Doves On Distant Oaks

Summoned by God

There are many things I enjoy about going to worship services. Some people call it church, others just call it services. Here in the South, I’ve heard people call it preaching, but that puts critical limits on what worship service truly is.

I’m not speaking about the building where I go every Sunday morning, and other times as well. Though, thats where I do go for worship service. When I consider what I mean, I lean toward a Greek word, ecclesia, which the Encyclopedia Britannica defines as “a gathering of those summoned." Some would call this a congregation, which is basically “a group of people assembled.”

I prefer ecclesia because we have been summoned, called by God to be with one another. In other words, it's the people, not the place; and it’s the reason for being there, which is to worship God.

Worship includes many things—Bible teaching, singing songs, times of prayer, ministries, the “preaching” of a Pastor, and so on. I even love the potluck dinners … a lot. All are contained within that so-called “church” building.

If I were to miss one individual ingredient that church building offers, then I would miss out on the total spiritual experience of what we call worship. That's because everything we do when our mind is focused on God is worship. And yes, even potluck meals are a means of worship because it's breaking bread with our fellow sisters and bothers in Christ.

I recall the devastating impact that the loss of going to worship services had on us when COVID-19 hit. All worship services were cancelled by order of our Governor. Our ecclesia complied, but it was an agonizing time.

When talking to some of my non-churched friends, they couldn't understand why it was so troubling to us. The typical comment was to the effect, "Don't you 'people' say God is everywhere. So, you shouldn't need to go to church to worship Him."

Which is, of course, correct. God is everywhere and we can worship Him in the quiet of our closet. We did so. However, God intended his church to be a gathering of spiritual believers, and before Christ left us, He set it up that way. The author of the book of Hebrews exhorts us in that fashion:

And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:24-25)

I love that phrase, "stir up love." And an organization called Compelling Truth says it this way:

The purpose of the church is to be the believer's spiritual family. It is through the church that God takes people with different personalities and gifts, unifies them as a single body, and equips them to care for each other and reach the world. We were not meant to live the Christian life alone; surrounded by the biblical teaching and loving community of the church, together we find our own purpose in life.

It's not just about listening to the worship music, listening to prayer, or even the teacher or pastor talk. It's about doing all those things together.

Yes, we can worship God as individuals in private, or in pieces of the activities available to us. But when we talk about how we worship God best, it's in the context of the total spiritual experience of the ecclesia—summoned by God, together as one.

But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.

– John 4:23-24

Keywords: Church, Community, Family, Worship, Ecclesia

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