Our congregation is a part of a religious movement in the nineteenth century often called the “Restoration Movement.” The main focus of this movement was to get back to the Bible and to reject traditions that suppressed biblical truth. It led to a further emphasis on water baptism as the rite which inaugurates a person’s salvation from God. It also emphasized taking the Lord’s Supper every week. This movement had a wide variety of views and had a significant amount of development in certain areas (such as a move from post-millennialism to amillennialism).

While there has been a restoration of core doctrines from the New Testament, the church still struggles with restoring the Spirit that empowered the apostles and early church. Our worship may be by “the Book,” but are we constantly reflecting as individuals and as a congregation on whether our worship is focused on God’s glory? We may be singing with our lips, but are we singing with our soul? We may take the Lord’s Supper every Sunday, but is it with the same attitude and in the same manner as the New Testament church? We may lead a prayer, but is that prayer sincere? Are we just repeating the same requests out of habit or are we truly cognizant that we are speaking before the Creator? If we are doing the right actions emptily, our worship is unacceptable before God (Isa 29:13–14).

There are three ways we can continue to restore New Testament Christianity. First, we must always prepare our minds and hearts throughout the week for worship. When we go to worship, we are the Temple of God. We should be in awe because we are in the presence of the Almighty. This requires preparation on everyone’s part, not just the worship leaders. Second, we need to constantly reflect on our worship as individuals and as a Church. We must catch ourselves when our minds drift off during prayers. We should be honest with ourselves if our mind is on the football game rather than on worshiping the Lord. Third, we must constantly reevaluate our traditions to make sure that our traditions not only are in line with the letter of the Scripture, but also help us keep the intention of Scripture. This requires study and humility in admitting that the way we do things now may not be the best way.