This essay examines how to have success in the following areas:

1. in worshiping,
2. in praying,
3. in singing,
4. in teaching,
5. in communing,
6. in financial giving, and
7. in Christian living.

Nelson's Bible Dictionary definition of worship:
"Worship - reverent devotion and allegiance pledged to God; the rituals or ceremonies by which this reverence is expressed. The English word worship comes from the Old English word worthship, a word which denotes the worthiness of the one receiving the special honor or devotion.... New Testament worship was characterized by a joy and thanksgiving because of God's gracious redemption in Christ. This early Christian worship focused on God's saving work in Jesus Christ. True worship was that which occurred under the inspiration of God's Spirit.

John 4:23-24 "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." If our worship is not in spirit, it's not in truth. True worship is spiritual worship. The point John is stressing is the spiritual side of worship. This does not lessen the importance of truthful worship, but it does put the emphasis where the Holy Spirit wanted it to be put.

Phil. 3:3 "For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." If the emphasis is on what we do in our flesh while we worship, then we are missing the point of true worship. Paul states that we have "no confidence" in the flesh while, at the same time, we worship God in the spirit. The NIV says "worship by the Spirit of God." This seems to be saying that our flesh is so weak that we cannot even worship God at all except by the power of the Holy Spirit that He, Himself gives us.

To place our confidence in our flesh and in our abilities to worship in a prescribed manner is to worship the creature instead of the Creator, as those in Romans 1:25 were accused of doing. Having confidence in the flesh is not living by faith, yet the Bible tells us in both the Old Testament and the New Testament that "The just shall live by faith."

So, to answer the first question, we spell SUCCESS IN WORSHIP when we engage in worship that is

• God glorifying,
• Christ centered, and
• Spirit directed.

Is a successful prayer one that is just the right length? or one that says the correct words? or one that has the correct grammar? or the correct volume so that everyone can hear? or the correct intonation? or one that is not memorized?

Sometimes, our prayers seem to consist of a string of "Gimmie, gimmie, gimmie" statements. When our kids talk to us parents like that, we get the idea that they are pretty selfish. I wonder what God thinks when He hears that from us. He tells us to "Be content with such things as ye have." And "Godliness with contentment is great gain." Too many 'gimmies' betrays a covetous heart. Prayer must consist of more than gimmies. A bunch of gimmies is not very spiritual.

Paul said (1 Cor. 14:15) "I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also." We should have the spiritual aspects of our lives in mind when we pray. In other words, we should have our minds on heavenly things.

Notice the direction of the focus in the Disciple's prayer:

"Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil;

For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the Glory, forever. Amen."

• God glorifying,
• Christ centered, and
• Spirit directed.

Is our singing a success if it has all four parts, with good harmony, correct pitch, good diction, correct tempo, without instruments, etc.?

The bible says to sing and make melody in our hearts, but says nothing about making melody with our voices. God never required all of His servants to know all about music. The word "harmony" is not in the Bible. The concepts of pitch and tempo are never mentioned though the concept of one being skilled in music is recognized. However, it is not mentioned as a requirement for one to be acceptable to God. God gives some one gift and others another gift, and He never holds any of us responsible for having a gift He didn't give us. One thing He gave all of us is the ability to sing and make melody in our hearts.

Music notation, shaped, round, or otherwise, are man-made inventions. It seems that some who holler the loudest for a return to New Testament patterns also shout "No, you can't do that!" when we actually attempt to return to New Testament patterns regarding our singing.

Not all singers are created equal. If God required music that sounded pretty to a musically sensitive ear before He would accept it, then He would have distributed natural talent equally to everyone. He didn't do that. Oh, I love pretty music as much as anyone, having received many years of music training, and having been raised in a musically inclined family with a father who used to teach singing schools. I've even attempted teaching a little singing myself once upon a time. But I do not believe that God REQUIRES music training to be able for us to have a successful song service.

I sometimes wish that there had been a recorder at the last supper to record the hymn that the Apostles and the Lord sang just before they went out into the night. I doubt that there was much musical training among them, and I doubt that they sounded anything like what we normally sound like in our song services. But I also suspect that they sang a beautiful hymn of praise to God. They had a successful song service.

I'm not saying that there is no value in being educated and talented in the field of music. But we need to understand that the only valid reason for learning about music, or anything else for that matter, is to maximize the glory that we bring to God. Great talent, and training, and ability, can be a curse to giving God praise. We who have been taught may be tempted to seek after the glory of men for ourselves instead of for God. The temptation is great. I confess to having experienced this kind of sinful pride.

Paul said, (1 Cor. 14:15) "I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also." We mouth many words we don't understand. We frequently sing a far better religion than the one we live. I am convinced that we don't even believe some of the things that we sing.

Paul said (Eph. 5:18-19) "be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." Notice that our singing should come from inside us ("speaking to yourselves" and "making melody in your heart") and go "to the Lord."

Paul said (Col. 3:16) "Teaching and admonishing one another [;] in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." The direction of our singing is to be toward the Lord. He is our focus.

A successful song service, then, is one that is

• God glorifying,
• Christ centered, and
• Spirit directed.

Some people are very concerned about the length of the lesson - it must not be too long nor too short. Others get upset if they hear something they have never heard before, or something with which they do not agree. (I do not know how they ever expect to learn anything. All knowledge that we now have was new to us at some point.) Some think that a successful sermon is one which teaches their favorite subject in a way they like. Others think that a successful sermon is one that ends with HBRCB on the board.

Society tells us that we need to "find ourselves." This is a self centered world. You can attend all kinds of self-improvement and self-enrichment seminars to help you become a partaker of the "good life." The goal is OK (after all, that's what Christianity offers, too), but the methods are wrong because of their humanistic self- centeredness. Magazines advertise "Pamper yourself, You're worth it." Jesus says "Humble yourself, that you may be exalted." We seem to have lost sight of the fact that Jesus came to make us be good, not to make us feel good.

Some people in the world (and some Christians) are on an "improve your self esteem" or "improve your self image" mission. Watch out when you seek after these things. Jesus said "Woe be unto you when all men shall speak well of you." Paul preached with "boldness." Boldness is not required when all we preach is Milk Dud sermons. The apostles "created no small stir" (Acts 19:23) with their preaching, and they "turned the world upside down" (Acts 17:6).

If Milk Dud sermons are what we want, we can "heap to ourselves teachers who will tickle our ears." (2 Tim. 4:3 - NEB)

The subject of the sermons in the first century church was Jesus. Jesus is our example for everything. He's our reason for everything we believe and practice. He must be the focal point of our lives.

Notice the following verses regarding the subject matter of sermons in the first century church.

• Acts 3:20 "And He [the Lord] shall send Jesus Christ who before was preached unto you."
• Acts 4:2 "Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead."
• Acts 8:5 "Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them."
• Acts 8:25 "And they, when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans." When they preached the gospel, they didn't preach something written down in a book like we do. (It hadn't been written down yet!) They simply told, and explained, the story of salvation in Jesus.
• Acts 8:35 "Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus."
• Acts 9:20 "And immediately he [Saul] preached Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God."
• 1 Cor. 1:22-23 "The Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified...."
• 1 Cor. 2:2 "For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified."

One of the most familiar sermons in the Bible is the sermon that Philip preached to the Ethiopian eunuch. Acts 8:29 says "Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot." And when the sermon was finished, (Acts 8:39) "... the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more...."

NOTE- If we are ineffective in our preaching, it likely isn't because of a problem with the method or the plan. It's most likely because the message is not about THE MAN. The problem we most often have in evangelizing, I believe, is that we are trying to draw people to the church with the message of our gospel instead of the message of THE gospel of Christ. Jesus said "If I be lifted up, I will draw all men to me." (Jn. 12:32) I know that this is talking about being lifted up on the cross, but I think that it also must be true in the sense of lifting Him up in our teaching as well as in our lives.

So, we conclude that successful teaching is teaching that is

• God glorifying,
• Christ centered, and
• Spirit directed.

Is a successful communion service one in which we have the correct number of loaves and cups? We sometimes leave that impression by the way we stress it in our sermons and at the table. The Bible never stresses that point. (Now please read this whole section before jumping to conclusions.) The Bible simply states the way it was done when Jesus instituted His memorial supper. The arguments that Paul makes in 1 Corinthians the eleventh chapter are primarily about discerning the Lord's body. The warning is given to those who do not discern the Lord's body, not those who fail to follow the prescribed pattern.

During the communion service, do we show off for others by emphasizing how righteous we are, or use that time as a time of instruction for those whom we think may not know as much as we do about it, or do we use that time to remember the Lord's sacrificial death as he told us to do, and examine our own lives to see our need of a Savior? Paul said (1 Cor. 11:29) to "Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup." He said nothing about examining anyone else.

Here are the verses which we often read just before the observance of the Lord's Supper. I have highlighted certain words and phrases which I want to emphasize.

1 Cor. 11:23. For I have received of the Lord that which also I

     delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he

     was betrayed took bread:

 24. And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat:

     this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in 

     remembrance of me.

 25. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped,

     saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye,

     as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.

 26. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye 

     do shew the Lord's death till he come.

 27. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup

     of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and

     blood of the Lord.

 28. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that

     bread, and drink of that cup.

 29. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh

     damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

 30. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.

 31. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

 32. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we

     should not be condemned with the world.

Some have taught that 1 Cor. 10:17 teaches that we must use only one loaf in the communion service. But when we read it in its context, we see that that is not the case. Although it's beyond the intended scope of this essay to deal with any issue extensively, I probably should say a little about this to keep from losing the whole readership. Let's look at 1 Cor. 10:17 - "Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of that one loaf." Notice first of all that it is many who make up the one. That alone should put to rest the thought that only one loaf is under consideration. Besides that, Paul was in Ephesus at the time he wrote these words to the church in Corinth, and they most certainly were not all, in both cities, eating off the same loaf of bread.

To make this passage be a reference to only one loaf is to fail to discern the body of Christ. It is Christ's body which is one, not the loaf. Just as our bodies are made up of many members, so is Christ's body. We must see the one body of Christ or we will miss the whole reason for having a communion service in the first place. We will fall under the very condemnation we are claiming to avoid if we insist that this passage is about the number of loaves on the table instead of the one Lord of us all.

Just as the whole congregation of the nation of Israel drank from that one rock (which was Christ), we also eat of that one loaf which is Christ. It is Christ that is one, not the number of pieces of bread on the table. To force the Scriptures to demand one loaf on each table and one cup on each table is to say that there is one Christ for each congregation, and to say in effect that we do not have fellowship with any other congregation. If we acknowledge that all of the various congregations worship the same Christ, then we must also acknowledge that they are all partaking of that one Christ when they commune. Then, and only then, will we be discerning the Body of Christ. The communion is to be a memorial feast to Him, not to the method.

Now having said all of that, I must also add this important fact: when the Lord instituted the memorial meal, it seems clear to me that He did take one cup and drink from it and pass that same drinking vessel to His disciples, and they all drank from it. And He took one loaf of bread and ate from it, and passed it to His disciples and they all broke off a piece and ate it. That is the pattern, and it seems to me that it is the preferred method. But to make a law here where neither Christ nor the apostles made a law is doing a disservice to the observance and discernment of the body of Christ. Likewise, to steadfastly refuse to observe it in the scriptural pattern is a disgrace to the name of Christ.

There are three main requirements here for us to have a successful communion service:

1. Remember the Lord (His sacrificial death in particular).
2. Discern (observe, see, recognize) the Lord's body and cleansing blood.
3. Examine ourselves (see how well we measure up to the Lord's example).

When we fail to do these things we have made a far greater digression from the pattern than those whom we sometimes (arrogantly) call digressives, as though we never digressed in anything.

May we never lose sight of the fact that a successful communion service is a communion service which is

• God glorifying,
• Christ centered, and
• Spirit directed.

(Some think that giving is not an item of worship. They are probably right, but that's not what I want to talk about. For now, we'll consider it as though it were an item of worship. It is certainly a duty and obligation of everyone who follows Christ. It is in that context that I want to examine what the Scriptures say about giving successfully.)

Is successful giving merely a matter of giving the correct percentage of our income, or giving the correct amount? There are several reasons people give. Here are some:

1. For a tax deduction.
2. To get leveraging power.
3. To get the praise of men.
4. To get God's approval.

Here are some verses from the Bible regarding successful giving.

• Matt. 10:8 "Freely ye have received, freely give."
• Rom. 12:8 "He that giveth, let him do it with simplicity."
• 2 Cor. 9:7 "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity; for God loveth a cheerful giver."

It may be better to not give a gift at all than to give it out of a sense of guilt or necessity or to gain a reward. There is no attempt to glorify God in such a gift. It is no longer a free-will offering if we give it grudgingly or without joy. The Lord already owns the whole world, including anything we may have in our pockets or bank accounts. If He needs it, He can take it from us. But we need to give for the glorification of God. Jesus said that we should do our good works in such a way that men will "glorify your Father which is in heaven." There are other good side effects to our giving. Notice 1 Cor. 13:3 - "If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing." (NIV) The one receiving the gift will gain some benefit, but we who give the gift will not unless it is given out of love.

We conclude, then, that successful giving is giving that is

• God glorifying,
• Christ centered, and
• Spirit directed.

Is a successful Christian life one where we simply stay out of trouble?

Is it one where we never miss a worship service?

A successful Christian life is one in which the highest goal is the glorification of God instead of self. It is not always easy to keep that as our highest goal. Nor is it easy to know if we have done so. Here is one possible way to tell if that is our goal.

Suppose that God told you, and only you, that He was going to take a week-long vacation from keeping track of your sins. You could do anything that you wanted to do during that week, and there would be no consequences, eternal or otherwise, of any sin you might commit. No one else was to have this freedom - just you. The question is, would your actions change during that week? Is there some sin that you refuse to commit because of your fear of the consequences? If there is, then it very possibly is an indication that you are not being motivated out of a desire to glorify God in all you do, but rather out of a sense of fear or a desire for a reward. These are both earthly motives, not spiritual ones. "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love." (1 John 4:18)

So, we conclude that a successful Christian life is one that is

• God glorifying,
• Christ centered, and
• Spirit directed.

To sum up this whole lesson, notice Col. 3:23; "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartedly, as to the Lord, and not unto men;"

Also notice 1 Cor. 10:31 "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."