What happens if someone makes a mistake during worship?

Question: Thank you so much. May God bless you for the amazing work that you do. I find it hard to switch from one act of worship to another, especially when I believe the one leading has made a mistake. For example, one Sunday, during the Lord’s Supper, the one leading us in the Lord’s…

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God Conscious

https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/God-Conscious.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Psalms 139   I.         A truly godly man lives with a constant realization of God’s divine presence             A.        He is God conscious             B.        When he awakes in the morning, there is God.             C.        As he dresses for work, there is God.             D.        As he goes in to breakfast with his family, as he drives…

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Things to Bring to Worship

by Mike Wilson It’s another Sunday morning, and you are fighting to get everything and everyone ready on time. The kids are screaming, and someone is honking the horn. Most families know the feeling. As you come staggering to the car at the last second, did you forget anything? Do you have a checklist of…

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Worshipful Music

by Robert F. Turner Plain Talk, July 1969 Recuperating from surgery, I lay bedfast, half-hearing the radio. Suddenly I realized that the instrumental number being played was the very old and beautiful hymn, Near To The Heart of God, and that I was brought into a worshipful attitude as I listened. The shocking aspect of…

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The Sabbath Was Saturday, Not Sunday

by Terry Wane Benton The 7th day of the week is the old Sabbath commanded of the Israelites (Exodus 20:8-11). Are we to keep it? No! We are not under the law of Moses (Romans 7:6). The inspired apostle Paul said that the ordinances of the law were “abolished” in His flesh (Ephesians 2:15). Jeremiah…

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The Joy of Obedience

https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/The-Joy-of-Obedience.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Peter 1:3-9   I.         Despite the persecutions Christians faced in the first century, there was joy – I Peter 1:3-9             A.        A great joy, an inexpressible joy, was had knowing that they were saved             B.        That joy overrode all the hardships of life II.        This attitude is strange to a number of…

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Choirs and Solos

https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Choirs-and-Solos.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Hebrews 13:12-16   I.         Satan never stops in his relentless pursuit of God’s people to lead them astray – I Peter 5:8-9             A.        In the past, we talked about the introduction of musical instruments into the worship.                         1.         We showed from scripture that the practice was not authorized by God                         2.         We showed…

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Worship by God’s Design

https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Worship-by-Gods-Design.mp3 by Joe Greer Lessons to Build Your Faith

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Daily Religion

https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Daily-Religion.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Luke 9:23-26   I.         What kind of religion do you have? How is your faith expressed?             A.        Acts 5:42 – The early Christians had a daily religion             B.        It seems today that many have a once a week, once a month, or even a once a year religion             C.        Even in the Old…

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Early Christians Speak Concerning Assembling

by Ron Halbrook The early saints speak to us in both word and deed regarding their assemblies. Their narrative is rich with lessons for us today if only we have hearts to hear. Let us review and reflect upon the record of their meetings in the book of Acts in the first century, and a…

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Joyful Devotion

by George Slover “For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold…

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What if you are traveling somewhere where there is no church?

Question: Hello, I wanted to say thank you for the way the website is set up. This has been great to look at a topic from many points of view using the question and answers. My question is regarding attending services when you are away from the local church you’re a member of. I know…

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What About the Next Sunday?

by Terry Wane Benton Some people meet with the church on “Easter Sunday” and hardly ever anytime else. That is out of tradition, not out of thinking seriously about doing the will of God. Tradition has been in the family to at least go to church one time a year, maybe two. But what about…

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Is Bible reading a part of worship?

Question: I salute you, brother, in our Lord Jesus Christ. Is scripture reading also an act of worship along with prayer, songs, preaching, the Lord’s supper, and giving? Is there any biblical order to be done in worship? Answer: “Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching” (I…

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No Other Gods

https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/No-Other-Gods.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Isaiah 40:12-26   I.         The Ten Commandments formed the prologue to the Law of Moses             A.        They were the foundation of the Old Law             B.        Even though the Law of Moses ended, nine of those ten commandments are still in effect today.             C.        Understanding these basic laws can help us understand the New…

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Worship or Entertainment?

by Bob Prichard In our entertainment-oriented culture, many churches find themselves trying to ‘outdo’ themselves with more and more elaborate additions to worship. What began as special music by a choir becomes a full orchestra with professional soloists. A dramatic reading necessitates a full Broadway stage production. And as long as those who come to…

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Is online worship acceptable?

Question: Good morning, I hope this email finds you well. During the national lockdowns in my country, the church moved to online worship and this was beneficial in many ways. Now national lockdowns have ceased and the building is open for members to return. Attendance within some congregations has not returned to its normal level…

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Do virtual assemblies count?

Question: Hello, brother in Christ, I hope you are doing well. My question comes from Hebrew 10:25. Now I fully understand what assembling together means, but there seem to be those who say that assembling can be of anything and anywhere. So, does “virtual assembling” count as assembling as described in the Bible? For example: when the…

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Emotional Worship of God

https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Emotional-Worship-of-God.mp3 by Raymond Warfel

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Women Participating in Bible Classes

by Matthew W. Bassford Recently, I’ve been engaged in an email discussion with a brother on the subject of women participating in our Bible classes. He sees inconsistency in many congregations between Bible classes, in which women may read Scriptures, make comments, etc., and worship services, in which they are required to remain silent. He…

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Is it wrong to read a prayer in worship services?

Question: Is it wrong to read a prayer in worship services? Answer: “Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching” (I Timothy 4:13). Many of the passages of the Bible are prayers, such as Jesus’ prayer (John 17), Hannah’s prayer (I Samuel 2), Solomon’s prayer (I Kings 8:22ff),…

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Can non-believers join you for worship?

Question: Hi, I have two questions for now from reading your web site, I am sort of looking for the why and wherefore from you and God’s word. With your invitation to join the congregation for Sunday worship and Bible study; do you have any restrictions on who can and cannot join you for worship…

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Is the first day of the week Monday in some countries?

Question: I am confused over the first day of the week. Why is Sunday is the first day of the week in America but it is Monday in the UK? Does that make Monday a day of worship there? Answer: The world has always had multiple calendars in use. The one used in the United…

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Worshiping during the Coronavirus-19 Pandemic

Question: Brethren, I really appreciate the wealth of information contained on your website and it has been very helpful and insightful. I do have a current concern with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. There have been a few articles in your archive where some have inquired about proper worship as individuals as opposed to…

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Does God accept wrongly done worship if the heart is right?

Question: Hello, I understand that God does not accept vain worship (Matthew 15:8-9), that we are to worship the way the Bible teaches (John 4:23-24), and that God punishes those who worship in their own way (Leviticus 10:1-2). But does II Chronicles 30, where the Passover was held not in accordance with the Law of…

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Looking for God in All the Wrong Places

https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Looking-for-God-in-All-the-Wrong-Places.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Amos 5:4-9   I.         God wants us to seek Him             A.        It is not that God is hiding or “playing hard to get.”                         1.         God is not found unless we are looking.                         2.         Example: the child who cannot find his shoes.                                     a.         He has looked “everywhere,” but he is standing in the middle of…

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If HOW We Worship Doesn’t Matter …

by Terry Wane Benton Then it should not have mattered that Cain brought a different offering from Abel as long as he brought something (See Genesis 4). Then it should not have mattered what source of fire that Nadab and Abihu used as long as it was in their heart to offer God something (See…

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Can we pray individual prayers together in worship?

Question: Brother Jeffrey, Please, I want to know from Scriptures about mass prayer in New Testament worship. Can we pray together, when we come together, but each one prays his or her own prayer? Thank you. Answer: Worship as a church is distinct from individual worship. In a church service, everything is done to edify those…

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Can we worship at home because it is more convenient?

Question: Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Is home worship acceptable on Sunday by a family if they were unable to get to church? Can it continue for convenience? Answer: If a family wishes to establish a church in an area that doesn’t have a church nearby, that would be…

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Is watching a church service an acceptable way to worship?

Question: Hi Jeffrey, This has become popular with people. Is the video sermon a new way to worship God?  I do not like it and don’t understand how it’s right. Do you find scripture to support it because I can’t? Thank you again and always. Answer: “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching…

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Are responsive readings in worship wrong?

Question: Dear Bro. Hamilton, I live in a rural area and worship at a non-institutional congregation that’s an hour away.  This morning I completely failed to prepare properly and ran out of time to make it to Bible study and worship service in time (I won’t be making that mistake again). I stopped to worship…

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Will Bagels and Coffee Improve Our Worship?

by Ken Weliever “During our years of church planting, we tried to change people’s perceptions about what the Sunday worship would look like,” wrote Michelle Lazurek, in a recent Crosswalk.com article. “We took out pews and replaced them with pub tables and chairs, added lights and a stage and most importantly,” the award-winning author and…

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Is it a sin not to give each Sunday?

Question: Since giving is an act of worship. Do we sin on the Sundays we do not give? For example, from my understanding, we are to give as we prosper, so if I only get paid twice a month,  don’t I only give on the Sunday following when I got paid?  I got paid on…

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If a woman can say “Amen,” then why can’t she say “I disagree?”

Question: If there is such a thing as a “smell” test, I think the “Amen” at least invokes a whiff. If you accept that a woman can randomly and audibly say “Amen” (meaning “I agree” or “I concur”), why could she not randomly and audibly say “No!” meaning “I don’t agree?” Answer: There is a…

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Is the silence of women only applied to prophecy?

Question: Hey brother, Just had a quick question: How do you reconcile I Corinthians 14:34-35 applying women to the entire context beginning at I Corinthians 14:26 and not just the direct context of prophecy grammatically? I have been having issues with that. Answer: “What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has…

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How do we worship with an autistic child?

Question: Hello. I wrote to you about 5 or 6 years ago for some advice on how to help my severely autistic son during worship. Today he is 8 years old and going to worship never got easier but in fact got extremely hard, to the point where going was nothing but a major distraction…

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