Psalms and Prayers - A Family-Equipping Wednesday Night Model

What does your church do to draw closer to God as a family on Wednesday nights? I grew up in Baptist churches, and for as long as I can remember, Wednesday nights have gone something like this:

- Maybe a dinner for those who can get to church early enough

- A kids program, like AWANA (or going way back, RA's or GA's)

- Adult Bible studies or a prayer meeting

- Youth group activities.

I am not criticizing the wonderful work done through programs like these. Praise God for corporate prayer and focused Bible studies. Praise God for good children's and youth programs in which children and youth are helped to understand that God loves them from the Bible. AND, for us at Redemption Church, we came to realize that the programs were dividing us a little too much.

Jesus Loves His Church

Here is a helpful message from Pastor Mark Driscoll on how Jesus Loves His Church.  Here

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her," (Eph 5:25). 

                The supreme human love relationship, marriage, is supposed to be modeled after Christ's love for His people.  Who are Christ's people?  What is the ultimate love relationship in existence apart from God's inner-Trinitarian love for Himself?  It is Christ's relationship to the church.  The church is far from perfect.  It is a group of sinful human beings doing life together.  But, it is a group of imperfect people affected by the perfect love of Christ.  It is imperfect people being slowly made perfect by God.  Much pain has occurred through the church, sadly.  But, God has not given up on it.  Instead, Jesus loves the church and is purifying it so that it glorifies God.  Because Jesus loves the church, Christians must love the church.  Christians must love the organized body of believers both globally and locally.  Christians must pray for the success of the church around the world.  Christians also must actively join and serve in a local body of believers, even when it is painful to do so.  The church is the family of God on earth, and though we are not yet sinless (hence the ongoing pain in earthly churches), we work through the power of the Holy Spirit to serve God and one another better.