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An evening worship service is usually a good sign of a church where there is a continuing emphasis on serious Christianity. Yet more and more churches have quit their evening services. At Providence, the ongoing evening service is a wonderful way for our people to end the Lord's Day together worshiping our glorious God. Some families who live too far from the church to go home and back comfortably between the services bring their lunch and stay at the church and eat there.
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Expository preaching is usually a good sign of serious Christianity in a church. At Providence, expositions of Scripture passages are the staple of the Sunday morning and evening preaching. Our pastor normally preaches sermon series that work gradually all the way through one book of the Bible at a time, giving the congregation a better understanding of that book as a whole and placing well-known texts from it in their proper context. When one such series finishes, another usually begins. There are occasional topical series as well. But the individual sermons in such a series will usually be expositions of a single relevant passage. There are also occasional topical sermons, but even these are intended as sermons which expound the teaching of the whole of Scripture on the topic.
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Midweek bible studies which actually study the Bible are another good sign of serious Christianity in a church. At Providence, we regularly have mid-week Bible studies. The pastor usually leads a Bible study in someone's home, and usually there are one or more elders leading midweek studies as well.
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Hymns or Psalms sung from a Hymnbook or Psalter are also usually good indicators of serious Christianity, not because there's anything wrong with singing from song sheets or an overhead projector, but because there is such a wealth of solid Biblical content in traditional hymns and certainly in Psalms set to music. At Providence, we sing from the Trinity Hymnal, which is widely known for its strong content and traditional tunes. The Trinity Hymnal also has numerous metrical Psalms. We also use an abbreviated Psalter for one of the hymns in the evening service.
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A commitment to a full set of doctrinal standards usually marks a church's commitment to serious Christianity. At Providence, our pastor, elders, and deacons have taken vows that they understand the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Westminster Shorter and Larger Catechisms to accurately reflect the teachings of Scripture. These standards don't replace Scripture for us, but they are good teaching tools and helpful summaries of the doctrines taught in the Bible.
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An emphasis on doctrine in preaching and teaching indicates serious Christianity in a church. At Providence, we make such an emphasis in order to lay the foundation for practical application. The Bible always teaches something rather than nothing. And the word doctrine simply means teaching. Paul's writings in particular generally begin with a doctrinal section followed by a practical section that makes specific application of the doctrines taught earlier.
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The practice of church discipline usually indicates a church that is serious about following the teaching of the Bible. This is so because the Bible teaches that church discipline is required by Jesus Christ in His Church. At Providence we try to follow Scripture in administering church discipline when necessary, but always in a humble spirit and a spirit of grace, hoping to reclaim a sinning brother or sister for Christ's body. We also don't have to administer church discipline frequently because we practice it consistently.
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When the elders can fill in when the pastor's gone, it is usually a strong indicator of serious Christianity in a church. At Providence our elders have filled in admirably on numerous occasions in this way, a sign that the congregation is led by men with serious commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ.
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