If someone invented a church time machine which would allow you to attend Christian worship services at any point in history, you would see many different things. In the 9th and 10th Century, you would experience sacred songs as Gregorian chant. In the early church you would enjoy a meal that was a combination of potluck and the Lord’s Supper. It was called the Love Feast. In 20th Century Russia you might meet in someone’s living room at 2 am with the windows blacked out. At an offering collection in Africa would find people giving live chickens to help those in need.
However, no matter where or when you went you would find some things remain the same. You would find the body of Christ assembled together for fellowship and worship. You would find the Word of God proclaimed. You would find Christians singing Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. You would find believers gathered in prayer. You would find Christ followers giving generously.
We are at the end of a long line of a faith heritage. This Sunday, as we have paused to give thanks with loved ones, we honor those who’ve gone before us.
This sermon is from a throwback worship service modeled after services in the 1950s. We’re doing traditional worship. We’ve sang some old hymns, using hymnals, of course, and we dustedoff our King James Bibles. We also wore our “Sunday Best.”
This sermon is based on notes of a sermon my grandfather, John Raymond, preached in 1957. I’ve really enjoyed looking through his notes over these last few weeks. The preaching then was different from much of the preaching today. It is very topical. He would have a theme, two to four points that supported that theme, all based on different passages of Scripture. He didn’t preach through passages, or books or characters, but rather “topics.” The outlines and points often reflected some cleverness and creativity. For instance, the sermon I’ve chosen is called “Nursery Rhyme Christians,” and each point is built around a different nursery rhyme.