Coming Together
Wednesday’s Verse:
From Acts 2:46 ESV
“And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts”
What is more boring: Watching soccer on TV or listening to soccer on the radio?
When I spoke with a parent whose daughter plays soccer on a travel team, his answer was, “Both.” Honestly, soccer isn't the most exciting sport, even though I do watch MLS, the Premier League, and Serie A, and have watched a bunch of World Cup matches. When I suggested to this dad that they allow fighting in soccer to spice things up, like in hockey, he said it wouldn’t help. “You still have to run up and down the field.”
Have you ever spoken with people who do not attend church services regularly? Many times, they raise similar complaints about going to church. The services are boring. The songs that are sung were written centuries ago. Can the pastor get his sermon done in less than 25 minutes? And what was the point of his droning on that long?
I thought about the early church. As Luke explains in the second chapter of Acts, early Christians went to the temple daily. They ate together at one another’s homes. Their worship wasn’t exciting, especially since they didn’t spend any time talking about Jesus in the temple. But they went together and worshiped God. And as time went on, they gathered at homes to eat, pray, and worship the God of their Fathers.
Worship is not about the modern-day understanding of what is exciting. It is all about connecting with God through His Word and in the sacrament of Christ’s body and blood. Worship is about God’s people coming together as the children of the Almighty.
As we come together this day in this devotional thought, let us commit to joining our brothers and sisters in Christ in church this weekend. Let us come together to hear our Lord and receive Him in joy and blessedness.
✝️ A Prayer for Today:
Father of my Lord Jesus Christ, guide my heart by Your Holy Spirit, so I may come together with fellow believers to praise and give thanks for all that You’ve done for us. In Your Son’s name, Jesus, I pray. Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
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