As the Gospel community, living within the kingdom of God, the Church should seek to prioritise the kingdom purposes. These kingdom purposes are the Invitation to join the Kingdom (Evangelism), the Participating in the Kingdom (Edification), Sharing the Kingdom (Social Concern), and Celebrating the King (Worship). These four purposes are the primary priorities of the Church.
If you have ever set foot inside a church, you will have encountered people who are undecided about the role of music in the worship life of the family of God. To avoid silly arguments, it is best to look at the bible rather than people's personal taste. The bible does not give us specific guidelines about songs and genres of music. What it does give us, however, are principles regarding the holiness of God, and the nature of worship, and if we believe that the bible is the inspired word of God, we are to cling to those principles.
For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” (Matthew 18:20)This is probably the most misused verse to do with Jesus presence in the whole bible. Lets look at it in context first, so we know what it means:
“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.
People will give you many different answers when asked what the church is. One church leader I know defined his church as a place that didn’t have all the negatives the church he grew up in carried. It is important to begin with the idea that we do not base a church on what we don’t want, but rather we base it on the word of God. However, let’s begin with a parable:
