Christian Heritage Church

1. Christian Heritage Church Indeed my Heritage is Beautiful To Me (Psalm 16:6b)

2. Acts 20:6-12 We sailed from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and came to them at Troas within five days; and there we stayed seven days. On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight. There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered together. And there was a young man named Eutychus sitting on the window sill, sinking into a deep sleep;

3. Acts 20:6-12 and as Paul kept on talking, he was overcome by sleep and fell down from the third floor and was picked up dead. But Paul went down and fell upon him, and after embracing him, he said, "Do not be troubled, for his life is in him." When he had gone back up and had broken the bread and eaten, he talked with them a long while until daybreak, and then left. They took away the boy alive, and were greatly comforted.

4. The Meeting of the Church • There was a Formal Gathering • They Gathered on Sunday • Their Worship was Simple • Their Worship was Obedient • Their Worship was a Priority • God was Present in Their Worship

5. There was a Formal Gathering Acts 20:6-7aWe sailed from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and came to them at Troas within five days; and there we stayed seven days. On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread… They gathered together with a purpose Acts 2:42They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

6. They Gathered on Sunday Acts 20:6-7aWe sailed from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and came to them at Troas within five days; and there we stayed seven days. On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread… Gathering on the Lord’s day was the normal pattern of the early church. Jesus rose from the dead on Sunday and first appeared to his disciples on Sunday

7. They Gathered on Sunday John 20:19So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you." There is no New Testament command to observe a Saturday Sabbath

8. They Gathered on Sunday The Jerusalem council did not impose the Sabbath on Gentile believers Col. 2:16-17 refers to the Sabbath as a mere shadow of Christ - Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day; things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. The Apostles never instructed the early church to observe the Sabbath

9. They Gathered on Sunday Gal. 4:9-10 rebukes the church for thinking they need to observe the Sabbath -  But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again? You observe days and months and seasons and years. From the earliest records of both the book of Acts and the early Church Fathers they met on Sunday

10. Justin Martyr – 151 A.D.from “The First Apology” “On the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country, gather together into one place, and the memoirs of the Apostles or the writings of the prophets are read. As long as time permits, Sunday is the day we all hold our common assembly, because Jesus Christ our Savior on the same day rose from the dead.”

11. The London Baptist Confession – 1689Chapter 22, paragraph 7 As it is the law of nature, that in general a proportion of time, by God's appointment, be set apart for the worship of God, so by his Word, in a positive moral, and perpetual commandment, binding all men, in all ages, he hath particularly appointed one day in seven for a sabbath to be kept holy unto him, which from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ was the last day of the week, and from the resurrection of Christ was changed into the first day of the week, which is called the Lord's day: and is to be continued to the end of the world as the Christian Sabbath, the observation of the last day of the week being abolished. ( Exodus 20:8; 1 Corinthians 16:1, 2; Acts 20:7; Revelation 1:10 )

12. They Gathered on Sunday There is great blessing associated with keeping the Lord’s Day Isaiah 58:13-14"If because of the Sabbath, you turn your foot from doing your own pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the LORD honorable, and honor it, desisting from your own ways, from seeking your own pleasure and speaking your own word, then you will take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."

13. Their Worship was Simple Acts 20:7-11On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight. There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered together. And there was a young man named Eutychus sitting on the window sill, sinking into a deep sleep; and as Paul kept on talking, he was overcome by sleep and fell down from the third floor and was picked up dead. But Paul went down and fell upon him, and after embracing him, he said, "Do not be troubled, for his life is in him." When he had gone back up and had broken the bread and eaten, he talked with them a long while until daybreak, and then left.

14. Their Worship was Simple There worship was simple and sincere It was in a home not a cathedral It was not a production or a performance Many modern worship services have become more like multi-media stage shows than the worship of God 2 Corinthians 11:3But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.

15. Their Worship was Obedient They were carrying out what was handed down to them by Jesus and the Apostles What the Bible prescribes is sufficient for growing the Lord’s Church, nothing else is needed Normative Worship or the Anglican view: True worship is what is commanded in the scriptures plus anything not expressly forbidden by the scriptures and false worship is only what is expressly forbidden. Regulative Worship or the Puritan view: True worship is only what is commanded in the scriptures and false worship is anything that is not commanded.

16. The London Baptist Confession – 1689Chapter 22, paragraph 1 The light of nature shows that there is a God, who hath lordship and sovereignty over all; is just, good and does good unto all; and is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served, with all the heart and all the soul, and with all the might. But the acceptable way of worshipping the true God, is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshipped according to the imagination and devices of men, nor the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representations, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures. ( Jeremiah 10:7; Mark 12:33; Deuteronomy 12:32; Exodus 20:4-6 )

17. Their Worship was Obedient It was worship centered on instruction and the ordinance of the Lord’s supper. Paul preached until midnight, they broke bread and then he continued instructing them until dawn Acts 2:42They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. The church is weakened when we minimize this part of worship

18. Their Worship was Obedient There are sometimes many things that come before the preaching and teaching of God’s Word on our list of what makes a good church Sometimes music can be exalted Colossians 3:16Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

19. Their Worship was Obedient Sometimes programs can be exalted But God emphasizes the preaching of His Word 2 Timothy 4:1-2I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. What constitutes obedient worship?

20. The London Baptist Confession – 1689Chapter 22, paragraph 3-5 Prayer, with thanksgiving, being one part of natural worship, is by God required of all men. But that it may be accepted, it is to be made in the name of the Son, by the help of the Spirit, according to his will… The reading of the Scriptures, preaching, and hearing the Word of God, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in our hearts to the Lord; as also the administration of baptism, and the Lord's supper, are all parts of religious worship of God, to be performed in obedience to him, with understanding, faith, reverence, and godly fear…

21. Their Worship was a Priority Acts 20:7-8On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight. There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered together. It was crowded There were many lamps It was a long message and they had to work the next day

22. Their Worship was a Priority Even after Eutychus fell they, broke bread and continued until dawn Acts 20:11And there was a young man named Eutychus sitting on the window sill, sinking into a deep sleep; and as Paul kept on talking, he was overcome by sleep and fell down from the third floor and was picked up dead. But Paul went down and fell upon him, and after embracing him, he said, "Do not be troubled, for his life is in him." When he had gone back up and had broken the bread and eaten, he talked with them a long while until daybreak, and then left.

23. Their Worship was a Priority Nothing in this account gives us the impression that their worship was boring or that there was something better to do. Acts 2:46-47Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

24. Their Worship was a Priority We are exhorted not to forsake gathering as a Church Hebrews 10:23-25Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

25. God was Present in Worship Acts 20:12They took away the boy alive, and were greatly comforted. God manifested Himself during worship Matthew 18:20"For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst."

26. The Meeting of the Church • Do We Honor the Lord’s Day? • Is our Worship Simple, Sincere, and Pure? • Is Our Worship a Priority? • Do We Sense God’s Presence in Our Worship?

27. Christian Heritage Church Indeed my Heritage is Beautiful To Me (Psalm 16:6b)