I have a dream of a church which is a worshipping church –
whose people come together to meet God and worship him,
who know God is always in their midst and who
bow down before him in great humility,
who regularly frequent the table of the Lord Jesus, to
celebrate his mighty act of redemption on the cross,
who enrich the worship with their musical skills,
who believe in prayer and lay hold of God in prayer,
whose worship is expressed not in Sunday services
and prayer gatherings only but also in their
homes, their weekday work and the common things of life.
I have a dream of a worshipping church.
-John Stott
If you will, picture a cross like this ☩ where Worship is the vertical beam while Fellowship provides the horizontal. Worship connects us with the triune God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit, while Fellowship connects us with one another.
John Stott notes, “Indeed, we are to join with all creatures in pronouncing [God] worthy of our praise, because he is both our Creator and our Redeemer.” Worship is our response to God’s character and actions. One of the glories of liturgical worship is that it involves the whole of who we are as we present “ourselves, our souls and bodies as a living sacrifice.” As worship is congregational we invite people to service in various ways here at Saint Gabriel – on the altar guild, in the choir, as ushers or lectors (readers) or acolytes, both youth and adult.
Fellowship is likewise part of a living church. When the New Testament speaks of Fellowship it uses a Greek word Koinonia, which means that which one shares in common with another. In the image of the cross, Fellowship is the horizontal beam that binds us together. Together, as John Stott puts it, we share in a common inheritance, we share out in a common service, and we share with each other in a common accountability. Fellowship is about relationship – how I am related to you and how you are related to me. In the early church people were often addressed as “brothers” and “sisters” because that is what we are in Christ Jesus – related as siblings and members of the same family.
What does a healthy family do? Well, we spend time together, we share stories around the dining room table, we go on vacation together, we play board games or pick-up football games at Thanksgiving. We care for one another when the need presents itself.
Likewise at Saint Gabriel, we give proper place to building relationships and friendships where we can play together, eat together, and journey together in order that we might be woven together more tightly in a community of love.