Editor’s Note: Mike McDonald is the Lead Pastor at Faith Church, Rio Rancho, NM. He is a member of the Albuquerque Chapter of The Gospel Coalition. This post is a summary of Alistair Begg’s message from Friday evening at Clarus, March 20, “Assembled Under the Word,” from Nehemiah 8.

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Pastor Alistair Begg opened the session and the conference by posing the question, What is the real reason that people come to church? While many may respond with preference for a particular ministry or a certain program, the primary reason given in the Scriptures is that the people gather to hear and submit to the voice of God in his Word.

The Word of God does the work of God through the Spirit of God in the people of God.

The People Gathered Expectantly

In Nehemiah 8, the people came expectantly to hear the Word of God read and explained. They gathered as one man, knowing of their individual and collective need to hear from God. The expectation of the people was tied not to Ezra’s ability to teach, but to the book that he held in his hand. They gathered on this day to hear from God—a notion that every believer should remind themselves of on Sunday mornings.

The People Listened Attentively

The ears of the people were attentive to the Book of the Law, as they listened to what God Himself had spoken to them. Pastor Begg urged that listening has much to do hearing sounds but with ‘all the ears of our hearts.’ One’s ability to listen is connected with one’s willingness to know God.

The People Responded Properly

The people of Nehemiah 8 were not only attentive listeners but were also proactive in their response. They lifted their hands, bowed their heads and they worshipped the Lord. They wept because they were broken, and their postures spoke volumes to their response. When the Word of God is heard, the people of God will respond.

The People Departed Joyfully

As the people responded to the Word of God being spoken, they were encouraged as they left. The Levites specifically exhorted them not to be grieved, because the joy of the Lord is their strength. While they initially found themselves weeping, they eventually moved to a place of great rejoicing. Before we can fully embrace all that God’s grace offers, we must first understand how broken we are. The gospel is most glorious when grace is most amplified. This same principle is seen in the people of Nehemiah 8, who are first broken, but ultimately depart joyfully because of God’s great work.

Pastor Begg concluded by drawing the audience’s attention towards the ultimate gathering that unfolds in Revelation 7. As the people gathered in Nehemiah’s day and as churches gather under the Word of God today, they both point to a time when all followers of Jesus will gather as one. But until that day when Jesus speaks face to face, the church is to assemble together under God’s Word. The Word of God is the driving force that shapes local church life, and unless our first desire when we gather is to hear and submit to God’s Word, then we have missed the point of gathering entirely.

On February 21, Ryan Kelly and Drew Hodge hosted a Saturday Seminar, “Come, Let Us Sing!.” We considered the place of singing in God’s plan for his people as well as its practical expression in local church life.

Here’s a round up of resources from the seminar:

Books on Worship and Singing

• Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God, Bob Kauflin
• Rhythms of Grace: How the Church’s Worship Tells the Story of the Gospel, Mike Cosper
• Singing and Making Melody: Issues in Church Music Today, Paul Jones
• Christ-Centered Worship: Letting the Gospel Shape Our Practice, Bryan Chappell
• Give Praise To God: A Vision for Reformed Worship, Philip Graham Ryken, editor

Links for Singing

• DSC’s online Bandcamp music store
• DSC’s Music Blog (email subscription available)
• DSC’s App for phones and tablets
• Online hymn website: Hymnary

Audio and Video from the Seminar

Session 1 – The Theology of Worship, Ryan Kelly (audio, video)

Session 2 – The Reason for Worship, Drew Hodge (audio, video)

Session 3 – The Practice of Worship, Drew Hodge (audio, video)

If you’ve been around DSC for a while, you’ve heard us talk about Community Groups. In fact, hopefully you’ve more than heard about Community Groups, but you’ve been invited into one and encouraged to get involved. There are many crucial reasons to embed yourself in community in this way, but if we had to pick going to church on Sunday or to Community Group, which should it be?

In his article, “Worship is More Important than Your Small Group,” Jason Helopoulos addresses this question. Here’s how he begins:

Like most of you, I love small groups. I love the “give and take” of the discussion. I love the interaction with others. I love the questions raised and the answers discovered. But as much as you and I may love small groups, corporate worship is more important.

Someone recently commented to me that pastors are the only ones who really enjoy Sunday mornings as the high point in the week. I hope not! This individual insisted that other Christians look forward to their small groups more than corporate worship. She said it is more exciting for the congregant to be in a small group where they can ask questions, pray for others, discuss their own views, and get to know one another more intimately. I understand this sentiment and appreciate the desire to connect with others, but in all humility I would say to this well-intentioned individual, “You don’t understand the distinct privilege corporate worship is. We are communing with the saints before the holy throne of a majestic God.”

In the rest of his article, Jason addresses the uniqueness of Sunday morning and the common reasons that some might feel that it’s second to their Community Group. Read the whole article here.

As Christians, we believe that God’s Word is not only true but good. We also believe that what is good for us individually has social consequences. We do, after all, live together. Careful Christian reflection on the meaning and consequences of such things as marriage is a means of loving our neighbors.

In Sunday’s sermon, “The Heart of Marriage and Divorce,” Ryan pointed to the social consequences of divorce for people, especially women and children. This is a sensitive topic and you should listen to the sermon if you weren’t able to join us. On the subject of divorce and its social consequences, this was especially true in the first century, but it is true today as well. This is evident from our own experience with divorce, even if there are obvious exceptions, but it is also evident in studies that have been conducted.

In his article, “The Social Costs of Abandoning the Meaning of Marriage,” Ryan Anderson writes:

[Marriage is] a personal relationship that serves a public purpose. According to the best available sociological evidence, children fare best on virtually every examined indicator when reared by their wedded biological parents. Studies that control for other factors, including poverty and even genetics, suggest that children reared in intact homes do best in terms of educational achievement, emotional health, familial and sexual development, and delinquency and incarceration.

The breakdown of marriage most hurts the least well-off. A leading indicator of whether someone will know poverty or prosperity is whether, growing up, he or she knew the love and security of having a married mother and father. Marriage reduces the probability of child poverty by 80 percent.

Anderson linked to two studies that ground this claim.

First, in, “Marriage and the Public Good: Ten Principles,” the Witherspoon Institute offers these ten principles with a bundle of social science research to substantiate them:

1. Marriage is a personal union, intended for the whole of life, of husband and wife.
2. Marriage is a profound human good, elevating and perfecting our social and sexual nature.
3. Ordinarily, both men and women who marry are better off as a result.
4. Marriage protects and promotes the well-being of children.
5. Marriage sustains civil society and promotes the common good.
6. Marriage is a wealth-creating institution, increasing human and social capital.
7. When marriage weakens, the equality gap widens, as children suffer from the disadvantages of 
growing up in homes without committed mothers and fathers.
8. A functioning marriage culture serves to protect political liberty and foster limited government.
9. The laws that govern marriage matter significantly.
10. “Civil marriage” and “religious marriage” cannot be rigidly or completely divorced from one another.

Then, at the Heritage Foundation, Robert Rector’s study, “Marriage: America’s Greatest Weapon Against Child Poverty,” offers this abstract of the substance and application of his findings:

Child poverty is an ongoing national concern, but few are aware that its principal cause is the absence of married fathers in the home. Marriage remains America’s strongest anti-poverty weapon, yet it continues to decline. As husbands disappear from the home, poverty and welfare dependence will increase, and children and parents will suffer as a result. Since marital decline drives up child poverty and welfare dependence, and since the poor aspire to healthy marriage but lack the norms, understanding, and skills to achieve it, it is reasonable for government to take active steps to strengthen marriage. Just as government discourages youth from dropping out of school, it should provide information that will help people to form and maintain healthy marriages and delay childbearing until they are married and economically stable. In particular, clarifying the severe shortcomings of the “child first, marriage later” philosophy to potential parents in lower-income communities should be a priority.

God’s Word is true, and it also works. For the Christian, while our interest in marriage does not stop with our own individual marriages, our own individual homes are the most important place for the application of God’s Word to life. Not only has God given marriage to us for our good, which is demonstrably true, but he has given it to us that we might have the honor of living out a picture of his love for us in Christ (Eph. 5:22-33).

If you missed Sunday’s sermon, we would commend it to you. Listen here.

This week, David Murray posted some good advice for families. In his third installment in a series on “Ingredients Of A Happy Home,” David Murray shares these six tips:

1. Maximize the number. Yes, we have conflicting schedules, shift work, overtime, etc. Yes, there are college assignments to be done, email to be answered, books to be read, chores to be completed. But just because you can’t get everybody together all of the time doesn’t mean we can’t get some together some of the time.
2. Maximize involvement. Don’t let the loudest or oldest voice dominate. Work to ensure that everybody gets a shot at telling about their day, their joys and trials, successes and failures.
3. Maximize listening. Encourage careful, appreciate, and interactive listening. Ban cellphones and sarcasm. No rising from the table while someone is speaking.
4. Maximize positives. It can be tempting for some people and for some families to just dwell on the negatives at work, at college, or even in the national situation. Sometimes it can be helpful to ask each person to list three positives from their day until that becomes more of a natural instinct. Humor and laughter are also tasty side-dishes.
5. Maximize food. If teenagers know that they’re going to miss out on some really great food, and even better deserts, they’ll be much more likely to organize their schedule around your mealtimes. They can get microwave dinners anywhere. Worth putting extra money and effort into enticing them to the family table. Yes, godly herbs are better than ungodly steak. But godly steak is best of all.
6. Maximize worship. Start the meal with prayer, turn the conversation towards God at opportune moments, and close the meal with prayer and a short Bible reading.

For one more source of counsel, Columnist at the New York Times, Bruce Feiler, has this to share.