by Shana Rank
It has been years since I sat on that couch and chairs in my grandparents’ basement. The pieces are antique, and include an early American cane-back sofa and matching chairs. I always remember the set looking well-made and historically interesting — not incredibly comfortable, but that could always be improved. I inherited these three pieces, and they now sit in my garage. They have worked their way up from the basement, and are presently a new shade of white. I have big plans for these pieces of furniture, and plan to refurbish them completely.
Instead of completely stripping and refinishing the wood, I opted for sanding and painting. The labor would be less this way, and I wanted to keep the cost of this project to a minimum. Something interesting has happened in the last month. Since being painted, the dark brown stain from this 100 year-old furniture is seeping to the surface, so instead of white wood, there are areas of pink. Not so good.
I can’t help but think about the spiritual parallels of my situation! I chose to skip an expensive step in this project—refinishing. Instead of stripping the wood down to its base, I thought I could cover up the old with a new glossy white paint. It makes me wonder when I ask God for forgiveness, do I fail to follow through and change my behavior? What am I glossing over with a fresh coat of paint? I can take this example of my furniture project as a friendly reminder–to always refinish my behavior completely.
Why do you use the current Hebrew Calendar for establishing the dates of God’s annual Holy Days?
God’s Church decided more than 70 years ago that we must follow the current Hebrew Calendar in order to be able to observe the annual Holy Days at their proper times. (For more information on God’s annual Festivals, please read our free booklet, “God’s Commanded Holy Days”). However, over the years, some concluded on their own, without godly authority, that they should deviate from that decision. As a consequence, estimates suggest that there are no less than 500 versions of “calendars” in existence, all claiming that their version is the one and only correct one, and the result is utter confusion, while God states very clearly that HE is NOT the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33).
It is high time to revisit the issue of the Hebrew Calendar, and to reiterate and reemphasize the Church of God’s BINDING judgment on the matter. In this Q&A, we will deal with the decision rendered by the Church of God. In a subsequent Q&A, we will discuss some of the principles to keep in mind, in order to properly and accurately understand the Hebrew Calendar.
In our Statement of Beliefs, we point out the following:
“The major doctrines of the Church are those, which were taught by Herbert W. Armstrong, derived from the Biblical teachings as followed by God’s faithful servants, and originally established by Jesus Christ through the founding of His Church in the time of His chosen early apostles. Since we are to increase in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, we are committed to review and alter any of our teachings, if and when proven to be wrong by the Bible.”
As early as 1940, Herbert W. Armstrong, the late human leader of the Radio Church of God and the Worldwide Church of God, wrote the following in a Good News Letter:
“… unless God has preserved His sacred calendar through the Jews, then we do not know how to figure Passover or any of the Holy Days… For there is no authority for any other way…”
Through the years, the Church of God has maintained this position. It is based on the biblical revelation that God entrusted the Jews with the preservation of the Hebrew Bible, as well as the “oracles of God” (Romans 3:1-2), including the week and the calendar.
We stated the following in our free booklet, “The Meaning of God’s Spring Holy Days” :
“We need to understand properly what exactly was given to the Jews—what is meant by the word ‘oracles.’ In Romans 3:1–2, we are told that the ‘oracles of God’ were committed to the ‘circumcision.’ At the same time, we are told that ‘their unbelief’ did not make ‘the faithfulness of God’ without effect (verse 3). The Greek word for ‘oracles’ is ‘logion.’ It is also used in Acts 7:38; Hebrews 5:12; and 1 Peter 4:11…
“The ‘Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words,’ by W. E. Vine, points out: ‘Logion, a diminutive of logos, a word, narrative, statement, denotes a Divine response or utterance, an oracle; it is used of (a) the contents of the Mosaic Law, Acts 7:38; (b) all the written utterances of God through the O.T. writers, Rom. 3:2; (c) the substance of Christian doctrine, Heb. 5:12; (d) the utterance of God through Christian teachers, 1 Pet. 4:11’…
“The Broadman Bible Commentary agrees and adds: ‘The oracles of God are the Old Testament in general, not just the promises alone as some commentaries suggest. The Septuagint uses this term for ‘the words of God’ in the law (Num. 24:4,16) or in the Psalms (107:11), and this seems to be the meaning in the New Testament… Possession of the Scriptures would be of no advantage if they were never heard, but Paul assumes they are heard every Sabbath.’”
In our free booklet, “God’s Commanded Holy Days,” we point out on pages 2–3:
“God has revealed in His Word exactly when the Sabbath starts and when it ends. God reckons each day, including the Sabbath, beginning at sunset and continuing through until the following sunset. Today, we would say that the Seventh-Day Sabbath starts Friday evening, when the sun sets, and lasts until Saturday evening, at sunset.
“We know from the Jewish people when to keep the Sabbath. It is the Jews to whom God committed His revelations or His ‘oracles,’ as Paul clearly explains in Romans 3:1–2. These ‘oracles of God’ included the Old Testament Scriptures, as well as the knowledge of the week and of the Sacred Calendar. The Jews preserved the knowledge of which day the seventh day of the week is. Without an understanding of when a week begins and ends, we would not have been able to tell, from the Bible alone, which day the seventh day of the week actually is. Today, the Jews keep the Sabbath on Saturday, beginning Friday evening, at sunset. Nobody questions today that the Sabbath, as preserved by the Jews, is the seventh or last day of the week. All understand that Sunday is the first day of the week…”
In 1940, Herbert Armstrong stated this in the above-mentioned letter:
“God did not commit His oracles, or the preservation of His times, to profane history… they have been preserved by the Jews. After thorough study of the Bible, of the Hebrew calendar, of history and every angle… we have unanimously agreed that the Hebrew calendar has been preserved correctly by the Jews…”
In a Good News article of April 1981, titled, “The Hebrew Calendar—Authoritative for God’s Church Today!,” Herman L. Hoeh wrote the following:
“The Worldwide Church of God has followed this authoritative decision ever since. Others can go their own way—till the judgment.”
In passing, if you have any doubt that God inspires the leadership of His Church to make binding decisions in certain matters, please read our Q&A, “Could you please explain the extent of the power that Christ gave in Matthew 16:19, to ‘bind and loose’?”.
In the above-mentioned article on the Hebrew Calendar, Dr. Hoeh continued:
“But what were the oracles committed in a public way to the Jews? The Hebrew Bible only? By no means! The Hebrew calendar also! For without the calendar, it would be impossible to fulfill correctly what is written in the Hebrew Bible about the hallowed annual times. And not only the Bible and calendar, but the week also. These three—Bible, calendar and week—are all part of the oracles committed to the Jews for all mankind…
“By faith we know we have copies, providentially preserved, of the original Word of God. By faith we know that the leadership in the Jewish courts did preserve the rules of the calendar God committed to them—even though they themselves have not wanted to follow those rules at all times. It is all a question of government—whether God is capable of ruling…”
For a thorough discussion and proof that God DID in fact preserve the writings of the Bible—both the Old and the New Testaments—please read our free booklet, “The Authority of the Bible.” Continuing with the above-quoted article:
“The scribes—copying of the text of the Hebrew Bible was one of their duties—were in authority. Jesus said so [compare Matthew 23:3-4]. They sat on Moses’ seat… And the Pharisees, too, sat on Moses’ seat. It was their court that determined the Hebrew calendar. It was their court’s decision that determined which day was the beginning of each month. Once that was determined it was the people’s responsibility to keep holy the days God made holy—according to the dates on the Hebrew calendar, not on some other calendar. “Were the scribes perfect men, without sin? Were the Pharisees perfect men, without sin? By no means! Jesus made that plain. Yet He also made it plain that they had the responsibility under God to preserve the written Word of God, the week and the calendar. It was not somebody else’s responsibility…
“The Jews’ chief leader, Hillel II, whose responsibility it was to regulate the calendar, was forced to issue a decree for the year A.D. 358-359 to (re)institute the authority of the fixed calendar we know today as the Hebrew calendar… the authority of Jerusalem in the person of Hillel II did speak in A.D. 358-359 to authorize the present Hebrew calendar throughout the future until such time as a new court sitting in Moses’ seat be reestablished in Jerusalem…”
Kenneth Herrmann wrote in the Good News, October 1957, that the information on the system of the calendar calculation was made public “so the broken and scattered Jewish nation… would be able to continue the observance of God’s feast days in accordance with the new moons as calculated from Jerusalem.”
Subsequently, in the July-August 1996 edition of the Global Church News, two articles were published by Raymond F. McNair, titled, “Which Calendar has God Authorized?” and “What are the Postponements?” The first article was also published in the German language (“Welcher Kalender ist in Gottes Augen gueltig?” [“Which Calendar Is Valid in God’s Eyes?”]). It appeared in the January 1999 edition of “Die Welt der Zukunft [“The World of the Future”].” We will discuss postponements in more detail in a subsequent Q&A. But as Raymond McNair pointed out in his article on postponements, they “delay—by either one or two days—the beginning of the first day of Tishri, which is the seventh month of the ecclesiastical year.”
Some who have construed their own calendar, insist that postponements must be rejected. They are wrong. Raymond McNair explained:
“… from the very beginning certain postponements had to be incorporated in the Sacred Calendar—simply because it is not possible to construct it without them… God Almighty gave Moses certain necessary oral instructions regarding His calendar that are not recorded in the Bible. And, through the centuries, God must have inspired the Jews in such a way as to utilize the postponements… The Bible itself says absolutely nothing about postponements. So, if God’s Word does not condemn postponements, then who are we to say that the Jews, the custodians of God’s Word and His Calendar, are wrong in including them…”
In conclusion, we reiterate the Church of God’s long-standing position that we are to follow the current Hebrew Calendar, as preserved by the Jews, for the correct dates of the annual Holy Days. No one else has God-given authority to devise his own calendar. It IS a matter of government, authority and faith—are we trusting in and obeying God and His Word, or aren’t we?
Lead Writer: Norbert Link
Preaching the Gospel and Feeding the Flock
We are delighted to announce that on October 1, 2011, Donna Callender (46) was baptized in Summerland by Rene Messier. She has an 8 year old son and is originally from Texas. She lives currently in Penticton, Canada. We are congratulating Donna and welcoming her in the Spirit-begotten Family of God.
A new StandingWatch program was posted on our Web site (www.standingwatch.org) and on YouTube, titled, “Obama Disappoints the World.” Note these comments from this week’s international press: Frightening deterioration between the US and the Eurozone. Germany and America on collision course. Obama’s lecture on the euro crisis fundamentally wrong, overbearing, arrogant, absurd, embarrassing, pitiful and sad. The U.S. can’t be relied on. It has once again betrayed Palestinians and abdicated its global leadership role. Pax Americana in the Middle East is over. Why is this happening? Does the Bible tell us why? It most certainly does, and you need to know.
Norbert Link’s video-recorded sermon, “The Feast of Trumpets in Isaiah” was posted on YouTube and our Web (www.eternalgod.org).
A new German sermon was recorded and posted on YouTube and on our German Web site (www.aufpostenstehen.de). It is related to the Day of Atonement and is titled, “Hoffnung fuer die Welt’ (“Hope for the World.”).
A Clearer Picture
by Phyllis Bourque
I recently read an internet article entitled, “Lenses shield 9/11 photogs as they capture history.” It questioned how those who photographed the event could bear to keep working in the face of such tragedy. One photographer said that his lens acts as a filter, that “the things are happening over there, on the other side.” Another was quoted as saying, “I let the camera absorb all the disaster or the sadness of an event. It protects ME from the event.” The article noted that these photographers knew only what was happening right before their eyes…not realizing the bigger picture of what was going on.
While I wasn’t there in person, I was there emotionally, owing to the very graphic portrayal through hundreds of photos and videos available on the internet. I was there–falling from the building, choking on the ashen dust, gasping for life! Watching such tragedies in the news takes a toll on me…
As I read the accounts of these photographers, I began to think about the constant barrage of news articles, photos and videos of human suffering all around the world due to wars, tsunamis, flooding, drought, famine, etc., every day more death and destruction, helplessness and despair! Add to this, the stressors in my personal life, and I had to ask myself, how I can bear to watch news that is always bad? I know that these things are prophesied, and I know they will get worse, but how can I have a balanced approach to being aware of world events without allowing it to hover like a dark cloud over each day?
The short answer is, God. But in what way, personally, for me? I found the answer to be in communicating with God–reading the Bible, talking with Him, and using His Holy Spirit within me to help me deal with this life. I found the answer to be in paying attention to the messages delivered by God’s ministers through sermons, the StandingWatch programs, the published booklets, and the weekly update, to help me correlate the issues of life with what God says. And I found the answer to be in fellowshipping with God’s people, who are of the same Spirit, so that we can all encourage each other in times of distress. God has given me all of these resources so that I can live a balanced life in an unbalanced world.
I see then, that focusing my “lens” on the greater plan and purpose God is working out on this earth, gives me a clearer picture of what it all means. From this viewpoint, I feel motivated to continue to move forward in my conversion, using God’s Spirit to overcome personal faults and weaknesses, to become better prepared for what lies ahead, both in this life, and the next.
As we are commanded to give offerings on God’s annual Holy Days, how much should we give?
No specific amount in regard to Holy Day offerings is mentioned, but God’s Word includes guidelines and principles that can help us to decide how much to give.
Firstly, we must keep in mind that we cannot out-give God. Secondly, those of us who have been in the Church of God for a while know about the existence of the annual Holy Days and God’s command to give an offering on those days. We have time to prepare and save for these offerings so that we do not have to make a last minute decision as to how much we may want to give on a particular Holy Day.
In a recent Editorial in Update #484 (for the week ending March 18, 2011), titled, “Offerings,” we said the following:
“We must be committed to the Work of God in supporting its effort to preach and publish the gospel of the kingdom of God in all the world as a witness. The gospel is a message of good news from the God Family, including the fact that God’s government will be established on the earth at the return of Christ. We manifest our financial commitment to God not only by tithing to the Work, but also by additional financial means. Tithing is required; but if we only carry out our duty, then we are rendered unprofitable servants…
“A much better way of telling how deep our commitment to God and His Work is, is by focusing on our offerings to God. They will show where our heart is, and where we want our treasure to be. Matthew 6:21 tells us: ‘For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.’
“We are commanded to tithe, and we are commanded to give offerings. The amount of the tithe—ten percent of our increase or earnings—is pre-determined. The amount of our free-will offerings is not. And how we determine these amounts is indicative of where our heart really is…
“Of course, when we pay God’s tithe and give Him an offering, we are not to boast about it, but we are doing it quietly, discreetly, and from the heart. God can and will, in His due time, bless us openly when we behave with a right attitude…”
God was very displeased with the attitude of the nation of Israel towards their duty to pay tithes and offerings, including on His annual Holy Days, and He expressed His anger in no uncertain terms in the book of Malachi:
“Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation” (Malachi 3:8-9).
So, it is evident that a person can rob God by not tithing or not tithing properly, or by not giving any offering or giving an offering that does not reflect the blessings received from God (compare Deuteronomy 16:16-17). Rather than being blessed by God even more, because of our gratitude and appreciation to God in giving generous offerings, God may pronounce a curse on us for neglecting God’s blessing in our lives.
We understand that salvation is a gift from God. However, God will not grant us salvation if we show Him through our conduct of neglect, indifference and outright rebellion that we are not interested in His gift. The continued failure of obeying God even in matters of tithing and Holy Day offerings could even lead, ultimately, to the loss of salvation.
In this context, it may be a good idea to analyze the following questions prior to giving an offering:
1- What would we be willing to pay for salvation, if it was for sale?
2- What is the value of salvation to us?
3- Is refusing to give an offering worth the price of the loss of salvation ?
As stated in Deuteronomy 16:16-17, we are not to appear before God empty-handed on His Holy Days, and we are to give as we are able, according to the blessing of the LORD our God which He has given us. This blessing throughout the year is not limited to just financial blessing. It could include the blessing of good health, of a sound mind, of precious spiritual knowledge and understanding, of having a job and a happy family—things which are difficult to value with a price tag. But they all come into play when we determine the amount of our Holy Day offering.
We also read the following principle in 2 Corinthians 9:6-11:
“But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. As it is written: ‘HE HAS DISPERSED ABROAD, HE HAS GIVEN TO THE POOR; HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS ENDURES FOREVER.’ Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.”
God is telling us here that if we give “sparingly,” “grudgingly” and “out of necessity,” we cannot expect generous blessings and enrichment in everything from God, including grace and increase in the fruits of righteousness. At the same time, God does not expect of us to give what we don’t have. It is mainly a question of right attitude. That our attitude plays a big part in giving an offering, and that it is of great importance to God, can be seen in the following passage in Luke 21:1-4:
“And [Christ] looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. So He said, ‘Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.’”
In the above record, Christ blessed a widow who only gave two mites–a very small amount–but that was all she had at that time. Her attitude was such that she wanted to give, and Christ used her as an example of generous giving in the eyes of God, even though the rich gave much more, but they did it out of their abundance. Christ was not rejecting the offering of the rich, but in comparison with the widow, she gave much more.
We conclude from the foregoing that it is possible for us to rob God by not tithing faithfully and by not giving generous Holy Day offerings, in accordance with how
God has blessed us. We should plan ahead as to how much we want to give and how we can reach that goal.
We cannot put a price tag on God’s gift of eternal life, but we could lose out on eternal life by not obeying God, including in giving Holy Day offerings in accordance with His injunctions. We are commanded to appear before God with an offering; that is, not empty-handed. Blessings from God come in different forms; they include the physical realm, but they are not limited to just the physical. Our attitude in giving is very important to God.
God expects of His followers to give offerings on His annual Holy Days. They are an opportunity for us to express our gratitude for our calling and the blessings, both physical and spiritual, that God bestows upon us throughout the year.
Lead Writer: Rene Messier
Unity of the Faith
We have the opportunity to meet once a week and now with the upcoming God-ordained Feast of Tabernacles, we will have the chance to up the ante. Including the Last Great Day we will be meeting eight days in a row which will give us the occasion to be with like-minded people.
Will we be unified? Will we all be on the same page spiritually? If we all have the Holy Spirit of God, then we will be — case closed.
There is ONLY “one body and one Spirit” because there is only “one God and Father of all” (Ephesians 4:4-6). So if we are of this body and have the same Spirit, then we will all be on the same wavelength. We will be unified in our approach towards Christianity and one another. We will all have a similar spiritual personality that will be exemplified in our daily actions and interactions.
In His last prayer before being wrongfully taken into custody, Jesus asked four times on our behalf:
- “…that they may be one as We are,”
- “…that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You,
- “that they also may be one in Us,
- “…that they may be one just as We are one” (John 17:11, 21-22).
For Him to ask this many times when He knew that His physical life was near its end, shows us just how important this was and is. Do we assign it all due weight today?
As we fellowship with one another, realize that by the Power of God working in and through us, we can be a part of the solution… a part of the answer of this prayer of Jesus Christ.
Hope for the World
On October 8, 2011, is the Day of Atonement. Norbert Link will give the sermon, titled, “Hope for the World.”
The services can be heard at www.cognetservices.org (12:30 pm Pacific Time; 1:30 pm Mountain Time; 2:30 pm Central Time; 3:30 pm Eastern Time). Just click on Connect to Live Stream.
NOTE:
This will be the last Update for the next three weeks, due to the Church of God’s annual celebration of the Feast Of Tabernacles. Services during the Feast will be broadcast live over the Internet, at www.cognetservices.org. Speakers and times are posted as well. To listen in, just click on Connect to Live Stream.
The next Update will be published for the week ending October 28, 2011.
Preaching the Gospel and Feeding the Flock
A new member letter was written and posted on the Web. It will be sent out tomorrow. In the letter, Dave Harris examines the question as to how Philadelphia perseveres and stays faithful in these evil times.
A new StandingWatch program was posted on our Web site (www.standingwatch.org) and on YouTube, titled, “UK Enslaved and USA Rejected.” The relationship between the UK and Europe is deteriorating, and so is the friendship between the USA and the EU. The UK is fed up with Europe and has become a slave to the EU, according to the Telegraph. The EU rejects advice from Tim Geithner; and while Germany and France don’t care about opposition from the UK and the US, Sarkozy breaks with Obama in New York. The Pope’s visit in Germany has revived the hope for Church unification, which will come, but not in the way that most expect. This won’t be good news for the USA and the UK.
A new German AufPostenStehen program was posted on our Web site (www.aufpostenstehen.de) and on YouTube, titled, “Kommt die Oekumene doch noch?” [“Is Church Unification Still Coming?”]
A new German sermon was recorded and posted on YouTube and on our German Web site (www.aufpostenstehen.de). It is related to the Feast of Trumpets and titled, “Gottes Warnung an Uns” [“God’s Warning to Us.”] It is also the third part of our German series on the USA and Great Britain in the Bible.
Do you have guidelines for proper appearance and conduct in your worship services?
In previous Q&As, we published guidelines for opening and closing prayers, and for preparing and giving sermonettes. We pointed out that our weekly and annual Sabbath services begin with a song service (usually by singing three congregational hymns), followed by an opening prayer, a sermonette or short spiritual message of about 10 to 15 minutes, the singing of another congregational hymn, announcements, followed (occasionally) by a special music presentation (especially during the Feast of Tabernacles), the sermon or main spiritual message of about 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes, and we conclude with a final congregational hymn and the closing prayer.
As all of these elements are part of a worship service in honor of and dedication to God, it is important that we always appear before God in the proper attire and with the right attitude, and that we exemplify correct behavior throughout the entire service. In the past, we have published numerous Q&As, setting forth the principles and guidelines as to how men and women should dress in general; what should be the proper hair length for men and women; and especially, how we should properly dress at Church services and social functions during the Feast of Tabernacles, including at pool or beach parties.
Here are a few selected excerpts from the above-cited Q&As, as they apply to worship services:
“That we ought to appear properly dressed for worship services, has been the long-standing teaching of the Church of God, and for good reason:
“We must understand that we are appearing before GOD. God is a great King. God is the Creator of everything that is good and costly and priceless. He is the Creator of beauty. He most certainly is the Creator of quality. He owns all the gold and silver, and it is He who made it all. If we were to be invited by an earthly king, how would we appear in front of him?… Would you want to appear in unwashed, dirty clothing, wearing washed-out jeans, a T-shirt, and sneakers?
“How much more should we appear before GOD, the KING over His creation, in proper clothes! The famous parable in Matthew 22:10-13 about the king’s wedding feast for his son contains a spiritual lesson, but it also describes a physical principle–that we dress appropriately for the occasion. It DID matter to the king–God the Father–how the guests were dressed for the wedding of His Son, Jesus Christ.
“In this context, we must not neglect culture. In the Western World, it is normally appropriate for men to wear a suit, or a nice combination, with a shirt and a tie… In the U.S.A., Canada or in England [and we might include continental Europe as well], men don’t dress up, when they appear in worship services with an open shirt, a T-shirt or jeans.
“Ladies should also wear appropriate clothing, of course. In addition, their dresses should not be too short or too tight or too revealing–but this principle would also apply in general, not just during Church services…
“God gives us the freedom to determine what is appropriate clothing, within the acceptability of proper dress in our cultures, but to clarify, God does not give us the freedom to violate His specific instructions so that we can follow our culture. For example, God has told us how to wear our hair. We are told that it is a shame for a man – young or old – to wear long hair…
“In addition, some brethren are scattered. They cannot physically join with other members on the Sabbath, so they listen to sermon tapes, or they sit in and listen to live Internet worship services (In passing, those who can physically attend are commanded to do so, and they are not permitted to just use Internet access as a substitute and as an excuse for not ‘having’ to attend Church services in person). If scattered brethren have Sabbath worship services ‘in their home,’ while listening to tapes or to live Internet Church services, they still appear before God during that time, and again, we don’t want to appear before God uncombed, unshaved and unwashed, or by just wearing our pajamas…”
“When God gave instructions for the creation of ‘holy garments’ for the priests of Israel, He specifically wanted them made ‘for GLORY and for BEAUTY’ (Exodus 28:2)… Regarding how both men and women dress when attending Church services, we find a meaningful example in the time when the children of Israel were commanded to wash their clothes in advance of appearing before God (Compare Exodus 19:10,14). Likewise, the priests were to wash themselves when appearing before God (Compare Exodus 30:19-20); and, they were to wear special clothing (Compare Exodus 28).
“It has been the practice of the Church of God to recognize that we are appearing before God when we assemble for Sabbath services along with other special commanded assemblies as given by God [such as commanded worship services throughout the seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles, even though only the first day is a Holy Day]. As such, we do recommend that each person present himself or herself in the best apparel they have available. The foremost idea is to specially prepare to appear before God to honor HIM!…
“God takes great exception to the self-absorbed and self-willed practices of people who lose all restraint. This applies to inappropriate sloppy appearance, as well as to the over-emphasis on wealth and riches… Our responsibility is to dress modestly and yet to dress with quality garments that reflect our honoring of God…”
It is critically important to understand that we appear in front of God during the entirety of our worship service; and this means that every aspect of the service is to reflect our worship of God. This is true whether we are attending together with our brethren in a Church hall, or whether we are, due to necessity, listening in to live Church services from our homes. This means we stand up respectfully and humbly when participating in the opening or closing prayer, and we stand up and participate joyfully in the singing of the congregational hymns.
We concentrate on and listen carefully to the messages (including the announcements, as well as the sermonette and sermon). It is understood, of course, that parents will have to take care of their babies and young children, which might even require at times to take them out of the Church hall, when they get too loud and disturb others. But apart from these sometimes inevitable distractions, there is no excuse for not paying close and undivided attention to services. It would be highly inappropriate to engage in jokes or unnecessary conversation during services (except for unavoidable situations, such as when our technical staff may at times have to communicate with each other to make sure that the services are being properly broadcast, etc.). It would also be offensive to God if someone were to get up during services (whether in a Church hall or at home) to walk to the kitchen for a snack or a meal, or even a cup of coffee or tea or water (excepting necessary circumstances), or to take a nap during services.
In services, most of us do not have many opportunities to audibly participate, except for saying “Amen” to the opening and closing prayers, after having listened carefully and attentively to every word of the prayers, and for singing joyfully during the song service. We cannot overemphasize the importance of participation in the song service with all of our heart, concentrating on each word which we are singing, and agreeing with it completely, knowing that we are not doing so to impress others, but because we are worshipping God when we sing out loud. There have been rare occasions when a brother or sister was told not to sing so loud, but this would be highly inappropriate “advice.” In fact, the song leader should encourage the congregation in words and by his own example to sing out loud and with enthusiasm.
Notice what we read about singing songs and hymns to God:
“Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands: Sing forth the honour of his name: make his praise glorious” (Psalm 66:1-2, AV).
Consider Psalm 95:1-3 (AV):
“O come, let us sing unto the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God, and a great King…”
Notice Psalm 149:1-5 (AV):
“Praise ye the LORD. Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise in the congregation of the saints. Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King… let them sing praises unto him… Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud…”
And take note of Psalm 150:1-6 (AV), showing that God expects of us to sing to Him with emotion and with our whole heart:
“Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary… Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel… praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbrals. Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.”
Whether we are speakers (giving sermonettes, sermons, opening or closing prayers, or announcements) or whether we are part of the “listening” congregation, we must all appreciate the truth that we are appearing before God and His holy angels, as well as with His chosen holy people. Speakers have to conduct themselves appropriately, when speaking from the pulpit; they are not to engage in improper comments or “foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks” (compare Ephesians 5:4).
The saying that “familiarity breeds contempt” must never be applicable to our conduct in Church services. This is one of the reasons why our speakers will generally refer to other brethren as Mr. and Mrs., when addressing them publically, rather than using their first names. Church services ARE FORMAL WORSHIP services, in dedication to God and in fellowship with His holy people, and all of us must always keep this in mind throughout the entirety of the service.
Lead Writer: Norbert Link
Correction from Disobedience
On October 1, 2011, Robb Harris will give the sermon, titled, “Correction from Disobedience.”
The services can be heard at www.cognetservices.org (12:30 pm Pacific Time; 1:30 pm Mountain Time; 2:30 pm Central Time; 3:30 pm Eastern Time). Just click on Connect to Live Stream.
