Ingredients for a Great Church Service

Charlie Chim
Colossians 3:16 – “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”

Have we ever taken the time to consider this very question, “What is required for a church service to be considered GREAT?”  For many of us, our lives are scheduled around our church services – and this is a good thing.  With that in mind, what determines whether or not we had a “GREAT day” in church?  

I suppose different people can give differing opinions on this subject, so I think if we want the best answer we should defer to the Word of God.

Colossians 3:16 tells us, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”

In this passage, we see a blueprint containing clear qualities that a “GREAT church service” should encompass.

1. There must be the Word of God (“Let the word of Christ…”)

The first ingredient for a GREAT church service is the Bible. The whole purpose of church is to honor God. What better way to honor the Lord than by opening up His Word and placing the emphasis on Him? There are many reasons why people go to church, but the most important reason should be to hear the Word of God.  

In order to accomplish this, we must purposely position ourselves to “hear” the Word of God if we are to have a GREAT church service.  This is a great opportunity to mention the importance of bringing our Bibles to church and following along throughout the sermon.  It would be wise for us to realize that God blesses us through His Word, and every time we put ourselves in a position to “hear” the Word of God, we are really putting ourselves in a position to be “blessed” by God.  How bless-able are we?

2. There must be growth in the Word (“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…”).

Not only should we “hear” the Word of God, but we must allow the Word to dwell within us richly – in all wisdom.  The Bible tells us in Psalm 119:11, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”  Here, we see the solution to combat sin is through God’s Word.  

Psalm 1:1-2 tells us, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.”

It is of utmost importance that we allow God’s Word not just to pass through our ear canals, but rather stick within our hearts that we may grow thereby.  A few ways we can do this is when we hear God’s Word being taught in church, we should:

A. Delight in in the law of the LORD

    • Be excited about the opportunity to hear the Word of God preached.

    • Count it a privilege!

B. Meditate day and night

    • This is in reference to having a consistent walk with God, but it also goes to speak that coming to all the church services is a good way to meditate day and night.

            o Sunday School

            o Sunday Morning

            o Sunday Night

            o Thursday Night

We call this our FOUR TO FLOURISH. Have we made the conscious effort to be at church every time the doors are open?

3. There must be teaching and admonishment (“teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs”).

Another ingredient that a GREAT church service must possess is an opportunity for learning and admonishment.  The goal is to leave the church service better than we came.  Church should not be a time filler, but should be productive.  One of the best ways we can make our time at church productive is by learning.  

It could be in the area of parenting or marriage.  It could be learning to be a better Christian.  If learning and growth is a priority, we must understand that admonishment is part of the process.  Admonishment can be explained in different ways, but most commonly, it is another word for exhorting, or rebuking, or even advising.  Church is a time where we should allow the Word of God to “shake us up a bit.”  

Never be offended when a Bible based sermon is pointed, but rather thank God for the “admonishment” He is allowing in our lives.  Unfortunately, many Christians run to churches that do next to little admonishing. They are content with “feel good” sermons that cater to their lifestyle. Thank God for the direct, Biblical preaching we get here at Pacific Baptist Church!

4. There must be singing to the Lord…the right way! (“singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord”).

Some of the most memorable church services I have ever participated in had GREAT singing!  People were just so in tune with the songs, that they didn’t care about how they sounded, how loud they were, who was looking…none of that mattered.  The most important thing to them was that God heard their song!  

We must remember that our song is for our Lord. Whether it’s the congregation singing, the song leader leading, or the special it should all be directed toward God.  If we are not careful, we can view the song service as just a filler, when in reality it is a very important part of the service.

I can tell you personally that a beautiful, Christ-honoring song service is one of the best ways to prepare me for the preaching of the Word of God.  I can also say as a preacher, that it is much easier to deliver the Word of God when you see the congregation fully in tune with God through singing.

The next time we have a service, let’s not utilize our congregational singing time as a time to talk to our neighbors or check our phones’ but rather, look at the words we are singing and meditate on them. We’ll be surprised the impact it will have on us throughout the service. I’ve even heard people mention to me that they learned doctrine or even got convicted during congregational singing!  

I’m sure we could list a few other ingredients, but I wanted to base it on what we saw from Colossians 3:16.  Now that we see the necessary ingredients for a healthy church service, let’s do our part to make sure each and every service at PBC will be a healthy one!

MEMORY VERSE OF THE DAY

Hebrews 10:25 “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching."

Charlie Chim

Bro. Chim and his wife joyfully serve the Lord together as he teaches the Foundations Adult Bible Class. They have five amazing children. Bro. Chim serves the Lord full-time as the principal of Pacific Baptist School.

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