This group of five friends and co-workers were filled with joy after receiving Jesus Christ. They looked at one another and our team members, and asked with eager expectation, “now what do we do?!”
They didn’t know any other believers in their small city in southeast Asia. How were they to worship God together and grow in Christ together? This is what they wanted to know. What would you tell them? How might you help them?
Worship 101
Here is what those creative team members of ours did. They helped those new believers see themselves as the beginning of a church and helped them craft their first worship service.
The team had to think through all of this from the ground up, looking at Scripture again for themselves. They were meeting with the new believers the next day in the afternoon to answer their question, and they had to keep it simple.
They decided to teach on the most basic elements: prayer, Scripture reading, singing praise to God, teaching the Word, caring and praying for one another. More involved topics such as the Lord’s Supper, and matters of church life, would need to be covered by national partners later.
Nonetheless, this still would not be as simple a meeting as it might sound. These new friends didn’t know anything about prayer. What is prayer? How do Christians pray? And when it comes to reading Scripture, let alone studying it together, where should they start? How will they understand properly? Singing will be wonderful, but what kind of songs should they sing? Where will they find the songs and music?
At least the part about sharing their lives, caring for one another, and praying for one another would be easy.
Worship Practicum
The biggest obstacle in all their meetings early that week was the constant distraction of mobile phones. So, when they wrote out the liturgy for the group it began with the ritual of silencing mobile phones in order to focus on worshipping God and learning from His Word.
The mission team crafted a simple order of worship to follow for now. They provided the group of new believers with many Scriptures to use and study, and of course Bibles for those who didn’t have one.
They talked through all the worship ideas together, looking up Scripture passages and learning together by asking and answering questions. It was a blessed time for all!
Then it was time to do it—how exciting this would be! This was their very first experience of worshipping God and as a community of believers in Jesus! So the group of eight, Asians and Americans, worshipped God together for a long time.
When the afternoon came to a close, the new Christians asked how often their group should get together and worship the Lord and study His Word? What they really wanted to know was how soon they could do it again!
More to Come
For all that was accomplished that day and that week with this small group of believers, there was so much more for them to learn about worship and living life together in Christ. They had many more questions. And our sub-team of three had hearts full of so much more to share.
It would be up to our trusted partners to nurture this group of believers, and help them grow into a thriving young church. Ultimately, we must entrust new believers and young churches to the Lord’s care in whom they have believed. And He will care for them!
They didn’t know any other believers in their small city in southeast Asia. How were they to worship God together and grow in Christ together? This is what they wanted to know. What would you tell them? How might you help them?
Worship 101
Here is what those creative team members of ours did. They helped those new believers see themselves as the beginning of a church and helped them craft their first worship service.
The team had to think through all of this from the ground up, looking at Scripture again for themselves. They were meeting with the new believers the next day in the afternoon to answer their question, and they had to keep it simple.
They decided to teach on the most basic elements: prayer, Scripture reading, singing praise to God, teaching the Word, caring and praying for one another. More involved topics such as the Lord’s Supper, and matters of church life, would need to be covered by national partners later.
Nonetheless, this still would not be as simple a meeting as it might sound. These new friends didn’t know anything about prayer. What is prayer? How do Christians pray? And when it comes to reading Scripture, let alone studying it together, where should they start? How will they understand properly? Singing will be wonderful, but what kind of songs should they sing? Where will they find the songs and music?
At least the part about sharing their lives, caring for one another, and praying for one another would be easy.
Worship Practicum
The biggest obstacle in all their meetings early that week was the constant distraction of mobile phones. So, when they wrote out the liturgy for the group it began with the ritual of silencing mobile phones in order to focus on worshipping God and learning from His Word.
The mission team crafted a simple order of worship to follow for now. They provided the group of new believers with many Scriptures to use and study, and of course Bibles for those who didn’t have one.
They talked through all the worship ideas together, looking up Scripture passages and learning together by asking and answering questions. It was a blessed time for all!
Then it was time to do it—how exciting this would be! This was their very first experience of worshipping God and as a community of believers in Jesus! So the group of eight, Asians and Americans, worshipped God together for a long time.
When the afternoon came to a close, the new Christians asked how often their group should get together and worship the Lord and study His Word? What they really wanted to know was how soon they could do it again!
More to Come
For all that was accomplished that day and that week with this small group of believers, there was so much more for them to learn about worship and living life together in Christ. They had many more questions. And our sub-team of three had hearts full of so much more to share.
1 Thessalonians 2:8 ESV “So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.”There is so much more to this story that could be told. Likewise, there are many similar stories to tell coming out from this region of the world, both of success and failure. One final valuable lesson to highlight is that working alongside local Christians and under the vision of local churches is a great honor and comfort.
It would be up to our trusted partners to nurture this group of believers, and help them grow into a thriving young church. Ultimately, we must entrust new believers and young churches to the Lord’s care in whom they have believed. And He will care for them!
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