The Beauty of Belonging to the Global Church with Tim Challies
Today we get to hear about Tim Challies’ experience traveling the world and worshipping with our brothers and sisters in Christ within their local contexts. We pray this conversation strengthens your faith in the God of the nations—the One who created and loves each of his children, no matter our geographical location.
Time Stamps from the Conversation
4:00 Tim Challies’ Work
6:00 Worshipping God Around the World
12:30 Unity Across Cultures
19:30 What the Global Church Teaches Us
25:30 Finding Unity Amongst Differences
NOTES & QUOTES
“When you stand and join in worship on a Sunday morning, yes, your church is beginning a worship service, but also you’re joining into something that began way out over the international date line hours before, and over the course of the day, this chorus of worship is spread over the entire globe.”
“We're joining in from the rising of the sun to its setting. The name of the Lord is being praised all around this earth.”
“It's so easy to focus on all that's different from culture to culture. And those differences can be beautiful, they can be comical, they can be all sorts of things. And they're worth studying, they're worth appreciating. But what binds us together as Christians is so much more profound and just enjoying that.”
“We're bound together because the scripture makes it pretty clear that this is what it means to worship in a Christian way. And yet some of the particulars of that can be quite different.”
“And to think God made us to exist within cultures. He didn't want us to be A-cultural. And so all of that is okay. That's part of the beauty of humanity that we do differ from one another so much, even as we're bound together by our commonality and being made in the image of God.”
“It's fascinating how we can be from so many different cultures all across the world, and yet we're all being transformed into his likeness.” -HB
“It's amazing to think what all that we have available to us, you and I in this part living is where we do speaking English and this part of the world, all the resources, all the blessings that are available to us. There's a culture that has zero theology textbooks, zero seminaries, zero Bible colleges, zero hymns.”
“What's more encouraging to another Christian than to hear how God has worked in somebody else's life and drawn them out of darkness and into light. And yeah, it's just such a joy hearing those stories again and again. And while each one is completely different, they're also entirely the same, right? I once was lost, now I'm found, was blind, but now I see.”
“you talk about conflicts we're having and all of us encounter times of conflict. And in those times, I think it's so important to remember I will spend eternity with this person and the calling upon God's church now is to start living that way today, right? We're not supposed to fight and bicker until we get to heaven. We're to show that kind of unity right here on earth. Now, of course that's deeply challenging, but That's what God calls us to do. So we should be extending endless love and grace and concern to one another rather than quarreling and running one another over.”777
“In terms of what we will experience in heaven, I have no idea. Again, what's beautiful to one person may be not beautiful at all to another. And so I don't know if in heaven we will worship in all different ways or if we will all sort of be one thing and all agree that this is the best form of music or the best way to worship God, I do not know, but I know it will be perfect. I know it will be before Christ. And I know we'll experience that perfect and true unity in that day. So I don't know about you, but I'm really looking forward to it.”
RESOURCES
God’s Great Big Global Church by Tim Challies
From the Rising of the Sun by Tim Challies
From the Rising of the Sun Documentary (YouTube)
Seasons of Sorrow by Tim Challies
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
Psalm 113:3
Lamentations 3
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Have you ever worshiped outside of your local context? Were there any things that opened your eyes a bit to God’s great big global church?
How does it make you feel to know that from the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is being praised somewhere?
How does thinking about the Church around the globe affect your humility when it comes to worship and God’s Word
When you’re in conflict with a brother or sister in Christ, how might it help you to consider you will spend eternity with him or her?
What might you do or implement based on what you learned in this week’s episode?
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IMPORTANT NOTE
Journeywomen interviews are intended to serve as a springboard for continued study in the context of your local church. While we carefully select guests each week, interviews do not imply Journeywomen's endorsement of all writings and positions of the interviewee or any other resources mentioned.
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