There are a lot of reasons why someone might decide to get up on Sunday and "go to church." You might take a second and ask yourself, "Why do I go to church on Sunday?" Most will probably answer with some response that will sound like this, "I go to church to worship God." Maybe some would use other churchy words like, "I want to glorify God, or I want to praise God." And these are good answers for everything we do in life.
Paul said it this way, "Whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father." So going to church to worship God or to praise Him is a great thing, but, isn't this the reason for everything you say and do?
Could there be a better reason for you to get out of bed and "go to church" on Sunday? The answer is yes. And the Hebrew writer spells it out for us, "let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near."
Here's the reason you need to "go to church." You need the encouragement to be sent. You go to church so you can go to your world. Here's another way the Hebrew writer put it, "You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God" You would be hard pressed to read the New Testament and believe that you don't need the church. Those who say things like this, don't know a thing about God stuff.
Jesus said the most important command from God is for us to "love God and love others." But now let's talk about what that means. What does it mean to love God and to love others. What is the action plan? How do I do this? We've discussed what Jesus said in Matthew 25, that we love God and love others by serving them and blessing the needs of people. And this is definitely a part of what it means to love God and love others, Jesus said so. A lot of churches have the serve thing down, but, the Bible also says that Jesus wants everyone to be saved. He said, "I came to seek and save the lost." Jesus wants people to repent. If all we do as a church is serve the needs of folks but we don't share the Gospel of Jesus, then we haven't really loved them. We can bless people, but, we love them by sharing the message of the Gospel of Jesus with them. The Scripture we're looking at today provides us the understanding of how we love God and love others.
Romans 10:13-17, "For 'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.' But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, 'How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!'...faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ."
Jesus taught us that His expectations of His followers is that they will make other followers. The Bible word Jesus used is 'disciple.' The word disciple means "learner" Jesus said our job as a church is to "make disciples." If you do a word study on this phrase of Jesus in Matthew 28:19, you will make a significant discovery. This is what the Strong's Concordance says about "making disciples", "helping someone to progressively learn the Word of God to become a matured, growing disciple (literally, "a learner," a true Christ-follower); to train (develop) in the truths of Scripture and the lifestyle required, helping a believer learn to be a disciple of Christ in belief and practice."
Now, I don't know about you, but, this sounds intimidating to me. I have a responsibility because I'm a disciple of Jesus to make more disciples by helping them grow by being an example of what a follower of Jesus looks like and training them to live the same way. This is what Jesus said. The rest of the New Testament simply confirms the teaching of Jesus. Titus chapter 2 is a great example of what it means to train others to be disciples of Jesus. This is why the church gathers. This is why you, "go to church." We want to encourage you and help you to make disciples of Jesus, because this is how you "love God and love others."
Let's talk about a couple of ideas according to Romans 10
Sharing the Gospel of Jesus is a disciple's highest privilege and priority "And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?" Romans 10:14
There may be some who want to be mature followers of Jesus, they want to be disciples but they don't know how. The simple truth is that a person can't teach what they don't know. The first step to growing up Spiritually is to read the Bible and pray consistently. It's impossible to grow past Spiritual infancy without the discipline of reading the Bible and praying everyday. Jesus modeled this behavior for us. If you read the life of Jesus you'll notice that many times he would go off by himself to talk to God. Why did Jesus do this? For the same reason you and I need to spend time with God. This is how we grow up Spiritually.
There is a reason why babies drink milk. No mom would try to feed her baby a steak. But what would we think of a 20 year old who only drank milk? Can a person grow up drinking milk alone? As a person grows up they start adding different kinds of food and protein to their diet. The same thing is true for Spiritual development. Speaking to a group of Spiritually immature people the Hebrew writer says this, "There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen. You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food." Hebrews 5:11-12
Did you catch the benchmark of a Spiritually mature person? "You should be teaching others." But a person can't teach what they don't know. This is why it's vital to read the Bible, especially the life and teaching of Jesus and the New Testament. This is why it's vital to spend time with God in prayer.
I want to help you grow Spiritually, so I've come up with an idea to help you. If you want to grow up Spiritually, if you're tired of staying where you are, if you want to make disciples of Jesus, but, don't feel like you have the tools to do it, then here's a suggestion.
I call it 5 on 5. The details to this Spiritual Growth plan are available online
Here's the brief summary:
Step 1: 5 minutes of prayer and 5 minutes of Bible reading every day. When you are doing this consistently move to Step 2.
Step 2: Repeat 5 minutes of prayer and 5 minutes of Bible reading every day, now add, 5 minutes of prayer and 5 minutes of Bible reading with another Christian person. When you are doing this consistently move to Step 3.
Step 3: Repeat 5 minutes of prayer and 5 minutes of Bible reading every day, and repeat, 5 minutes of prayer and 5 minutes of Bible reading with another Christian person. Now add meeting for 1 hour with at least 3 other Christian people, preferably of the same gender for Bible study and accountability. When you are doing this consistently move to Step 4.
Step 4: Lead others and help them walk through the steps.
Here's the second idea in Romans 10
You can be a disciple who makes disciples "So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ." Romans 10:17
A Spiritually mature person increases God's church by making disciples. We make disciples by showing and sharing Jesus with people. This can be an intimidating idea. Jesus knew this. This is why he issued his challenge this way, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me." Luke 9:23
The most selfish thing any Christian person, or follower of Jesus can do is keep the Gospel of Jesus to themselves and live in such a way that no one around them recognizes Jesus in them. The Weymouth Church of Christ exists to increase and mature God's people. The 5 on 5 plan that I mentioned is just an idea. This is not the only way to grow Spiritually, you may have a plan of your own. The idea is to get started. We gather so we can send. We gather as a church on Sunday, or we gather in small or accountability groups so we can send each other back out into our world.
You go to church so you can go to your world.
I hope and pray that if you're a follower of Jesus your goal is to make more followers of Jesus. This is why we exist.
