Assembled at Corinth

There is more about the Lord’s day assembly for worship in the book of I Corinthians than any other book in the New Testament. Here are some points about worship in this epistle that the church and the world need to understand:

• The congregation is to assemble. This is mentioned eight times in this book (I Cor. 5:4; 11:17, 18, 20, 33, 34; I Cor. 14:23, 26). The local church is to “come together in one place” (11:20). That means “the whole church comes together in one place” (14:23). They certainly had no right to separate into “children’s church.” Today people say, “There is nothing in the Bible that talks about going to church.” Then what on earth do these verses mean?

• The church is to assemble on the first day of the week. A collection is to be taken up “on the first day of the week” (I Cor. 16:1-2). This is Sunday, not Tuesday or Thursday and certainly not the sabbath. This coincides perfectly with Acts 20:7—“Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.”

• The church is to assemble to eat the Lord’s Supper. That is the stated reason for the assembly. It is “to eat the Lord’s Supper” (11:20). It is “to break bread” (Acts 20:7). Should we do this every time we assemble on the Lord’s day? That is like asking whether we should assemble every Lord’s day. If we are to assemble on the Lord’s day, and forsaking this assembly is wrong (Heb. 10:25), then we are to come together every Lord’s day to observe the Lord’s Supper.

• Women were not authorized to preach at Corinth or in any other congregation. “Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says” (I Cor. 14:34). Paul taught this principle on a wider level of application in I Timothy 2:11-14: “Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.”

• Singing, praying and giving are all mentioned in the book of I Corinthians. Singing and praying are mentioned in chapter 14 and the contribution is found in chapter 16:1-2. No other book in the New Testament mentions all these parts of corporate worship. This does not mean that the worship assembly was not important for the Thessalonians or the Galatian churches. It just shows that God specially concentrated the information on this subject in this book.

Churches of Christ once taught and preached these things. But today many don’t want to hear about worship and how it should be done.  That is tragic and wrong. This is the teaching of the New Testament. God gave it for our benefit as a privilege and duty to be respected and obeyed. Regardless of what the world does or what some in the church want, we need to be strong in the Lord and hold to His teaching.

Kerry

West End church of Christ bulletin, February 18, 2024