I’ve been really interested in churches lately…  How they use their money and resources, how they organize their ministries, etc.  You can usually tell what’s really important to a church when you analyze these types of things.  I think, in particular, what a church chooses to do when they worship together is extremely revealing.  

I came across this quote today on the topic of why believers should weekly gather together as a church.  I thought it was so interesting, and really kind-of counter -Christian culture these days.  This is taken from D.A. Carson’s “Worship by the Book.” In this quote, D.A. is giving an evaluation of David Peterson’s book “Engaging with God”:

“New Covenant worship terminology prescribes constant ‘worship.’  Peterson therefore examines afresh just why the New Testament church gathers, and he concludes that the focus is on mutual edification, not on worship.  Under the terms of the new covenant, worship goes on all the time, including when the people of God gather together.  But mutual edification does not go on all the time; it is what takes place when Christians gather together.  Edification is the best summary of what occurs in corporate singing, confession, public prayer, the ministry of the Word, and so forth.”

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this – what do you think about this definition of why we gather on Sunday mornings?  Agree, Disagree?  Why?