Waco Reformed Church — What About Feeding the Sheep?

In our previous post on what makes Waco Reformed Church different, I stated that the worship is not about feeding the sheep. Many people make the mistake of thinking this is the point of worship. The question even came up on x.com last week when Meg Basham posted the following:

As you can see, this is a common error that most people make when it comes to the purpose of the worship of the church. The purpose of worship is to focus upon and glorify God in the liturgy of the church. The focus is our Father, not the congregation. We are not looking to the congregation to dictate what we do in worship to glorify God. We are looking to His word.

Feeding the sheep is actually the stated purpose of the pastor. He is to feed the sheep “in worship.” Feeding definitely takes place “in worship.” But feeding the sheep is not the purpose of the church in worship.

We get the foundations of feeding the sheep from John 21:15-17. In that passage, we see Jesus reinstating Peter to the ministry by asking him three times, “Do you love Me?” With every affirmative answer that Peter gives, Jesus stated that Peter’s focus was to tend and feed His sheep.

He wasn’t speaking of literal food, although we do literally eat the bread in communion, as well as drink the wine of the table. Jesus could well have been speaking of communion. The pastor is to serve communion every LORD’s day, and in this, as we partake by faith, the literal bread and wine feed us both physically and spiritually.

Milk and Solid Food

But primarily, when Jesus told Peter to “feed My sheep” HE was speaking of the word of God as the means for feeding them. The word of God is often referred to as milk or solid food (1 Corinthians 3:1-3, Hebrews 5:12-13, 1 Peter 2:1-3). It is, in the spiritual sense, the most important food there is, as we will see below. When the word of God is faithfully preached to the congregation, the congregation is being fed on a spiritual level.

Living Upon Every Word

We also know the word of God to be spiritual food from the Temptation of Christ in the wilderness. Satan tempts Jesus by challenging Jesus on being the Son of God. “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

This was after Jesus had fasted for 40 days. Jesus was being tempted on His identity and for His basic physical needs. Yet, He did not give into the temptation, but responded by saying: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'”

The word of God is what sustains us spiritually speaking, for in His word, life is found. This is why the word as the food is the most important food we shall every dine upon. God’s words feeds us spiritually.

But please note also what Jesus said to Satan. Jesus says that we shall live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. This means we live from the entirety of the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments.

Far too many evangelicals want to “unhitch” themselves from the Old Testament, as if it were somehow holding us back from true spirituality. But please note: when Jesus preached the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven, He preached from the Old Testament. The same was true for Paul, and Peter, and Stephen, and all the rest of the men God ordained to preach in the first century.

We point this out because worship has to be informed by the entirety of God’s word, not just the New Testament as so many wish to believe. The Apostle Paul endeavored to preach the full counsel of God’s word to the Ephesian elders, and we should to the same (Acts 20:27).

Conclusion

The point of this post is to help you see that we are indeed fed spiritually by God’s word when we come to worship. But this feeding is not the purpose of worship. The purpose of worship it to actually worship the Father in Spirit and Truth. When this is done, God graciously feeds us the food we so desperately need. We can trust Him to serve us the meal we need. We will be nourished, cleansed, and sent out every LORD’s day for the purpose of His glory. But let us not make the mistake that many make: when we gather, we don’t do so for what we get out of it. We do so because He has called us to worship and He is glorified when we do.

Links:

Waco Reformed Church: What Makes us Different?

Waco Reformed Church: Substack

Waco Reformed Church: YouTube Channel

Waco Reformed Church: Facebook Page.

Waco Reformed Church: Website.

Waco Reformed Church — What Makes Us Different?

What would I say if someone were to ask: “What makes Waco Reformed Church different?”

That’s a hard question, simply because it’s difficult to know where to start. But I believe the best place to start is with the verse that is foundation to our worship, John 4:23-24. Just the fact that I felt a need to start with the subject of worship, should tell you something about who we are. As we learn from John’s Gospel:

²³But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers willworship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. ²⁴God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and Truth.”

This verse is the starting point in informing our worship. There are two key points that should stand out. The first is that the Father is seeking such to worship Him. Since He is seeking us, then our gatherings on the LORD’s Day should be focused upon Him and worshipping Him. In seeking us, He is making the first move, to bring us into fellowship with Him, to worship Him.

This is a departure from much of what many churches do. Many seek to worship God, by focusing on evangelism, or feeding the flock, or entertaining the flock, or meeting the felt needs of those people who join them in worship. Hopefully you can see the difference already. Most church focus on the flock and what the flock needs in worship, instead of turning to God, and looking to His word to drive our worship.

This misguided focus is born out of a misunderstanding of the verse above and the second point that needs to be driven home, which I hope jumped out of you in the verse I quoted. Notice the capitalization added in verse 24.

²⁴God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and Truth.”

Most translations do not capitalize Spirit and Truth. However, I believe it should be capitalized. To not do so, is again the same mistake that many churches make in forming their understanding of worship, which it is to be focused upon the one worshipping, and not the One worshipped. When we are not specific about worshiping in spirit and truth, then this leads it open to interpretation, and much error.

We need to turn it back around, and see Spirit and Truth as being rooted in God Himself. Without the Holy Spirit and the Truth (Christ) we cannot worship at all.

Both Christ and the Holy Spirit are essential for us to worship the Father. Christ is the atoning sacrifice needed to enter into God’s presence. The Spirit is the means by which we do. The blood of Christ washes us clean. The Spirit carries into the Holy of holies, or brings us to Mt. Zion (Hebrews 12). Without Christ or the Spirit, there is no amount of genuflecting we can do to please the Father. We must have the Spirit and the Truth.

When we are off of these things, then we err in thinking worship is about us, and for us. It is not. It is always about the Triune God and worshiping Him.

The sad reality of those who miss the directional change, is that in the end, evangelism doesn’t take place, the flock isn’t truly fed, the entertainment never satisfies and demands more and more of the spectacular, and the felt needs simply change their feelings with each passing week.

When we begin our focus upon what God desires, then we begin to see the need for all of Scripture to inform our worship. We know and understand that we are not free to do anything we please when it comes to worshipping God. Simply see Leviticus 10:1-7, the story of Nadab and Abihu offering profane fire before the YHWH. YHWY brought immediate judgment upon them for doing so.

This simple principle shows us the need to look to Scripture to inform our worship. This of course, is more than I want to say here. But I would say that this is the biggest item that makes our worship different from the average evangelical church. The focus begins and ends with the Triune God.

In changing the focus from ourselves, to God, then true evangelism will take place. The feeding of the flock will occur. The need for entertainment will righfully be replaced with the desire to honor our Father. The felt needs we think we have, will melt away with the realization that our real needs are being met because we re letting God’s Truth, His Spirit, His word, work in us, instead of trying to replace all these things with what we think should be there. It really is about trusting in God, His word and His provisions for us.

Now, I’m not saying we are the only church in town with such and understanding. There are other parts of the body of Christ who are spot on, but this point itself sets us on the right path. And this is one of the key differences that set us apart from others in the evangelical world.

The Ascension Offering

For several months, I’ve been trying to get my mind around what is often called the burnt offering in the Old Covenant. The reason for this is that Jeff Myers mentioned in an article on Theopolis that he mistranslated the Hebrew word ʿōlâ, in his excellent book on worship Lord’s Day Service. Instead of translating ʿōlâ burnt offering, it should be translated as ascension offering. This small change helps us understand what is taking place in worship.

It’s not that burnt offering isn’t similar, but the word ʿōlâ, means “to ascend.”

It is James Jordan, who Myers credits in the article I cannot find, that helps us understand this simple change.

Jordan writes:

“Though the Ascension offering is indeed all burned up, the word in Hebrew (ʿōlâ) means ‘go up’ or ‘ascend.’ We need to link this offering with all the many times people go up on a mountain to meet God, up into an upper room, or up to a rooftop, or ‘up on the altar.’ Similarly, though the Tribute offering in Leviticus 2 consists of grain, the Hebrew word (minchah) means ‘gift or tribute,’ and ‘tribute’ is the better word to use when presenting a require gift to a king. Moreover, in Numbers the Tribute offering has wine added to it, so ‘Grain/Meal/Cereal offering’ is not a good term to use for this offering. The sequence of the two offerings mean that we ascend to God’s throne and present our gifts to Him, which He accepts. This fundamental meaning of the offerings is completely obscured by the common mistranslations of the two key terms.”

Here is an example of burnt offering in Scripture that should be translated ascension offering. Noah is ascending into the presence of God.

Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar (Genesis 8:20).

The point is that we are truly ascending in worship into the presence of God. Not that we go up to meet Him, as so many try in other religions, but He carries us up by the power of the Spirit, up Mt. Zion (Hebrews 12), into His presence, to meet with Him, be cleansed by Him, be fed by Him, and then sent back out again, by Him.

You Have Heard It Said — Gospel of Matthew Sermon 27

Old Covenant Reading (read first): Genesis 4:1-12

New Covenant Reading: Matthew 5:21-26

Sermon – You Have Heard It Said

Jesus says:

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’”

He finally begins to preach upon the Moral Law itself. This is the section of the Law that most people are vaguely familiar with (Yes, contradictory terms).

As Jesus teaches on the Moral Law, please notice what He doesn’t do. He doesn’t turn this into a morality lecture. He is indeed speaking on the Moral Law, but not in such a way that we come away with the reductionistic trope of “be good, do be angry.”

There are far more complexities to honoring this law than we like to think about. What Jesus says here, requires much more that a simple statement of moralism. He is requiring us to use wisdom in our lives, in order to keep the commandments.

Peter Leithart writes about this portion of Christ’s sermon:

“These instructions are not just membership qualifications. They are redemptive commandments, and Jesus is laying out the specifics of the redemptive righteousness that surpasses the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.”

Three Sermons on Head Coverings and More…

Women wearing head coverings in worship has become controversial here in the past few years. There are those who are steadfastly against it, declaring that it was merely cultural in Paul’s day, and now no longer necessary for women today.

For example, since I started putting this post together, Doug Wilson has come out with 21 Theses on Head Coverings For Women. You can read his position for yourself. But I would like to draw you attention to one of his points. Wilson asks:

Thesis #6: At Corinth, the men were covering themselves and the women were not. This leads us to wonder why.

Sixth, the men in Corinth were for some reason covering themselves in worship, because Paul tells them not to, and the women were uncovering themselves, because Paul makes a point of saying that if they pray during the meeting, or if they bring a prophecy, they must do so covered. What might those reasons be?

Apart from Doug’s added question, this is exactly what we believe the text to be saying. Men are not to pray covered. Women are not to pray uncovered. Wilson grants this point in this statement, and also shows that the issue is not cultural, because it is dealing with worship.

Those who oppose head coverings love to offer all kinds of cultural and Old Covenant references to show how coverings were viewed, and used, but miss the main point: Paul is telling the church in Corinth, and all the churches, what the cultural setting should be in the church, and he is rooting that cultural setting in creation.

Paul bases his arguments on creation, the hierarchy of Christ, the husband, and the woman, and for the purpose of the angels. In other words, it doesn’t matter what the Jews use to do, or what the Jews were doing. It doesn’t matter what the Romans used to do, or what they were doing. In fact, it doesn’t matter what the church has been doing today, but what we should be doing. Paul sets the culture for us, by rooting his arguments in the created order, and we are to submit to his instructions, as do all the churches (1 Corinthians 11:16).

We also believe, as Bnonn Tennant so beautifully shows, that only God’s glory is to be seen in worship, therefore, women are to cover their hair. Bnonn writes:

The way in which we worship matters. To have another glory on display—a glory that simply by merit of being present is competing with (H)is, suggesting itself as worthy of appearing alongside (H)im—is embodied blasphemy. And glory that is present alongside (Him) suggests also that we may worship the creature, rather than the creator, who is blessed forever! Amen—and is thus implied idolatry.

You can read the full article here. You can also listen to Bnonn and Smokey (Bnonn’s wife) answer questions to objections here. Most of the objections they address, will deal with the statements in Wilson’s article, and others as well.

Just by looking at what the text actually says, like I do in my sermons below, and what Bnonn and Smokey do, we answer most of the objections people have.

I am sharing the three sermons I have preached on the subject of head coverings from 1 Corinthians 11. I did this back in April and May of 2023 at Waco Reformed Church. Most of our congregation has since adopted the practice. However, even those who do not accept the practice, are welcome to worship with us.

You can also read other articles here and here.

First sermon: Head Coverings and Hierarchy

This first sermon not only deals with the hierarchy of those in the body of Christ, but also the culture in which Paul was working. It does answer the question: are head coverings a result of culture?

Second Sermon: Head Coverings and Prophecy

Third Sermon: Head Coverings and Glory

At Waco Reformed Church, we believe that it is right and proper for women to wear head coverings in worship. However, we accept that there are many men and women who are not convinced from Scripture to do so. Therefore we allow for those who are not convinced to act upon their conscience, as long as they don’t teach otherwise in our congregation.

He Departed Galilee — The Gospel of Matthew Sermon 20

Waco Reformed Church

Sermon Text: Matthew 4:11-17

Old Covenant Text: Isaiah 9:1-7

This sermon focuses on Jesus leaving His home and going to Galilee fulfilling the prophecy spoken of in Isaiah 9.

Preached February 2, 2025.

You Shall Worship — The Gospel of Matthew Sermon 19

LORD’S DAY WORSHIP – JANUARY 26, 2025

Preparation for Worship: John 4:23

Call to worship: Psalm 92:1-4

Reading of the Law: Proverbs 10:12-18 (Solomon’s tidbits…).

AOPG: 1 John 1:8-2:2

Old Covenant Reading (read first): Exodus 32:1-9

New Covenant Reading: Matthew 4:1-11

(This is the inspired and holy word of God.)

Sermon – You Shall Worship

Introduction –

Back some 10 or 15 years ago, when I used to listen to talk radio, there were two shows that I really loved. One was the Herd, with Colin Cowherd. He covered sport and regularly would offer insight that other sportscasters missed.

Sometime though, he would offer real gems about life. He would often point out that people will project what the feel toward you without saying it, especially when it came to relationships. He made the case that when a woman leaves a man in marriage, that usually the only one surprised is the man. She had been giving the signs all along. All the friends and family saw it coming, but the man remained in the dark. He didn’t want to know.

The other show that I would listen to was the Rush Limbaugh show. He made a similar statement about liberals and Democrats. His statement was that if you watched them long enough, they would tell you exactly who they were, and what they wanted to do. They couldn’t hide who they were.

I bring this up, because in this last temptation of Christ , we will see that the devil is telling us who he is, and what he wants.

In telling Jesus: “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

We see who the devil is: he is a counterfeit god. He wants to usurp God in every way imaginable, and his most cunning trick of all is to get men to worship him. This is why he saves this temptation for last, and why he uses it against Christ. He wants Jesus to worship him.

He wants us to worship him.

He wants every man, woman and child on the planet to worship him.

Baptism for the Dead

Here are some of the things discussed in this sermon:

Just to Be Clear

Since baptism is such a controversial topic…some thoughts on baptism.

First, Doug Wilson writes:

Of course this baptism does not automatically save the one baptized; there is no magical cleansing power in the water. We reject the Roman Catholic notion that saving grace goes in when the water goes on. We deny any ex opere operato efficacy to the waters of baptism. We also deny the modern Protestant reductionism that says that when the water goes on, somebody gets wet.

Let me put it this way: our baptism has meaning. It is used by God in our lives. It is not just an empty ritual that we do because Christ told us to do it. It has a real effect in our lives.

The sacraments do not depend on the godliness of the minister. This refutes the false notion of sacerdotalism, in which it was believed the priest had special powers. The effectual nature of baptism comes from the word of God and the Holy Spirit.

The sacraments confirm the Word, though they are ineffective without the Word, but the word cannot have its full effect without the sacraments. The refutes the notion that the sacraments are sacerdotal as well.

The sacraments are covenantal and relational.

The sacraments are performative acts. They do something. Just like a man saying “I do” in a wedding ceremony. It means something.

Baptism admits a person to the covenant community, regardless of faith. Just as a man who says “I do” is still a husband in a marriage, and may be a faithless husband, so too can one be baptized and be a faithless Christian.

Sacraments bring both blessings and curses, just as they did in the old covenant. Blessing come to those who come to the sacraments in true faith, and curses to those who don’t believe.

The non-elect do not receive what the sacraments signify for blessings.

We deny that the sacraments automatically save. We deny ex opera operato.

We deny Protestant reductionism… that it simply means someone gets wet. Far more than that.

Baptism accomplishes something. “I do.”

The first part of the sermon deals with what was probably meant by being baptized for the dead.

Calling an Audible

Sunday morning, I got a call from my elder, Seth, at about 8:30 a.m. Apparently, the bank where we have are Sunday morning worship was being audited by the IRS, so the room that they graciously let us use for worship was not available.

I immediately volunteered our living room. Everyone jumped in to make it happen. A deacon and I met at the bank to get the pulpit and our Cantus Christi 2020 psalter/hymn books. Others volunteered to bring folding chairs. Another man helped me rearrange things to fit. We moved our dining room table against the wall and used it for communion. I put the pulpit between the two rooms, and there was just enough room in the dining room for the keyboard. And, by God’s grace, worship went on as scheduled. Just another Sunday at Waco Reformed Church.

It was wonderful.

We had just enough room. We were missing two families, had they been there, well… it would have been tight.

Seth, an elder, and I getting ready to begin worship.

Reformation Day: A Mighty Fortress is Our God

One cannot have a Reformation Day without singing Martin Luther’s most famous hymn, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. For most of us who are Reformed, once we hear the title, the rest of verse 1 pops into our heads and we are ready to belt it out as Luther intended it to be sung.

I love they hymn, because it is the only one you can count on most men singing. We also sang another hymn, that I don’t remember the title to. It’s what we were actually singing when I took the pictures.

I love this picture because my son, Joey, just came around the corner when I snapped the picture. He wasn’t trying to pull a photo bomb, but did nonetheless.