Westminster Larger Catechism Q. 154. What are the external ways Christ uses to bring us the benefits of his mediation? A. The ordinary external ways Christ uses to bring the benefits of his mediation to his church are his regulations, particularly the word, sacraments, and prayer, all of which are made effective for the salvation of his chosen ones.a
a.. Mt 28.19-20, Acts 2.42,46-47, 1Tm 4.16, 1 Cor 1.21, Eph 5.19-20, 6.17-18.
We are a culture that is obsessed with the extraordinary. As Michael Horton writes in his book, Ordinary, “We’ve become accustomed to looking around restlessly for something new, the latest and greatest, that idea or product or person or experience that will solve our problems, give us some purpose, and change the world… Who wants a bumper sticker that announces to the neighborhood, ‘My child is an ordinary student at Bubbling Brook Elementary’?”1 We chase after “mountaintop” spiritual experiences, launch mission and evangelism efforts that will “take this city for Jesus,” believing that the only way to actually make a “real difference” (whatever that means) is to do something, well, extraordinary on behalf of Jesus and the Kingdom of God. I have been wondering lately if we haven’t gotten the extraordinary ends that God is able to achieve mixed up with the ordinary means by which He goes about doing so.
In Reformed theology, the phrase, “the ordinary means of grace” refers to the proclamation of the Word of God, the right exercise of the Sacraments, and the regular practice of prayer. These are the “ordinary,” as in primary but not only, means by which God brings His transforming grace and power into our lives in order to make us into the new creations He intends and desires us to become. As Thomas Vincent explains, “the ordinances are the most usual way and means of conversion and salvation, without the use of which we cannot, upon good ground, expect that any benefit of redemption should be communicated to us.”2 They are also “ordinary” in the sense that there is nothing particularly outlandish or unique about them. The scriptures have existed in their current state for almost 2,000 years. The sacraments make use of everyday items — water, bread, and wine (or juice). Prayer is something we are able to do at any time, in any place; while formal and ritualized prayers have their place and benefit, we can also kneel down beside our bed at night. There is very little that is revolutionary, radical, or groundbreaking about them. And while God certainly works in other ways all the time, His most powerful, effective, and long-lasting works are done primarily through these simple, ordinary means.
What if the same is true for us — as individual followers of Christ, and as a community of people striving to be faithful together? What if our extraordinary God is calling us to ordinary faithfulness, day in and day out, through our regular getting-up-and-going-to-work-or-school lives? Tish Harrison Warren writes,
…what I’m slowly realizing is that, for me, being in the house all day with a baby and a two-year-old is a lot more scary and a lot harder than being in a war-torn African village. What I need courage for is the ordinary, the daily every-dayness of life. Caring for a homeless kid is a lot more thrilling to me than listening well to the people in my home. Giving away clothes and seeking out edgy Christian communities requires less of me than being kind to my husband on an average Wednesday morning or calling my mother back when I don’t feel like it.3
For the past several years, Northminster has not been able to do much that might qualify as “extraordinary.” We see and hear of churches around us doing lots of great things, which is great, but we’re left wondering if God is able to work through an ordinary church like ours. Perhaps striving to be faithfully ordinary is a calling that is equally extraordinary, and perhaps much harder, than anything else. Perhaps, through our ordinary but faithful worship, discipleship and service, our extraordinary God might do a work in us and our community that far exceeds anything we could ask or imagine. Through ordinary people, faithfully and purposefully practicing the ordinary means of grace, God is able to work extraordinary acts of transformation. And maybe, just maybe, that is a radical idea.
When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. – Acts 4:23
Blessings,
Rev. David Garrison
1 Michael Scott Horton. (2014). Ordinary : sustainable faith in a radical, restless world. Zondervan. p.11.
2 Vincent, Thomas. A Family Instructional Guide. Electronic edition based on the first Banner of Truth ed., 1980., Christian Classics Foundation, 1996, p. 234.
3 Courage in the Ordinary. (2013, April 3). https://thewell.intervarsity.org/blog/courage-ordinary.html. Accessed 3/11/2026.
