The Lord's Service: The Grace of Covenant Renewal Worship

by Jeffrey J. Meyers

Furthermore, God’s people gather for worship on the Lord’s Day in response to His gracious gifts. God summons His people to make a command performance before him. Unbelievers do not gather for worship. The Lord’s family assembles on the Lord’s Day for worship. In Christ the saints have sanctuary access. They are invited into heaven itself. If unbelievers are present, they are nevertheless not the focus of the assembly. They are not “in Christ” and therefore have no heavenly access to the Father. Jesus described the temple as “a house of prayer” (Mk. 11:17). Prayer is offered to God. In Matthew 6:1–13 Jesus warned his disciples about praying “before men.” The Pharisees loved to “pray in the synagogues” in order to “shine before men.” Jesus, however, commands private prayer. In context that cannot simply mean individual private prayer. Jesus did not oppose corporate prayer. But he was concerned that prayer be prayer and not transformed into something else like witnessing and evangelism. “Jesus was not happy with prayer that tried to be a witness. Prayer is not a form of evangelism, addressed to other people. Prayer is addressed to God.”4 Since the whole Christian assembly engages in “common prayer” in Sunday worship, it follows that evangelism per se is ruled out. Even so, as I have hinted in previous paragraphs, there is an important sense in which the Gospel is proclaimed and “evangelism” practiced in the normal Sunday assembly of God’s people. The form that evangelism tak...