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.
As a church we have to learn about each other in all of our faults and failures and let love rule to the point that we can truly understand each other. When we do that, it becomes easier to forgive and love each other as we work together to advance God kingdom.
Paul also said we can spur each other on to;
b) Good deeds.
Jesus Himself said; Matthew 5:14-16 (NIV) 14 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it lives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
Jesus has declared that one of the ways that we give glory and praise to God is through our good deeds. We as a corporate body are able to do so much more together than any one of us could do alone. As we work together and become a family of God together, we will find ways to do things for our family and our community.
Paul advises Timothy; 1 Timothy 6:17-19 (NIV)
17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant or to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm oundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
There is a reason Paul said, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another.
Our life in Christ is centered not on this life, but on eternity. So while we may do what we need in order to have a good life for ourselves, we should and will take time to consider how we can do good things for others. Many times we are able to discover the needs through our association with the local church.
2) We can encourage each other. Have you ever been in a situation where someone you cared for was away from you and you wanted to help them? How helpless did it make you feel? When you join together with others of like mind with like purpose then you have the opportunity to be there for each other. We are a small body right now, and even so, we need each other to encourage and support as we do the best we can in a very difficult period in evangelism of our local world. When we begin to grow there will be people who will need the comfort and prayers that can only come through a corporate body of those who
love and care for each other. We are commanded to encourage each other. I pray we will never fall into the habits of so many churches where the people come together for the primary purpose of gossip and clicks.
Finally we see that Jesus and his disciples gave us a model. (As was his custom) We can spur each other on, we can encourage each other and finally;
3) We can be obedient to the model of Jesus Christ and the disciples.
Luke 4:16 (NIV)
6 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the
Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he
stood up to read.
Acts 17:2 (NIV)
2 As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
I am not sure we really get the example here. Jesus, the son of God, the creator of the universe had as a custom going to church every week. It was so much of a custom for him that when he got there they brought him the scrolls to read. Luke 4:16-17 (NIV)
16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. 17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
It is a problem we humans have. We have been given an example by our creator as to how we can be fulfilled and joyful. Yet we think we can figure a better way to do things. Everyone outside these walls and inside of these walls are looking for the same thing, Happiness, satisfaction, fulfillment. All these things are ours if we would look outside of ourselves and place our trust in God. This is truly what church is supposed to be all about.
Today, before we partake of communion I would like to read you a story. It is a Bob Benson story of the Baloney Sandwich.
A Baloney Sandwich
"Do you remember when they had old fashioned Sunday School picnics? I do. As I recall, it was back in the "Olden days", as my kids would say, back before they had air conditioning. They said, "We’ll all meet at the Sycamore Lodge in Shelby Park at 4:30 on Saturday. You bring your supper and we’11 furnish the iced tea. But if you were like me, you came home at the last minute. When you got ready to pack your picnic, all you could find in the refrigerator was one piece of dried up baloney and just enough mustard at the bottom of the jar so you got it all over your knuckles trying to get to it And just two slices of stale bread to go with it. So you made your baloney sandwich and wrapped it in an old brown bag and went to the picnic.
When it came time to eat you sat at the end of a table and spread out your sandwich. But the folks who sat next to you brought a feast. The lady was a good cook and had worked hard all day to get ready for the picnic. And she had fried chicken and baked beans and potato salad and homemade rolls and sliced tomatoes and pickles and olives and celery. And two big homemade chocolate pies to top it off. That's what they spread out there next to you while you sat with your baloney sandwich.
But they said to you,
"Why don’t we just put it all together?" "No, I couldn’t do that I couldn't even think of it," you murmured in embarrassment, with one eye on the chicken." Oh, come on, there's plenty of chicken and plenty of pie and plenty of everything. And we just love baloney sandwiches. Let's just put it all together."
And so you did and there you sat, eating like a king when you came like a pauper. One day, it dawned on me that God has been saying just that sort of thing to me. "Why don't you take what you have and what you are, and I will take what I have and what I am, and we'll share it together?"
I began to see that when I put what I had and was and am and hope to be with what He is, I had stumbled upon the bargain of a lifetime. I get to thinking sometimes, thinking of me sharing with God. When I think of how little I bring, and how much He brings and invites me to share, I know I should be shouting from the housetops, but I am so filled with awe and wonder that I can hardly speak.
I know I don't have enough love or faith or grace or mercy or wisdom, but He does. He has all those things in abundance and He says, "Let's just put it all together. “Consecration, denial, sacrifice, commitment and crosses were all kind of hard words for me, until I saw them in the light of sharing.
It isn't a case of me kicking in what I have because God is the biggest kid on the block and He wants it all for Himself. He is saying, "Everything I possess is available to you. Everything that I am and can be to a person, I will be to you."
When I think about it like that, it really amuses me to see somebody running along through life hanging on to their dumb bag with that stale baloney sandwich in it saying, "God's not going to get my sandwich! No sirree, this is mine!" Did you ever see anybody like that-so needy- just about half starved to death, yet hanging on for dear life. It's not that God wants your sandwich.
The fact is you need His chicken!
Well, go ahead-eat your baloney sandwich, as long as you can. But when you can't stand its tastetessness or drabness any longer, when you get so tired of running your own life and doing it your way and figuring out the answers with no one to help, when trying to accumulate, hold, grasp and keep everything together in your own strength gets to be too big a load, when you begin to realize that by yourself you're never going to be able to fulfill your dreams, I hope you'll remember that it doesn't have to be that way.
You have been invited to something better, you know. You have been
invited to share in the very being of God.
This is what our service with God is like. We are baloney sandwiches and God has prepared a buffet table. He wants us to give him our baloney, and he gives us into something that is so much better. Before we take communion I would like you to search yourself. Have you allowed God to work in your life, or are you still bringing your baloney sandwich to the table of God each week? Come to His alter and turn over to him your life and let His love envelope you like you have never know before in your life.
