Dapto Anglican Church

We have almost finished our teaching series based around John Dickson’s book and I have lost count of the number of people who have personally spoken to me about the benefit of this series for them. This chapter on the place of the church service in the promotion of the gospel will, no doubt, continue to enthuse, for Dickson wants to re-emphasise the vital place of our weekly church gatherings to bring people to Christ:

The Bible accords a significant place to the normal gathering of God’s people as a means of declaring God’s truth to the world. Research by sociology professor Rodney Stark shows that one of the key reasons evangelical churches grow is that their members simply ‘invite their neighbours to church’.

That this has always been God’s intention is evident from Psalm 96 where the public praise of God’s name ‘declares his glory among the nations, his marvellous deeds among all peoples’ (v3). This concept is reiterated in the New Testament when Peter writes that we are ‘a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praise of Him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light’ (1 Peter 2:9).
This is done through our public praise together, ‘in our readings, creeds, preaching, psalms, prayers, testimonies, and perhaps even the weekly notices.’

All this assumes that unbelievers are present at our church services in the first place. But Dickson challenges us:

I would go as far as to say that, over time, the number of visitors in our church services is directly proportionate to the level of enthusiasm felt by those who regularly attend.

Such enthusiasm breeds a way of thinking that says to others: ‘Come with me on Sunday and you can see for yourself!’ And when unbelievers come, perhaps they may just hear the truth about Jesus, and repent and believe in the gospel.

Scott Goode,
Assistant Pastor