Sermon Central
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Don't Miss The Point
Contributed by Jacob Brimm on Apr 20, 2021 (message contributor)
Summary: Why do we even bother coming to church? It's a common question! Now after COVID we have more church available online than every before. This sermon will journey through the Bible to answer the question of WHY we gather together for service.
DON’T MISS THE POINT
Interesting time we are living in!
Meme – Congrats you have defeated Jumanji, Welcome to the Oregon Trail!
Laughed!
2020 – Covid-19 – quarantine – Churches embracing technology, LIVE Streaming Church service – more people than ever before have access to local church service – more church services are offered online than ever before!
2021 – Not to be outdone with interesting events – Massive winter storm – Literally SNOWED IN
We live in a time when more people attend church via online services than in person. Good thing! Church available.
BUT, now that we ARE able to go gather back together – some are having a hard time returning to church.
Begs the question:
Why do we come to church?
Honestly, this question is VERY important. And you know what: people struggle to answer it. Some people say you come to church because it is just what you do.
• Well you are a Christian, so you come to church.
• I go to church because I like the preaching, the worship, my friends are there.
• Others think that we come to church for some reason beyond that.
Recently, someone said: you don’t need to go to church to get into heaven.
WOW. Sometimes it is a simple statement, that has a profound impact.
A simple statement is HONEST – it asks the question:
Why do we come to church? -> have you ever given that question much thought?
Today we will answer this question.
Turn with me back to the Beginning:
In the Beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Right off the bat we are introduced to the first character in the Bible – GOD.
And the Trinity – the word used is a Plural word in Singular usage!
Next thing we are introduced to some locations:
Heavens – that’s plural – it means both the universe, and the realm of the God.
The Earth – here.
The rest of Genesis is simple enough – everything gets created.
God speaks and creation happens. UNTIL:
Geneses 1:26
Then God said, “ Let us make man in OUR image, according to OUR likeness
We get a twist here: let US make, OUR image, OUR likeness – you can’t help but notice the Trinity shining. God is plural. And of course we understand the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
BUT we are also introduced here to another character in the story: MAN.
Verse 27 –
So God created man in His OWN IMAGE!
SO GOD CREATED MAN – and put them over all of creation.
Boom chapter 1 is done, chapter 2 comes in and takes the story to a more detailed level –
• Chapter 1 – broad –
• chapter 2 gets specific on the details of the creation of MAN.
Gen 2:7
Then the LORD God FORMED the man out of the dust from the ground and BREATHED the breath of life in his nostrils, and the man became a living being!
God FORMED man – not spoke – special – and BREATHED life into man.
Man must be special in this story.
Jump to Gen 3 and we learn that the serpent comes after God’s special creation MANKIND.
He doesn’t go after horses, or fish, or birds, whales – trees – HE GOES AFTER MAN.
A thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it in abundance.
The devil slithers into the life of man to destroy God’s special creation mankind – a direct attack on our Father in heaven. Destroy the object of God’s love!
Sin enters the world.
Gen 3:15
(God says to the serpent) “I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring, HE will strike your head and you will strike HIS heel!
HE will strike your head with his heel!
A promise of HOPE! THE VERY FIRST PROMISE OF HOPE!
Why do I cover all of that? Because it sets the stage for the entire REASON we come to church!
Man was created – had a relationship with God – walked with God in the garden. Spoke with God. The relationship was perfect, was pure, was RIGHT!
But that relationship was destroyed. SIN became the barrier between US and GOD.
Sin ruined everything, and as long as we had sin, we had a VEIL between us and God.
Jump forward through the OT and you discover that God unleashes His plan so that a relationship can be restored.
Blood sacrifice.
This massive tabernacle gets erected, priests get chosen, and sins become named. Depending on what you do, there is a sacrifice that must be paid – the list is huge.
