Worship Is A Gym

Wonderful. Well, sorry for the small delay as we got our technology to work.

This is our fourth session asking the question, what is worship?

And each week I've tried to draw our attention to a particular picture or metaphor

which might help us think about what it is we contribute to Sunday worship

and what it is we might benefit from Sunday worship.

This week our theme is worship is a gym.

For some of us that will be an attractive image, for others on Sunday morning not particularly attractive at all.

So let me pray for us and then I'll ask us perhaps to reflect on the last few weeks.

Our dear God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we thank you so much for these weeks to talk and to listen

and to learn to reflect on our lives before you and particularly our life in Sunday worship.

So please help us again this morning.

Give to us, as we don't deserve, that we might know better how to serve you in this world for Christ's sake.

Amen.

Okay, so perhaps some initial reflections on the last few weeks.

Are there images or thoughts or questions which have arisen for you between Sundays?

This is my adult teaching methodology that recalling last time's class can actually long-term be of educational value.

So I'll give you a shot at it anyway.

Yes, please.

After last week, I thought of the idea that it doesn't seem to you or to me to be biblical

to think that if we just get our emotions or sing correctly, or emotions up to a certain level

or sing correctly up to a certain level, then that will result in God's presence among us.

Sure.

I wonder if some churches have a different temptation to think if we just get our thinking

correct enough or our theology up to a certain level of correctness, then God will show up in us.

Yeah, sure.

So for those of you at the back who might not have heard, the question was, okay, we might

agree that God doesn't arrive in church when we've reached a certain level of emotional intensity.

But is it also true that God doesn't arrive in church just because we've reached a certain level of intellectual capacity?

And of course that's right.

We are not saved by having right doctrine.

We're saved through the merits of Jesus Christ.

And correct doctrine guards our experience of salvation.

It helps us to know that the salvation we've received is to be rightly understood or appropriated, right?

But we're not saved by having right thoughts.

Otherwise, only the really smart or the people who think they're really smart could be Christians.

So no, it's not that we need to aim at a high intellectual capacity in church either.

That's quite true.

And it probably showed the kinds of experiences I have in places that I biased my presentation last week to one side rather than the other.

Thank you.

Well, this week our theme is the gym.

Not that the word gym is used in the scriptures as far as I can find.

But you might like to share out loud some of the sporting or physical pictures of the Christian life which the New Testament or indeed the Old presents to us.

So a time of open sharing.

What are some of the texts or themes which pick up sporting or physical imagery?

Yes.

Running a race.

We're running a race which probably is Hebrews 12, right?

We fix our eyes on Jesus who's run the race before us.

Yep.

Boxing.

Boxing, yes.

In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul says we do not box as though we're just hitting the air.

Yep.

Yep.

The crown of righteousness.

Correct.

That's right.

So there's those kinds of pictures about sporting events even if they're not describing a particular sport.

Or competing according to the rules.

Competing according to the rules of the race.

Yeah, that's right.

That you might win the crown.

Correct.

Wrestling.

Wrestling, yeah, indeed.

Like in Colossians 4 where Paul describes wrestling in prayer.

And interestingly in that one, there's two different kinds of wrestling in the ancient world.

And the wrestling that Paul's referring to in Colossians 4 is the close combat wrestling,

the kind of every tiny manoeuvre is important in the bout, as every tiny prayer is important for the Lord.

And there's a classic one.

And there's a classic one that is actually my scene.

That is walking.

Walking according to the gospel.

Walking, which is actually one of the most used images to describe the Christian life.

It's not spectacular.

And you might not think it's a sport.

But in my world, it's the most sporting I ever become.

And it's a pretty important image because it's a slow and steady, slow and steady image.

It's not fast and heavy exertion.

It's kind of keeping on, keeping on, which I think for most of us, right, is a pretty important reminder and image of what the challenges of living as a Christian.

There's also in 1 Timothy, Paul describes us training.

That is, godliness, to be trained in godliness has value in all things.

Those physical sports might have value in some things.

So there is the language of training used there and in other places too.

So it's not inappropriate for me to say that Christian worship, Christian living more generally, Christian worship in particular, is a gym.

Now I want to explain this just a little more.

Oh, brother, yes.

Hey, where do I find that rustling at in the Bible?

Colossians 4, where Paul describes the believers as, or not even the believers, it might be one individual wrestling in prayer.

I'm the name of the person who's been praying, wrestling in prayer escapes me.

That we wrestle not.

Oh, see, I beg your pardon.

Yeah, sure, sure, that's right, that's right.

Yep, yep.

But we take every thought captive, which might be a sporting imagery as well.

Can you express it a match between Jacob and God?

Yes, thank you, sure, great.

And Jacob came out of that not so well off, right?

The reason I use the language of Jim, or the picture of Jim, to describe church,

is that there are two ways of thinking about what we do on Sundays,

and both of them relate to that image.

You could come to church to have one spiritual muscle exercised,

or you could come to church to have multiple spiritual muscles exercised.

And this has been a big debate, particularly in America, for the last 150 years.

Do you come to church just to do one thing well,

or do you come to church to do five different things?

None of them might be done as well, but nonetheless, all are important for your Christian life.

Or, to sharpen a little bit further,

do you come to church to learn how to make decisions for the Lord,

to be challenged, to decide, to follow,

in which case the only muscle that's getting a workout is your willpower?

Or do you come to church to have multiple spiritual muscles exercised,

that your will, and your mind, and your imagination,

and your praying, and your serving are all stretched as well?

So, about 100 and...

It's almost 200 years ago now, I suppose,

in the United States, there was a second great awakening.

The phrase might be familiar to some of you.

And it was decided that when you're out in the fields or in the camps on the frontier,

you'd preach, but you'd preach with one particular goal,

and that is to win people to Christ,

to call people to make a decision for the Lord.

It's not a bad thing to do.

You must do it.

However, what happened then was that experience on the frontier

was taken into Sunday church services too,

so that Sunday church services became more and more just about winning people to Christ,

calling for people to make a decision for the Lord.

See, traditionally, church services had multiple features.

You'd go to church to listen to a sermon,

to read the scriptures, to say a psalm,

to sing hymns or songs,

to take communion.

You'd go to church to learn to serve your community

or to serve those who are present in the building.

You'd have lots of goals.

But from that awakening,

the goals for church were narrowed

till they were really just one kind of goal.

So I go to a church in Melbourne

which meets in a cinema.

That's fine.

And its services have one goal each week.

It's basically a few songs in a sermon that goes for an hour.

And the last five minutes of the sermon,

it's almost always,

come to the Lord,

make a decision for Christ.

That's fine as far as it goes.

But can you see what's happened?

What once was evangelism in a camp on the frontier

has now become the regular practice in Sunday meetings.

So we don't pray in our church services

where I go to church.

And we take communion very infrequently.

We never confess our sins.

Now, I go there because I'm wanting to encourage the leadership, right?

They're a young crew and that's my job in the fellowship.

And they know that I find this difficult.

And they know how I've explained

why I think church should be about exercising

five or ten spiritual muscles,

not just one.

But the pastoral team are basically evangelists.

And so they can't see past the importance

at every opportunity of calling people to Christ.

Now, if I had a blackboard or a whiteboard

or some kind of visual help,

I'd, at this stage, draw a graph.

And for those kind of services

that just have one spiritual muscle

that's being worked out,

basically, if you drew a graph,

it would be a straight line.

At the beginning of the service,

it would be kind of down at the crossing

of the X and Y axis.

And the end of the service,

you'd have risen up to a high intensity.

It's a straight line.

Everything is aimed towards the final five minutes

of the service when you call people to faith in Christ.

That's the kind of one spiritual muscle model.

Whereas at Trinity or elsewhere,

in more classically defined churches,

there's five or ten things,

ten goals for the Sunday meeting, right?

Now, that kind of graph,

if you were to draw it,

would have lots of ups and downs.

A bit of intensity.

You'd lose some intensity

because people close their eyes

and fall asleep during the prayers.

And then a little bit more intensity

as the Bible reader gets fired up.

And a little bit less intensity

when the preacher loses you in that story.

And then,

and so you see what I'm saying?

It's kind of,

it's up and down.

So it's less kind of neat.

But we're getting an all-bodied tone.

Not many people go to the gym to say,

I'm going to go to the gym for the rest of my life

only to work on my arms.

Well, there might be some weird people like that.

But you kind of,

you kind of cycle through,

I don't know these things,

I'm just making it up really.

But you kind of cycle through the apparatus, right?

So that you exercise your legs

or your upper body strength

or, I don't know,

your ears or whatever you do.

That's the way you go to the gym

to work out a series of muscles.

And it seems to me

that's what we should be doing in church as well,

working out a series of spiritual muscles.

So the revivalist model

is the one where only one spiritual muscle

is being stretched.

And the more classical church model

is where several spiritual muscles

are being trained.

Now, I get that there's a point

to calling people to Christ in Sunday worship,

and often our pastors can do a good job of that.

And I don't mind if that happens occasionally,

that you design the whole service

around inviting guests.

However, it seems to me that

our own life as a Christian

is probably jeopardised.

That's probably too strong a word.

Our life as a Christian at least

faces extra challenges

if we're not exercising

several spiritual muscles

on Sundays.

Can you see my point?

There's, not for now,

but there's also a handout

in your packet there

on something I wrote a few years ago

on two ways to worship.

Picking up this very idea

is worship about one spiritual muscle

or several spiritual muscles,

which you can read

and over Sunday lunch.

Let me make one more point

and then I'll open

for questions or comments.

It seems to me that this idea

that our Christian worship exercises

several spiritual muscles

picks up a theme

throughout the scriptures

that our spirituality

should be integrated.

That each part of your life

touches every other part of your life,

every area of your spiritual existence

is going to impact

other parts of your living.

So, for example,

on your sheet,

in 1 Thessalonians 5.23,

Paul prays that

at the return of the Lord,

the Thessalonian believers

might be sanctified

in body, mind and spirit.

That all of them

has to get ready for the Lord,

not just their willpower.

Right?

We remind in Romans 12

that Paul is asking for them to,

he's encouraging them

to think about their spiritual worship

and their spiritual worship

involves their bodies.

All of them,

not just their willpower.

In Matthew 22,

Jesus asks us

to worship the Lord

with mind,

soul and strength.

And indeed,

in Acts chapter 2,

Acts 2 · chapter mention

when the believers assemble,

they commit themselves

to four things

in their church service.

Let me just get this right

because I always forget the order.

Acts 2.42,

they devoted themselves

to the apostles' teaching

and fellowship,

to the breaking of bread

and the prayers.

So they devoted themselves

to teaching,

Bible reading and sermon,

presumably.

They devoted themselves

to fellowship.

They were engaged

at quite a deep level

with those in the group.

They devoted themselves

to the breaking of the bread,

which I take

as the Lord's Supper

because it's not just

to breaking bread,

it's to the breaking

of the bread.

It's not like

they became Christians

and said,

oh, we've got to eat now.

We've never thought

about eating before,

but now we're Christians

and we're turning up

to Sunday worship.

We need to break bread.

No, of course they were eating

before they were Christians.

But now they're committed

to the breaking

of the bread together,

to the Lord's Supper.

And to the prayers,

again with the article.

I think they had

a set form of prayers

that they used

just like they did

in the synagogue.

So my basic idea

this morning

that we'll unpack now

a little more

through conversation

is that church

is like a gym.

It's like a gym

where we try

and exercise

multiple spiritual muscles.

It probably means

that we don't do

any of the exercises

quite as well

as if we only

did one exercise.

It means that

the guy sitting next to you,

the gal sitting next to you,

is better at that apparatus

than I am.

That is,

it's a less neat way

of thinking about

Sunday worship

with lots of different

kinds of activities,

with lots of different

kinds of people

around us

exercising in them.

But nonetheless,

it seems to me

to be the more

appropriate picture

of our Christian

living generally

and our Sunday

worship in particular.

Now,

I wonder if you might

share some thoughts

or comments,

reactions

as we take

a breather.

It strikes me

that this

exercising

multiple muscles

approach to worship

is almost

painting

in an evangelistic

way

a more

whole picture

of what it is

to be Christian.

Interesting,

yes,

of course.

There is a sort

of hospitality

and call

innate.

implicit in them.

Yes,

it's a great point

that we could think

that to do evangelism

in church

is only to have

a sermon

with a particular

kind of last

five minutes

that calls people.

But actually,

it might be

in our world

also evangelism

to show people

what living

as a Christian

is like

when we say

our prayers

or when we gather

to eat and drink

together in the supper

or as we

lament.

Yeah,

yeah,

thank you.

That's a good point.

It's a kind of

narrow definition

of evangelism

as well.

Yeah,

yeah.

What's your thinking

on the importance

or not importance

of posture

that we are

to Sunday worship service?

Yeah,

it's interesting

that in some

Pentecostal circles,

kneeling has become

a thing again,

at least in Australia.

I don't know

how it works here.

That's one example

of posture

where you reinforce

with your body

an attitude

of spirit

and if the Lord

is our master

then it's appropriate

to kneel

before him,

that kind of thing.

It doesn't do much

for me,

I must say.

However,

I understand

that putting your body

on the line

and expressing

in bodily terms

what's going on

internally

might well

prove valuable

for some.

And of course

Pentecostals

might raise their

arms in the air

as well

and not just

Pentecostals perhaps

which I'm

not so used

to doing.

There's nothing

wrong with it.

In fact,

in 1 Timothy 2

quite a controversial

text.

Nonetheless,

the men are told

to raise their

hands in holy

prayer

and we don't

do that so often

as a command.

Please brother.

Somewhat outside

of the worship

context,

I feel like

at least the part

of the evangelical

church that I'm

familiar with

has overemphasized

will in

sanctification

and growing

in Christ

and holiness.

As if we just

decide hard enough

at this particular

point,

that will carry us

through.

Yeah,

sure.

There's a reaction

going on,

isn't there,

in evangelical

churches that I

visit where

we've become

so slack

in our Christian

obedience that

the preacher

often will call

for us to

make decisions

but I think

you're right,

becoming more

like Christ

involves making

decisions but

involves other

facets of my

walk as well.

So we don't,

it's not that we

want to stop

calling people to

make decisions

because there's

lots of commands

in the scripture

that we just have

to obey it,

just obey it,

okay,

because that's

what the Lord

says.

but there

are other

ways that the

scriptures encourage

or motivate us

to obedience as

well.

One of the great

things about

reading,

say,

Proverbs 1-8,

so Proverbs 1-8,

Proverbs 1-9 has

general principles

and Proverbs

Proverbs 9 · chapter mention

chapter 9 forward

for the rest of

the book are

individual Proverbs.

So you don't get

the chapter 9 on

unless you first

understood chapters

1-8.

Chapters 1-8 is

all about

motivations for

an obedient

lifestyle.

And there's a

stack of,

I think it's

in Australianism,

right?

There's a whole

list of different

kinds of

motivations in

Proverbs 1-8

which are more

than just appealing

to the will.

Sister?

I'm thinking

that the

service,

that exercises

all the

muscles

is like a

panoply of

colours.

Yes.

You know,

all different

colours.

Yep, yep.

What comes to

my mind.

Yes, sure,

sure.

And you

mentioned,

I think it

was last

week,

how you

often think

with pictures

and with,

yeah.

And I think

that's right

that this

is a

multi-coloured

tapestry

we're weaving.

I think

what happens,

interesting,

churches that

are more

focused on

calling for

decision,

is that

they actually

do use

lots of

colours in

their

building,

literally

with their

lighting,

or the,

so I think

they,

there's a

kind of

compensation

going on

within the

space,

that there's

more video

production,

which will

involve

colours.

There'll be

actual

different

lighting

gantries

or

ways of

colouring

the space

itself.

But you're

right,

it's a

multi-coloured

way of

thinking about

Sunday

worship.

Yeah.

I remember

when I first

started coming

to Trinity,

I had come

from a

church that

was much

like what

you described,

not necessarily

evangelistic,

but just

singing

sermons.

And when I

first came

here,

I felt

like I

was,

I was

given a

feast.

Interesting.

And not

just,

you know,

cookies and

milk.

How lovely.

I hope the

pastors are

hearing that.

Yeah,

sure,

sure.

I felt so

fed and

nourished.

Yeah,

sure.

And I

think that's

sort of what

you're saying.

Yeah,

yeah.

It's a

multi-level,

many different

things.

That's right.

Words in the

songs or the

sermon or

whatever.

Yeah,

yeah.

Yes,

that's right.

It's long

term,

I think it's

actually better

for our

spiritual health

to have

those different,

for the

Lord to

address us

in different

ways during

worship.

Yeah,

that's

correct.

Sometimes

I do this,

I run the

chapel services

every day

where I

teach at

Ridley.

And every

so often

when we

have

communion,

I get

people to

bring in

a whole

lot of

food and

drink to

put on

the communion

table.

So some

bottles of

wine,

some fruit,

some cheese,

some meat,

to remind us

that actually

though week

by week the

bread and the

wine are kind

of morsels,

they're very

tiny morsels.

Nonetheless,

God is offering

us eternally a

feast,

feast,

and that

filling the

table with

other food

stuffs can

perhaps remind

us of what

we're waiting

for,

and then at

the end of

the service

get people to

come and take

away whatever

it is they

want.

It doesn't

happen very

often,

but it does

happen often

enough that we

can be reminded

of the feast

that we've come

to celebrate.

Well, I

think organising

worship and

conducting

worship is an

extraordinarily

difficult skill,

especially if you

think that

Sunday worship

should be a

workout for

multiple spiritual

muscles.

It's kind of a

bit easier if

you know there's

only one spiritual

muscle you're

doing,

and then the

music for the

first half of

the service is

just loosening

you up so

that the one

muscle that

then is exercised

during or at

the end of the

sermon can be

better applied.

But leading

service or organising

worship is a

massively difficult

project,

especially if you

want to exercise

multiple spiritual

muscles.

So I've got

there a random

chart of the

kinds of things

we might do in

church, and I

haven't done the

maths, but the

permutations and

combinations on

each of these

elements interacting

with the others

in other columns

is just massive.

So for church

on Sundays we

gather, we

read, we

hear a sermon,

we sing, we

pray, we

might well say

a creed,

participate in

the sacraments,

there might be

some testimonies

or interviews,

occasionally you'll

find wedding

vows, committal

prayer, burial,

notices and a

dismissal.

The actual

elements of

the verse.

And then if

you multiply

those elements

by the

different kinds

of dimensions

of each of

the elements,

sometimes the

element is

directed upwards,

sometimes it's

directed to

those around

us horizontally.

Sometimes you're

stressing the

objective gift or

the objective

promise of God,

and sometimes

you're cultivating

the subjective,

emotional,

personal dimension.

sometimes you're

referring to the

past or the

present or the

future, sometimes

the song is more

individual, sometimes

more corporate,

sometimes you're

drawing out kind of

thoughts or

intellect, sometimes

emotions, sometimes

you're calling

people to act,

sometimes you're

asking people to

reflect.

Sometimes sight is

the important

feature, you

gather the kids

around the

baptismal pool so

they can see and

feel some of the

water splashing

over the edge, but

sometimes hearing is

the more appropriate

sense.

Sometimes we

stress space,

sometimes time,

sometimes repetition,

sometimes a unique

event that's only

going to ever happen

once for a person

like their baptism.

Sometimes it's a

serious moment,

sometimes more

humorous.

Sometimes you're

speaking for

motivation,

sometimes you're

speaking for

information.

There's tension

release, lament

and praise, gift

and demand, or

silence compared

with words.

So there's, each

of the elements can

connect with several

of those dimensions,

right?

It's actually very

complicated.

Have we had

enough of the

vertical so far in

the service?

Have we had

enough of the

intellectual?

Have we had

enough of the

praise?

And in any

service, I want

to come away and

ask the question,

have the people

today been asked

to do something,

to feel something,

and to think

something?

I ask myself the

same from sermons.

Have I, in my

sermon, asked

people to do

something, to feel

something, and to

think something?

My basic point is

that organising and

participation in

worship is actually

a really significant

and complicated

task.

But I figure that

that's still the

better option if

worship is a gym in

which we're exercising

several different

spiritual muscles.

But I have another

point to make, which

would normally be a

whole other session,

but Nick encouraged

me to do it just

briefly at the end

of this morning.

I think church is

weird.

If you're new at

the faith, or if

you've never been to

church before, we do

lots of things that

are very strange.

And you know what?

That's perfectly fine.

Because, in the end,

church is a dress

rehearsal for heaven.

Of course non-Christians

are going to find

stuff strange in our

fellowship, because

we're training for our

heavenly destination,

and to reach that

kind of destination

does require us doing

something that our

non-Christian family or

friends do find weird,

or that haven't

crossed their minds to

undertake.

So in a sense,

church could be a

classroom, or a

gym, or a

compass.

I think I said

something else in the

last few weeks as

well.

But certainly it's a

dress rehearsal,

because we're training

for the main event,

which is heaven.

So I think actually

church is heaven

brought forward.

Not because church

is perfect, like

heaven is perfect.

Of course we all

recognize that.

But what God has

done by giving us

his spirit is to

bring forward for

believers the

spiritual destination,

or in Acts chapter

Acts 2 · chapter mention

2, when the

spirit is poured out

on the day of

Pentecost.

This was fulfilling

a prophecy of Joel,

of course, in Joel

Joel 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2, that on

the last day God

would pour out his

spirit.

The spirit coming is a

sign of the end of

the world coming.

It's just that when

it did come in Acts

Acts 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2, it was

discovered that the

end of the world

comes in two parts.

Jesus' first coming

and ultimately his

second coming, his

return.

So in the meantime,

because we have the

spirit, because we are

the body of Christ and

the spirit is with us,

we are a down payment

on heaven.

We are a bit of heaven

brought forward.

Church on Sundays is a

dress rehearsal for the

main event.

as an extra reason why I

think it's okay to have

several different spiritual

muscles being exercised.

Whatever it takes,

brothers and sisters, to

get you to heaven, that's

what I think we need to be

doing in our Sunday

worship.

And so, because human

beings are complicated,

bodies and minds and

souls and spirit, then I

think it takes a number

of different elements

to rightly stretch us

and exercise us for the

main event.

If I push back a little

bit further, I'd say this.

What's the purpose of the

universe?

Now I'm getting, this is

kind of big for Sunday

morning, right?

Well, the whole purpose of

the universe is for the

Father to give a bride to

the Son, and for the Son to

return the bride as the

kingdom to the Father.

The whole purpose of the

universe is for the Father to

give a bride to the Son, and

for the Son, according to 1

Corinthians 15, to give the

kingdom back to the Father.

So, if we are the bride, if

the church is the bride that

the Father gives to the Son,

and we are the kingdom that

the Son returns to the

Father, then us, the church,

are not just a sideline in

God's plans for the cosmos.

We are at the heart of God's

purposes for the cosmos.

Because we are the bride that

he gives to the Son, and we

are the kingdom that the Son

returns to the Father at the

last day.

And if the church has that kind

of eternal, deliberate role in

God's purposes, then our Sunday

worship, of course, has to reflect

those big cosmic themes.

We are the bride, and we are the

kingdom.

That's trying to back out from the

nitty-gritty of particular elements

in a Sunday service to remind us of

the big story of the universe.

Unbelievably, right, that we are at

the heart of.

It's extraordinary.

Perhaps some thoughts or questions,

then.

I think the folks that strip elements

out of services and tend to focus on

maybe just a few things, one of their

critiques of, historically, of the

churches that keep multiple elements

is that joy and atoning rejoicing

kind of gets lost sometimes at

churches that are trying to be

faithful to all these multiple

elements.

And I think they might hear you say,

this should be a foretaste of heaven,

and I think they would be nodding

vigorously.

Yes.

And I think they would say, yes,

this is a foretaste of heaven, so

what's going to happen when Jesus

returns?

We're going to be hopping around like

wild animals and slamming that.

Yes, sure, sure, sure.

Slamming that.

So how do you respond to that?

So there are two ways of responding.

The first is to say, is heaven just

about singing songs?

Or is heaven about serving the Lord?

Of course, in Revelation 4 and 5,

the people sing a song.

In Revelation 4, it's about the creator.

And in Revelation 5, it's about the

redeemer.

So I'm not saying that heaven doesn't

involve worship.

But actually, I do want to argue that

Revelation 4 and 5 are about life after

death, but not about life after life after

death.

What heaven's going to be like is Revelation 21 and 22.

And Revelation 4 and 5 are the description of heaven

until the Lord returns to the earth.

That is, we look at Revelation 4 and 5, we say, heaven's about singing,

therefore let's do church about singing.

I think actually, Revelation 4 and 5 are about the kind of experience those

who've died in the Lord are having now.

But that's not actually the ultimate goal.

The ultimate goal is Revelation 21 and 22, the making of new heavens and earth in which

righteousness dwells.

So that's my first point, that actually, heaven's about more than singing.

It's about serving.

And secondly, the danger is, of course, in having multiple elements in our church

service, that we don't do any of them so well.

It takes lots of skills, lots of organisation, lots of different kinds of apparatuses in the

gym.

And in a sense, it would be easy to put all our time and energy into just having

kind of excellent music.

That's, of course, the downside.

That sometimes services that do a bit of everything feel a little less professional,

a little bit less kind of excellent.

I'm happy to put up with that.

What would you say to someone who said, yes, we should exercise everything,

but Sunday we do this muscle.

Wednesday we have the prayers.

Oh, yes.

Yes, sure.

I'd say that muscle.

Sure.

Well, first of all, I'd be glad that they're thinking in terms of multiple spiritual muscles,

so that's a step forward.

But it could be as well that in a church service, we exercise three particular muscles this Sunday,

but next Sunday we're aware of we want to concentrate on a different three.

I'm not saying that all 75 spiritual muscles have to be exercised in every Sunday service,

right?

And we can, through good planning and so on, make some choices.

We only have 90 minutes after all.

But I'd still say, is the spiritual muscle you're exercising on Wednesday night in your Bible study group

really seen then as a spiritual muscle that all of us need to exercise

or just for the elite who can find the time and the space to get out on Wednesday night?

Sorry.

Yes, sir.

75 spiritual muscles?

Where do you find this, that you find?

I could have said 78.

I was just making it up.

Because I backed up what you said, going back to where it got.

Yeah, sure.

Everything there is true.

Sure, sure.

Well, we can start making a list.

I can't promise it will be 75, but there's a whole lot of them there.

Where can I find them?

Start reading with Matthew chapter 1.

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

But I don't want to finish this series of studies just talking about our Sunday worship.

I want us to pray this hymn out loud together.

We won't have music, but I think we can afford to say it out loud anyway.

Which reminds us that though we worship in church on Sundays,

In the end, our worship in the world is of great importance to the Lord as well,

As we pursue our heavenly goal, our destination in heaven.

So let's say this hymn as a prayer out loud together.

Forth in thy name, O Lord, I go, my daily labour to pursue,

Thee only thee resolve to know, in all I think or speak or do.

The task thy wisdom hath assigned, O let me cheerfully fulfill,

In all my works thy presence find, and prove thy good and perfect will.

Preserve me from my calling snare, and hide my simple heart above,

Above the thorns of choking care, the gilded baits of worldly love.

Thee may I set at my right hand, whose eyes my inmost substance see,

And labour on thy command, and offer all my works to thee.

Give me to bear thy easy yoke, and every moment watch and pray,

And still to things eternal look, and hasten to thy glorious day.

For thee delightfully employ, whate'er thy bounteous grace hath given,

And run my course with even joy, and closely walk with thee to heaven.

So let me pray.

Please, Lord, help us this morning in our worship, every day in our worship,

That we might be rightly exercised,

That we might know your care and your provision,

To help us arrive safely on the shores of heaven.

Thank you for these, my brothers and sisters at Trinity,

And this opportunity to talk and to share.

Please keep us safe.

In your word, for your son's sake.

Amen.