Ryan&Amber2013
Puritan Board Senior
So, I know the Reformed response that corporate worship is more so valued than private worship with the Lord. But, from my experience as a Christian, I believe most of my spiritual growth has come from personal communion with the Lord. I understand that corporate worship should be preferred over private worship, but where has the majority of your Christian growth come from? I have spent many hours in sweet personal Bible study, in deep affectionate prayer, in illuminating meditation, have listened to many great sermons, etc., while not being in the corporate gathering. I know these are aspects of corporate worship, but I think doing these things throughout every day of the week has profited me more so than the public gathering. I love the church and corporate worship, and think it is vitally important, I just wonder if the Lord truly blesses us more in corporate than He does in private. Or do we try to make it a superstition to say things like "God blesses a live sermon heard by someone on the Lord's Day more so than He blesses that same sermon heard in a bedroom on Tuesday night"?
Also, I wonder if the technology gap has an influence on this matter. Today, we can listen to any sermon online, we have study Bibles, we have digital recordings to help us sing, we have commentaries, we have all sorts of books at hand on various topics, we have the Puritan Board to ask questions, etc. Could it be that the reformers really stressed the corporate gathering because the majority of people only had access to Bibles and preaching in the corporate assembly?
Again, I love corporate worship, and we do it twice on the Lord's Day. I just don't know if I can say it has been more valuable to me than my personal time with the Lord. Also, I can see that corporate worship seems to be more important to God in Scripture, I'm just wondering overall what is most beneficial for the Christian in this life.
It is this letter from J.R. Miller to someone that caused me to start thinking about this.
"What you want, is to get into close and perfect relation with Christ himself. He is a personal Friend. It is not the church that helps you. Whatever church you join, you will find that the vital thing, after all, is your personal relation with Christ. Let me say to you for myself, that after all my years of teaching and helping others, and all my experiences as a Christian, my whole creed is summed up into one little sentence — "Christ and I are friends." No friend in all the world is so near to me as he is. I trust him, I love him, I take everything to him, I lay every burden upon him. I go to him for wisdom, for help, for the love I need in my own heart. He is everything to me as Friend. Then for myself, my whole duty is summed up in being a friend of Christ's. He says, "You are my friends, if you do whatever I command you." This includes all Scripture commands.
In telling you this, I want to help you to understand that the essential thing in the Christian life is knowing Christ, trusting him, loving him, following him, having Christ for your Friend and being his friend. Then as to the church in which you will have your spiritual home, everything depends upon your convenience and opportunity. You want a place where you will feel at home, where the people will be congenial, where you can have some personal friendships. If you like some one church, if the preaching helps you, and if the services are interesting — why should you not make your home there for the present at least? Then if, in the future, some other church should prove to be more a home to you, you can readily transfer your membership at will."
I know most of you will defend corporate worship heavily, but I'm just trying to see this from a practical perspective without any biases. Thank you all very much.
Also, I wonder if the technology gap has an influence on this matter. Today, we can listen to any sermon online, we have study Bibles, we have digital recordings to help us sing, we have commentaries, we have all sorts of books at hand on various topics, we have the Puritan Board to ask questions, etc. Could it be that the reformers really stressed the corporate gathering because the majority of people only had access to Bibles and preaching in the corporate assembly?
Again, I love corporate worship, and we do it twice on the Lord's Day. I just don't know if I can say it has been more valuable to me than my personal time with the Lord. Also, I can see that corporate worship seems to be more important to God in Scripture, I'm just wondering overall what is most beneficial for the Christian in this life.
It is this letter from J.R. Miller to someone that caused me to start thinking about this.
"What you want, is to get into close and perfect relation with Christ himself. He is a personal Friend. It is not the church that helps you. Whatever church you join, you will find that the vital thing, after all, is your personal relation with Christ. Let me say to you for myself, that after all my years of teaching and helping others, and all my experiences as a Christian, my whole creed is summed up into one little sentence — "Christ and I are friends." No friend in all the world is so near to me as he is. I trust him, I love him, I take everything to him, I lay every burden upon him. I go to him for wisdom, for help, for the love I need in my own heart. He is everything to me as Friend. Then for myself, my whole duty is summed up in being a friend of Christ's. He says, "You are my friends, if you do whatever I command you." This includes all Scripture commands.
In telling you this, I want to help you to understand that the essential thing in the Christian life is knowing Christ, trusting him, loving him, following him, having Christ for your Friend and being his friend. Then as to the church in which you will have your spiritual home, everything depends upon your convenience and opportunity. You want a place where you will feel at home, where the people will be congenial, where you can have some personal friendships. If you like some one church, if the preaching helps you, and if the services are interesting — why should you not make your home there for the present at least? Then if, in the future, some other church should prove to be more a home to you, you can readily transfer your membership at will."
I know most of you will defend corporate worship heavily, but I'm just trying to see this from a practical perspective without any biases. Thank you all very much.