catechism

Is Your Sunday Worship Driven by the Holy Spirit or an Entrepreneurial Spirit?

/ Richard Bargas / 1 Comment

“The light of nature showeth that there is a God, who hath lordship and sovereignty over all; is good, and doeth good unto all; and is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served, with all the heart, and with 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 imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation, or any other way not prescribed in the holy Scripture.”

CHAPTER XXI. Of Religious Worship, and the Sabbath-day, The Westminster Confession of Faith, Edinburgh edition.

What are the limitations of acceptable worship to God? In other words, what is allowable and not allowable when we go before the Lord in corporate worship. This question has been answered by many in the past under what has been called the “regulative principle.”

As a Christian who comes from a stream of the conservative Bible Church movement, there have been some who have decried the use of creeds such as the above Westminster Confession, instead desiring to have “no creed but the Bible.” Those of my Christian brethren that are creedal would respond that the place of confessions such as the WCF does not supersede or have any authority apart from Scripture, but organizes, categorizes, and systematizes the great biblical themes of Scripture for ease of learning and memorization. For this, I am grateful and can appreciate the beauty of such statements.

The issue of what is allowable and what is not is a good example of why such statements can be a help and benefit to the church. Today the evangelical church is awash with self-made men and ministries that are part vaudeville acts and entrepreneurial businesses. Whereas God does give us liberty in many areas regarding how He would have His Church worship, we are not given a blank check to conduct worship in any way we see fit as if God does not care so long as we are sincere. Freedom in some things does not equate to freedom in all things.

If the Lord was detailed in His prescription for Israel, it doesn’t make any sense that the Church of the New Testament was given absolutely no parameters. And although many godly men have disagreements over specific areas of worship, the point is that they are seeking to know God’s desire and not simply worshipping according to popularity or emotional responses by the congregation.

Covid-19 has pushed a lot of churches, pastors, and elders to re-examine their ecclesiology. Some started the shut-down of their churches by touting that online church is the same as in-person services, but simply an online version. But as things have dragged on, I have noticed that some of those same voices are now worried that people are not going to come back, and they are now trying to convince their congregation that online church is not the same! Of course, it is not the same.

The same is true for the ordinances. How can the Lord’s Supper be given via video? Doesn’t it represent the gathered Body of Christ? How can that be represented when we are not gathered? Some pastors have gone so far as to suggest that at-home communion include substitutes of grape soda pop or another fruit juice, and snack foods for the bread if nothing else is available!

These are not small things, dear brethren. Many in Church history have died over the sacredness of the Lord’s Table and the proper use of it. And more importantly, these things involve the worship of our God. When I hear or see the flippant and worldly worship of our God, I am reminded of God’s judgment upon Nadab and Abihu for offering strange fire upon the altar. I am reminded of God striking Uzzah dead for touching the Ark of the Covenant. I think of God’s judgment of Ananias and Sapphira for lying to the Spirit. God takes worship seriously! So should we.

Whether you subscribe to a creedal statement or not, it cannot be denied that we must worship God according to His desire, not our own.

Don’t Just Tell Them What to Do (weekend repost)

/ Richard Bargas / Leave a comment

It’s no accident that the New Testament uses the term “pastors” because of the similarities of the duties of Christian leaders and the herdsmen of the time. The pastor or sheep-herder/shepherd was to constantly be among his sheep, tending them, feeding them, watching over them, leading them, and caring for them personally.

Read the rest of the post here: Don’t Just Tell Them What to Do

The Comforting Effect of Biblical Eschatology

/ Richard Bargas / 1 Comment

I have an opportunity to look at church websites quite regularly as I try to familiarize myself with many pastors and Bible teachers that cross my path. I look at their church website because unlike the old paper phone books, it says a lot about their theological persuasion and philosophy of ministry.

Although it is not something new, I have noticed more recently that more and more churches are reducing their already paltry doctrinal statements to something even smaller and even more generic. Instead of a document that helps you to understand the convictions of this particular congregation, many says little more than that they believe in the Bible, the gospel, and God. Although these might prove that the church is evangelical (or not), they also leave anyone looking for a church with many questions.

This trend toward generic doctrinal statements isn’t accidental. It follows from the attitude that doctrine divides and that the doctrinal statement of the church should be broad and accepting of anyone that is a Christian. But those who believe this have lost sight of the difference between the local church and the universal Church. One is a local expression of Christ’s body in a particular setting, while the latter is inclusive of all true believers. While the local church is a part of the universal Church, the local church must seek to teach and defend the individual disciples within her care.

But how can you do this if nobody knows what they believe in particular areas of doctrine? Do we baptize believers or infants or is it simply a matter of personal preference? How do we understand the Lord’s Supper? Is it a memorial, or actually the physical body and blood of Christ, or some spiritual mystery? Where does the local church view the role of women in ministry? What about the form of church government? How does a church make decisions and how do they defend their view biblically?

In some churches, the doctrinal statement says nothing. And there is one other doctrine that is probably left out or made generic more than any other—it is the church’s view of the end times. Try it! Go to the website of a local church near you, the bigger the better, and look at their statement on end times. It will, at most, probably state that Jesus will return bodily to judge the wicked and bring his Church into his eternal Kingdom. It won’t say anything about the timing of these events, or what their view is of the millennial kingdom. It wont, most likely, tell you if they believe in the rapture of the Church, and whether that event (if they believe in it) will come before, during, or after the tribulation.

Now, I am not saying all churches have left these out of their doctrinal statements. Not all have. But the trend of churches is to move away from a strong eschatology to a more generic view, citing that many people disagree over which view is correct. But that is a cop-out. Many people disagree over many doctrinal issues, and yet churches still take a stand as to what that particular church teaches. Baptists teach believer’s baptism. If you don’t teach that view, at minimum, your not baptist!

Those who have moved away from such specific statements about their eschatology have often done so for pragmatic reasons—they want to gain more attendees and if they say they take one position, they know they might lose someone who is considering attending. Others have said that the leaders in the church differ on their views, and so for the sake of “unity” they don’t take a position. I wonder if these churches simply skip over the massive sections of Scripture that teach eschatology? How do they defend the faith in regard to end times teaching? I fear they probably don’t.

In reading through Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians, I am once again struck by the critical place that eschatology has in the church. Think about this: Paul wrote to the young church in Thessalonica: “Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?” (2 Thessalonians 2:5 (ESV)) I find it interesting that so many pastors claim to not teach eschatology because they haven’t settled on a view, or they are rethinking their view or they don’t teach eschatology to their church because it is so confusing and difficult. Yet, Paul reminded the church that as a regular part of discipling them in their young faith, he taught them these things. Apparently, Paul didn’t think they were too hard for the average Christian to understand, nor for him to even consider not teaching them these things.


In Chapter 2 of 2 Thessalonians, Paul actually offered comfort to the church through correcting their doctrine of the end times. It was false teaching which caused trouble to their hearts and only right teaching could correct it.

Instead of over-reacting to the former use of charts and graphs, and snarky humor about fictional Christian novels about the end times, the church today needs to get serious about studying and teaching eschatology. No pastor should lead a church if he hasn’t settled his views on the end times. I understand that we will keep studying, and by conviction might change our view. But to say, “I don’t know and I’m ok with that” is pitiful. Such a man is robbing his people of great treasures and cannot defend the faith fully if he cannot defend biblical eschatology.

From 2 Thessalonians 1-2, I have compiled a quick list of six benefits that teaching biblical eschatology brings to the church. If we fail to teach on this doctrine, then we do a great disservice to the church and rob them of many comforts and blessings.

Six Benefits of Biblical Eschatology

  1. It helps us endure suffering (2 Thess 1:5-10)
  2. It settles the heart (2:1-2)
  3. It guards against deception (2:3- 4)
  4. It produces a thankful heart (2:13-14)
  5. It grounds us in the faith and the Word (2:15)
  6. It produces a comfort that promotes continued ministry (2:16-17)

Biblical Reform that Leads to Biblical Revival, pt. 3

/ Richard Bargas / Leave a comment

In this series of posts I have been demonstrating the reforms that lay the groundwork for biblical revival. Those can be found here and here.  Just as a caution, I don’t want to overstate my case. These are not sure-fire steps that lead to certain revival. There’s enough of that nonsense in the church today. The Bible doesn’t give that sort of prescription. But as we have seen, the Bible does teach through precept and example. In this case, we have looked at the reforms of Kings Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah and Josiah along with the observations of Jonathan Edwards and his participation in the Great Awakening.

Previously we have seen that biblical reform must come in the areas of leadership and a high regard for the Word of God. Today we will look at the need to reject everything that is contrary to God’s Word and will.

3. Rejection of Everything Contrary to God’s Word and Will-2Chron 17:6; 30:14; 31:1; 34:3-5

King Jehoshaphat was clear about the prohibition of idol worship. So had all the other kings before him that had allowed it. But in 2 Chronicles 17:6, it tells us that Jehoshaphat did something about it. The text says that “his heart was courageous in the ways of the Lord.” This courageous heart sought to obey the Lord in all things, including the destruction of the popular high places of worship and the Asherim.

For his part, King Hezekiah did similarly brave acts recorded in 2 Chronicles 30:14 and 31:1. And Josiah at the ripe young age of 20 likewise followed in the godly footsteps of these two kings (2Chron 34:3-5), making sure to defile the graves of the pagan priests.

We see that often times the problem isn’t knowing what the will of the Lord is or where we can find counsel in His Word. The problem so often in the church is that it lacks leaders with backbone and deep conviction of heart to risk losing everything in order to bring things into biblical alignment.

Jonathan Edwards wrote that when the Spirit began to actively sweep through New England, not only was there the fruit of godly leadership and a respect for the Word of God, but the people began to show signs of radically changed lives. Edwards described them as people who lived not for the pleasures and amusements of this world but for the  breaks in between their daily work and their free time to engaged in spiritual activities. These renewed Christians prayed and read the Word together; they put aside their sinful amusements and picked up new, godly habits. Edwards wrote that hardly a conversation was had that didn’t include talk about Christ. True biblical fellowship began to sprout afresh in New England.

Our culture is saturated with filth and worldliness. But it seems that there is a massive pipeline that pumps that filth right into Christian homes. And if it comes into our homes, it is often coming into our churches. Our churches are becoming Corinthianized–adapting the church to fit into the sinful elements of our culture instead of reaching out to the sinful world we live in with the life-giving gospel of Jesus Christ.

What we need is a return to the Word. We need to realize that our too many Christians are being entertained to death. They are overwhelmed with cable TV, streaming movies, the internet, streaming music, social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. I know that many of these social media sites can be used for good purposes (including blogging), as well as for evil. We must help our churches, and for some of us, even our own families,  see what God outright rejects as, while we teach them what he expects. This begins with a reformation of the heart. Only when the heart is changed will those attractions of the world begin to lose their luster and Christ will be seen for the treasure that He truly is.

Children Need to Be in “Big Church”

/ Richard Bargas / 1 Comment

Real men teach their children about Jesus!Justin Taylor recently referred to the following blog post by Joe Holland about talking to our kids about the Sunday sermon. Unfortunately, too many churches don’t even allow children in their services because they “disturb” their parents. Joe’s tips reaffirm the need for Christian parents to start parenting again if they have fallen into the trap of thinking that children’s church or their Sunday school teacher is somehow responsible for their child’s spiritual well fair.

At Grace Baptist, we don’t have a children’s program, and it’s not because we don’t have volunteers. It’s because children need to learn to sit under the Word preached, to sing hymns of worship and for parents to continue the conversation as they spend the rest of the Lord’s Day reflecting upon what they have all learned.

So, with great pleasure I commend to you Joe Holland’s tips:

8 Tips for Talking to Kids about the Sermon

They sit there next to you and their feet don’t even hit the floor.  You’re thinking, “What, if anything of this guy’s sermon is sinking into my kid’s head?”  And with that little thought you’ve already decided not to engage your child about the sermon.  But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Let me introduce you to the most important rule when talking to your kids about the sermon: They retain more than you think they do. The second most important rule is like it: They understand more than you think they do.

In the interest of these two truths I’m writing this brief guide on how to talk to your kids about a sermon.  I’m writing it both as a preacher and as a parent of four boys under the age of 8.  I’ve failed, succeeded, and failed some more at talking to my kids about Jesus.  Hopefully the tips you find below will help you as they’ve helped me.

At the heart of the gospel is Jesus introducing us to his loving Father.  In worship we get to make a similar introduction—we get to introduce our kids to Jesus.  Don’t miss that opportunity.

8 Tips for Talking to your Kids about the Sermon

  1. Remember the outline. It doesn’t matter if you keep written notes or not.  Remember the gist of what is being taught.  If your pastor preaches for 40 minutes, then try to make a mental note of what you’ve covered at the 20 minute point.  Don’t be discouraged if you can’t get every point.  Get as many of the big ones as you can.
  2. Know the one, main point. Every passage and every sermon—no matter what your pastor says—has a main point.  Grab it when you see it go by and don’t let go.  And as a word of caution, every preacher has a bad day.  Sometimes the structure of the sermon looks like a piece of abstract art.  If so, do the best you can.  But don’t let the guy close in prayer without having a main point in your head.
  3. How is Jesus the hero? Now that you have an outline and main point, make sure you have Jesus too.  How was Jesus the hero of the sermon?  Kids are incorrigibly self-centered—and so are a few adults.  Make sure you have a ton to say about Jesus, no matter what the passage or where the preacher went with it.  Without an emphasis on Jesus your little saints will grow up thinking that the Bible is all about them.
  4. Engage your kids with open ended questions. You know the outline and you can keep to the main point.  You know you’re going to talk a ton about Jesus.  Now engage your kids with any kind of question you can think of… except ones that can be answered, “yes” or “no”.  Here are some examples:
    • In the story questions: “What would have thought if you were an Israelite soldier and saw big ol’ Goliath walking up to little David?”
    • Emotions questions: “If you were blind, how would you feel if Jesus put his hands on your eyes and fixed them so they could see?”
    • Leading questions: “The rich young ruler was wrong because he thought he could earn God’s favor.  Why is it silly to think we can earn God’s favor by doing enough good things?”
    • Action questions: “What would you have done if Jesus had made a hurricane turn into a cool breeze right in front of you?”
    • Application questions: “If Jesus has forgiven you, do you think you can forgive Tommy when he wings a Tonka truck at your head?”
    • Use your imagination questions: You know your kids best.  Make up some questions.
  5. Make sure the gospel is clear.Jesus died for sinners. It’s very simple and can get very complex.  But no matter the passage, don’t you dare teach your kids moralism.  Tell them that Jesus has done everything necessary for them to know that God is overjoyed with them.  When you tell them to do something, feel something, or think something, show them how those things are motivated by God’s love and not by fear, guilt, or pride.
  6. Be the first to pray and confess. Talking to your kids about the sermon is as much letting them watch you learn from the sermon as it is teaching them about the sermon.  If the preacher is helping your congregation diagnose sin, show your kids how it affected you.  You could say, “You know, sometimes, daddy struggles with being angry.  And it’s then that I realize I really need Jesus.”  And when it comes time to pray, let them pray after you.  Model for them what it looks like for a Christian to talk to God.
  7. Chase rabbit trails. Your kids will lead you down them.  Go with them.  You’ll find out a ton about how they think.  And you may just enjoy the unexpected stroll off the beaten path.
  8. Remember the first two rules. After all this, it may be you feel like it was a complete waste of time.  It’s at that point you must remember the first two rules:
    • They retain more than you think they do.
    • They understand more than you think they do.

And I promise you this, they will remember these times with you.  They will forget a ton.  But they won’t forget Sunday afternoons with daddy and mommy talking about Jesus.

 

Amen and amen!