Gathered Worship: Why Your Soul Needs the Body of Christ (Deuteronomy 4:9–31)

/ davidsschrock

bythebook04

Gathered Worship: Why Your Soul Needs the Body of Christ (Deuteronomy 4:9–31)

As we took another look at worship this Sunday, we focused on the covenantal history outlined by Moses in Deuteronomy 4. In these verses, Moses directed Israel to remember the covenant God made with them, to guard themselves from idolatry, and to take comfort in Yahweh’s ongoing faithfulness.

While there are many differences between Israel on the Plains of Moab and the people of God today, there are similarities too. And by learning the pattern of worship—in particular, gathered worship—we will see what the Spirit teaches us about our identity in Christ and how gathering for worship plays a crucial role in our lives.

You can listen to the sermon online. Response questions and additional resources are listed below.

Response Questions

  1. When you feel distant from the Lord and long to spend time with him, do you gravitate towards silence and solitude (with Bible and prayer) or do you seek corporate worship where you will hear the gospel read, preached, sung? Why are both necessary?
  2. What does Deuteronomy 4 teach us about gathered worship? Personal worship? Other aspects of worship?
  3. What is the flow of thought in this passage? And do the three phases (past, present, and future) teach us about the chapter?
  4. How did God reveal Himself at Horeb? How is this connected to the warning and prohibition of worshiping visible things? (vv. 15-19)
  5. What is the purpose of these “visible” things that are not to be worshiped (v. 19)? Why did God rescue them from Egypt (v. 20)? How are these truths incompatible with idolatry?
  6. What are the consequences of idolatry (vv. 23-28)? What remains for those who repent (vv. 29-31)? How do these promises play out in biblical history?
  7. Unlike the worship services of pagans that unfolded before their idols, why is the Word so important as we gather to worship our invisible God?
  8. Why might we say this is the first place in the Bible where the new covenant is described?
  9. What do we learn about God in Deuteronomy 4? What do we learn about ourselves? What do we learn about worship?

Additional Resources

Soli Deo Gloria, ds