More Than Words...

This week the city of Toronto, in response to COVID-19, made wearing a mask mandatory in any public building, no sooner did the bylaw go into effect and there were people protesting their rights and refusing to wear a mask.  This seems to be the typical response of a number of people, many of whom are Christians.  I can sympathize with the concerns about government restrictions yet I wonder if our response is really any different from those who have no knowledge of Christ.    I've been studying Luke chapter twenty and looking closely at how Jesus responds to the religious authorities who oppose him which has raised a couple of important questions:    How should followers of Jesus respond to the authorities in this world?   And how are we responding to God’s authority in our lives? The question the spies bring to Jesus in Luke 20:20-26 is meant to be an impossible question.  Should we pay taxes to Caesar?  (This question is very similar to ‘Should we wear a mask in public.’)  I

Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul,  and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own,  but they had everything in common.   - Acts 4:32 (ESV) While many Christians miss getting together in a church service the ‘church service fellowship’ we miss and enjoy is barely a taste of what true fellowship in the Gospel really is.    It only scratches the surface of the depth, blessing, and power of what God really desires for us.   Many Christians today attend church services week in and week out but never experience the fellowship and unity God wants for us.   God, in His sovereignty, has allowed the church service to be taken away for a while.  Ironically it is during this time we are seeing some Christians enter into fellowship more than when they met regularly for church services!    Some have gone out of their way to make phone calls, to offer assistance, to share resources etc.    Also in a strange way using Zoom to hold m

As we rethink church in light of this pandemic, God is giving us an opportunity to take a fresh look at the scriptures and get back to the heart of being his church.   The New Testament scriptures do not teach anywhere that we must meet in a special building and hold a church service to have real church!  The early church didn’t meet in front of a pulpit, they met around the table.  So what according to the bible constitutes a real church meeting? So far we know the following…   Hebrews 10:23-25 - A church meeting is for encouraging us to be a true family, God's people in this world.   We meet to hold on to the Gospel and spur one another on to love and good works.    There is no mention of how often or any specific location only that we should meet regularly. 1Cor 11:23-26  - A church meeting remembers and proclaims Jesus. It is centred on Jesus and shaped by the Gospel.  Using the Lord’s Supper as a framework for gathering together helps keep the Gospel as the central

The purpose of meeting together as a church is not to ‘perform a service’, but to encourage and challenge one another to stay true to the faith and to be his family in a world that challenges our faith at every turn (see part 1). This global pandemic is forcing us to rethink church.  I believe this is an opportunity to take a fresh look at the scriptures and rethink church in light of New Testament principles.   As restrictions change many are beginning to talk about going back to church.   But I wonder... if all we had was the New Testament, no church tradition or experience to follow but just the New Testament teaching, what would our gatherings be like?    The modern church often overlooks the significance of the instructions Jesus left us before his death and resurrection about meeting together as a church.  "For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he

It is pretty clear now that the impact of the 2020 global pandemic will be felt for a long time.  As restrictions change we are beginning to think about going back to meeting in person but things will still be quite different for some time.   We need to ask what is God teaching us through all of this? For months now, God has allowed church buildings and services to be shut down, forcing us to find different ways to gather and minister.   I believe God is giving us an opportunity to take a fresh look at the scriptures and rethink church in light of New Testament principles. If all we had was the New Testament, no church tradition or experience, what would our gatherings be like?  How would we go about being the church? The writer of Hebrews gives us the reasoning behind the church gathering together regularly:  "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.  And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good wor