Enter The House; If We Build It; They May Come Series

Enter The House

If We Build It; They May Come

John 1:29-37

Part 6 of 6 in the Series

THE PURPOSE OF THE CHURCH

Introduction

The top of our website, just under the name is the phrase; “More Than A Church, A Family!” We are going to discover this morning the purpose of the house of God. Over these last five weeks we have built a structure of words. We started out recognizing that God called His people, His creation, to come and serve Him in Holiness using what he already provided within us. Then we built a foundation on our theoretical building indicating that this foundation was Jesus Christ. As long as we had Jesus at the foundation the building would be sound. We discussed the wall building process of the edification of the believers and the exaltation of God. Finally we capped the building with a roof that we called “The Purposeful Action of the Church”, proactively reaching out to the lost, known as the Evangelization of Sinners, and the Purposeful Preparation of the People so that we will know how to reach the lost. (Got to love hermeneutics and alliteration don’t you.)

So the building is finished, what do we do with it? Today's message is going to be about this building, where we gather together weekly,

sometimes more than once. What is its' purpose; this building and the people who gather together within its' walls?

WORDsearch Bible put a title “A Call To Persevere”, just before the scripture we will use for our text today. Let’s stand and read together.

Hebrews 10:23-25 (NIV)

23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

I like the proactive suggestion Paul makes in verse 24. AND LET US CONSIDER HOW, we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, (keep this at top of all of p. point one.)

In life often there are things we say that are just words we speak, we really don't mean them. Often phrases like, "let me know if you need anything" are said as a means of ending a conversation. It is not so much that we think ahead of time "how do I end this and get out of here safely" but more just something that over the yean has developed as a means of being social. Here is the difference; Paul wants us to actually think about ways that we can help each other to be better Christians. In this case, not how we can be better Christians, but how can I make you a better Christian? Paul gives us two areas that we can encourage each other. The first is;

1) We can spur each other on to

a) Love

Matthew 22:34-40 (NIV)

34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together.

35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:

36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"

37 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'

38 This is the first and greatest commandment.

39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'

40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

Blank Screen

Jesus basically said that you only need to keep these two laws. This is technically true. Think about this; can you love your neighbor and steal from him at the same time? Can you say that you Love God with all your heart, yet not bother to enter into corporate worship with His people? I can't prove this, but I believe that if you were able to examine the lives of those who say they worship God in their own way you will find that they are fooling themselves in order to avoid the responsibility placed on those who really are called according to His purpose.

Tomorrow is Valentines Day. All over America special candy and flowers will be delivered to people by people who are declaring their love to each other. A commercial for the “Vermont Teddy” bear starts out by advocating you deceive your partner. They said something like, “Make them believe you worked so hard to find that special thing just for them” all you need is a credit card. My wife and I rarely have given each other presents on special occasions. I could not count how many birthdays and Christmases’ there was not a single gift under the tree from each other. Must be we don’t love each other? Love is not giving a gift a few times a year. Love is being there in the tough times as well as the good. Love understands the other point of view even when it differs with yours; love is not abandoning each other. Love is God’s way of life.