5 minutes a day 5 days a week - a year of Bible Wisdom

This scripture is intriguing... it implies we won't be able to tell when the kingdom of God comes.  What do you suppose it means?

Luke 17:20 The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: 21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

Sincerely,
Searching For Secrets

Dear Searching For Secrets,

The kingdom is already here.  The kingdom is the church.  Paul says that all christians have already been transferred into the kingdom (Col 1:12-13).  Both John the Baptist and Jesus preached that the kingdom was coming very soon (Matt 3:1-2, Matt 4:17).  Jesus told the disciples that some of them would see the kingdom come within their lifetime (Matt 16:28).  What large organization was Jesus in charge of that started within the lifetime of Jesus’ apostles?  That would be the church!

In Lk 17:20-21, Jesus is addressing one of the common misconceptions about His kingdom.  It wouldn’t be a physical kingdom with castles, fortresses, and armies.  Jesus’ kingdom would grow within the hearts of those who followed Him.  That is because His kingdom is a spiritual kingdom… a kingdom not of this world (Jhn 18:36).  On the first day of Jesus’ kingdom/church, three thousand people entered that kingdom through baptism (Acts 2:38-41).  An entire nation cropped up overnight… without a single shot being fired.

5 minutes a day 5 days a week - a year of Bible Wisdom

Is there any particular order that church services are to occur in?  In some congregations I've been to, the Lord's Supper is at the end of the sermon, but most other congregations I have attended have it prior to the sermon.  Is there an example of how church services should be conducted down to this detail in the New Testament, or is this up to the leaders of the congregation?

Sincerely,
Out Of Order

Dear Out Of Order,

There is no particular order that services must occur in – only particular elements that need to be included.  The Bible gives us examples and commands for five different elements to the public worship.

1. Teaching/Preaching (1 Cor 4:17)
2. Singing (Eph 5:19)
3. Prayer (Acts 12:5)
4. Taking A Collection – Sunday only (1 Cor 16:1-2)
5. Lord’s Supper – Sunday only (Acts 20:7)

Of these five elements, two of them are specifically allowed only on Sundays.  The others can be done any time the brethren get together.  God is specific that these are the things He wants us to do, however, He never stipulates what order He wants them done in.  Every Bible command has specific elements and general elements to them.  For example, Noah was told to build the ark out of a specific type of wood – gopher wood (Gen 6:14) – but he was free to use whatever tools or procedures he liked to collect that wood because God wasn’t specific about that detail.  In the case of worship, God is specific on what elements He wants, but He leaves what time of day to meet, arrangement of pews, order of services, which songs to lead, and other details up to us.

5 minutes a day 5 days a week - a year of Bible Wisdom