therapy” to yourself but something that is beneficial to the community (”useful for all“).

Then Paul gave the guidelines of carrying out these items:

• the one who speaks is responsible for his/her speech
• the one who speaks must speak in turn - no cutting others off or always wanting to speak or must have the final word
• when someone is speaking, we are to pay attention. no whispering talks. (”wives must not disrupt worship“) 
• The Big Three:

1. speak your heart out
2. do not tell what others should or should not pray though you do not understand
3. be courteous and considerate

We will gather according to this way as described in the Bible.

In terms of logistics, you may want to print out your song; your passage or anything that you want the congregation to follow. Remember, there is no projector, I suppose.

This is an exercise on what we have learned on the sermon topic: Church - the Gathering, back in early September. I hope that we will all be blessed and encouraged by this gathering / worship.

See you at Kneadings.

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 4th, 2008 at 1:29 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.