ASSINIBOIA - In any reading about the Ancient Church, one will find that its members went to great effort, often at great personal risk, to gather on Sundays to worship.
The core of their worship was the celebration of their salvation in Christ, especially Jesus’ Resurrection. They gathered to live out their being united to Christ and to one another in a close fellowship.
They gathered to grow in understanding the Christian faith and in living that faith. They gathered to be nourished for their life in Christ in the celebration of Holy Communion.
Who is the Jesus we worship who is true God and true Man? How do we understand Jesus’ relationship with the Father and the Holy Spirit with the fact that the One God is in three persons?
Why did Jesus have to die and rise again for our salvation? These are the basic truths of the Christian faith.
The Church spent much time working to understand these truths so members could explain them to themselves and properly teach them. Also the Church knew it had to be able to explain the truths to non-members so they could come to a saving faith in Christ.
Ultimately, the ancient fathers and mothers of the Church knew that if anyone was to get to the heart of the basic teachings of Christianity and how the Scriptures taught them was through sharing in the worship of the Church along with regular prayer.
Christianity is not a solitary faith. It cannot be nourished only by personal prayer or watching a service on some form of media. We need to gather to share in the Church’s worship so we can enter into our life in Christ in fellowship with all in the Church.
O Come, let us worship.
