Why the Early Church Didn’t Have “Worship Services”

[Jaime]

[Texas Conservative]

Was this guy Church of Christ?  It says he spent ten years as a "pulpit minister."

[Jaime]

Not to my knowledge. If he is I would be shocked. I've never heard his ideas about worship services in the NT from any cofc preacher, and I've heard a bunch of them!

The term "pulpit minister" IS usually an indicator  of that for sure.

Church of Christ people typically 100% refer to what we do. On Sunday morning as "worship service". This guy definitely has another slant based on what scripture say we do when we gather.

Our home group is going to discuss this video this weekend. One our our group members posed it as a subject of discussion and study.

[Texas Conservative]

He was CofC.  No wonder this was shocking to him.

The narrator, Tom Wadsworth, tells us that back in 1977 he was a Church of Christ minister in Flint, Michigan and was doing a series of sermons on First Corinthians, a chapter each Sunday. Things went along normally until chapter 14. The topic, coming out of the chapter, was what the followers of Jesus were to do when they assembled. What he did at that point was to change the course of his life from then on.

https://um-insight.net/in-the-church/umc-future/tom-wadsworth%E2%80%99s-videos-on-content-of-early-church-gatherings/

[Jaime]

Sounds like a rebel! 🤓

I finished the video this afternoon. It definitely made me think what the heck have we been doing? Definitely NOT the typical cofc mantra about the cofc being the direct link to the first century church! 🤓

[Jaime]

TC all demominations refer to what we do on Sunday as "worship" while scriture mostly points to the "one another" activities like buildingnup each other, exhorting each other and exhirting each other. He and other scholars called it then "worship anomaly" in our vernacular as opposed to what the NT described. I have NEVER heard this in any cofc or any other denomination. We go to WORSHIP, we ask WHERE do you worship, etc. Worship was rarely if ever mentioned in the NT when describing what we do when we gather. THAT is the worship anamoly he talks about. Foreign to any cofc I know, but interesting to ponder and discuss. I would like also to get Buff's take on this from his "non-edifice" home church perspective.

[Texas Conservative]

TC all demominations refer to what we do on Sunday as "worship" while scriture mostly points to the "one another" activities like buildingnup each other, exhorting each other and exhirting each other. He and other scholars called it then "worship anomaly" in our vernacular as opposed to what the NT described. I have NEVER heard this in any cofc or any other denomination. We go to WORSHIP, we ask WHERE do you worship, etc. Worship was rarely if ever mentioned in the NT when describing what we do when we gather. THAT is the worship anamoly he talks about. Foreign to any cofc I know, but interesting to ponder and discuss. I would like also to get Buff's take on this from his "non-edifice" home church perspective.

Not quite in the same way as CofC.  There are no "5 acts of worship" and it is opened by a prayer and closed by a prayer.

Also, it is a regular teaching in my brotherhood that the assembly is primarily for edification and fellowship not worship.  Corporate worship is great, the whole week is worship. 

In my neck of the woods no one asks "where do you worship?". They would ask where you go to church.  Buff and his ilk who really don't assemble on a permanent basis with any real local family of believers wouldn't like that answer.  But it is basically "who do you assemble with?"

[Jaime]

I have heard the "where do you worship" more recently because of the prevalence of home churches without the expectation of getting a denominational name or address. In my lifetime of experience in the cofc is that worship is what we consider we do on Sunday. I have come to believe that this guy is closer to the truth. Our primary role is to encourage and exhort one ANOTHER. There are some worshipful aspects of what we do though.

[Cally]

I watched his presentation on why sermons aren't biblical and it was fantastic, although how anyone couldn't figure that out on their own by reading the Bible EASILY is a mystery to me.

[Jaime]

Not quite in the same way as CofC.  There are no "5 acts of worship" and it is opened by a prayer and closed by a prayer.

Also, it is a regular teaching in my brotherhood that the assembly is primarily for edification and fellowship not worship.  Corporate worship is great, the whole week is worship. 

In my neck of the woods no one asks "where do you worship?". They would ask where you go to church.  Buff and his ilk who really don't assemble on a permanent basis with any real local family of believers wouldn't like that answer.  But it is basically "who do you assemble with?"

"Where do you go to church" has become passe' because we don't GO to Church, we ARE the Church.🧐

[Texas Conservative]

"Where do you go to church" has become passe' because we don't GO to Church, we ARE the Church.🧐

That's true.  Collectively, we are the church.  Nitpicking doesn't solve anything though. 

[mommydi]

That's true.  Collectively, we are the church.  Nitpicking doesn't solve anything though. 

You mean using the term "Bible class" instead of "Sunday school" doesn't relate to our salvation??