"The First Social Network"
Hebrews 10:25
Introduction: Recently I read some research about trends in church attendance in America today and one point that was made in the article seemed very contradictory. This one point has huge implications for the church going forward and unless the trend is reversed it does not bode well for the future. Here's what the article stated: "Overall church attendance has remained fairly constant in recent years but the difference is in frequency of attendance." Basically it says that people are going, they're just not going as often. Part of this can be explained by the fact that many churches have cancelled Wednesday and Sunday evening services but it doesn't explain all of it. Many professing Christians are just not attending as often as they used to. I suspect that one of the reasons for this change is the lowered expectations for membership in general and discipleship in particular. In many churches today there is no call to duty, responsibility or accountability.
"Bat Infestation"
ILL - Three pastors got together for coffee one day and found all their churches had bat-infestation problems. "I got so mad," said one, "I took a shotgun and fired at them. I missed and it made holes in the ceiling. The trustees are still upset with me."
Another pastor said, "Well, I tried trapping them alive. Then I drove 50 miles before releasing them, but they beat me back to the church."
The third pastor said, "I haven't had any more problems since I took action." "What did you do?" the others asked, amazed. "I simply baptized and received into the church and I haven't seen them since!"
Now as I begin this message I am fairly confident that some of you are going to be able to say a hearty Amen to what I share because you very seldom if ever miss an opportunity to be in God's house. Others of you who only miss occasionally will probably rationalize that you only miss when company comes in or you have tickets to a sporting event or something like that. You convince yourself that what you are doing is ok and that you are there regularly. Now let me tell you something about what it means to be regular.
ILL - "A friend was in front of me coming out of church one day, and the preacher was standing at the door as he always is ready to shake hands.
The Pastor grabbed my friend by the hand and pulled him aside and said to him, "You need to join the Army of the Lord!"
My friend replied, "I'm already in the Army of the Lord, Pastor." The Pastor questioned, "How come I don't see you except at Christmas and Easter?"
He whispered back, "I'm in the secret service."
Some folks show up every year at Easter and Christmas, they never miss those two Sundays but even though you might say they are regular no one would ever venture to say they are faithful. There is another group here today who are going to feel very uncomfortable about this message. You will be restless and you might even be a little bit resentful that your minister would call attention to this issue but let me tell you if I didn't love you all, each and every one of you I wouldn't say anything at all.
The first thing in our text is:
I. THE PRINCIPLE OF CHURCH ATTENDANCE
a. The admonition to assemble
There is one point that needs to be cleared up first as we begin this study and that is that the writer of Hebrews is not making a suggestion about the practice of assembling together, he is saying that it is not an option for believers. We need to ask the question, "What part of "...not forsaking..." don't we understand?"
b. The act of assembly
Many professing Christians are under the mistaken notion that when they get up to come to church that they are going to meet with God, that somehow God is waiting on them to arrive like a parking lot attendant, door greeter or usher but B. B. Warfield said it better than I ever could:
"No man can fail to meet with God in the sanctuary if he takes God there with him."
Friend, if you are a believer in Christ then you have the Spirit of Christ inside of you everywhere that you go, including the church house! Many are under the mistaken idea that we have to come to church to worship God but the truth is we should come to church worshipping God (private, personal worship) and continue our worship corporately as a community of faith!
"Would it surprise you to know that throughout history God has been intent on gathering many worshipers? He created not just one person but many; he has redeemed not just one person but many, so that at the end of the age there will be a vast throng to worship him (Exodus 5:1; 7:16; 8:1; 9:13; Revelation 5:9-14). We reach our fullest expression of worship corporately, not individually. When we gather as a church, we enjoy a foretaste of redemption's consummation (Hebrews 12:18-24)." Emmanuel Bible Church Website
c. The argument for assembling
How many of you here this morning believe that the Lord's return could happen at any moment? There is a sense of urgency about the last phrase that cannot be ignored. We can see it in three words: "...so much more..." The "...day..." mentioned is obviously the second coming of Christ. My friend we are to consider our behavior in the light of the second coming of Christ. What do you want Jesus to find you doing when He comes? What if He should come back on the very day that the church has set aside to worship Him and you are nowhere to be found? What will you say to Him, what reason will you give for not being in His house on His day?
The second issue mentioned in this verse is:
II. THE PROBLEM WITH NON-ATTENDANCE
In the middle of our key verse the writer of Hebrews recognizes that there were "...some..." who had already stopped attending the assembly of believers. Some may have stopped attending because of persecution while some others may have been like the folks mentioned in 2 Peter 3:4 who asked "...Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." After all it's been 2,000 years since Jesus promised his disciples that He would come again and He hasn't come yet, right!
What are some possible reasons for non-attendance on the part of some who profess to know Jesus Christ? It could be:
a. A lack of conviction
What is a conviction? It is a belief that you will not change based on a principle found in Scripture as opposed to a preference that is subject to change. Let me illustrate if I may. We have a man in our church family who on several occasions has made his feelings known to us on the subject of a small green vegetable (brussel sprouts). He has a strong conviction about consuming these little round vegetables and for as long as I have known him he has never changed that conviction or eaten a brussel sprout, not a single one. I feel confident that he will never eat one as long as he lives. Now if he ever becomes mentally incapacitated and is no longer in possession of his facilities we might be able to get him to eat some brussel sprouts but as long as he is in his right mind I feel sure that "...while the world standeth, he will eat no brussel sprouts..." That is a conviction not a preference. If you have a conviction about church attendance then you will have to violate your conscience and your conviction in order to stay away from the house of God. We have folks sitting in our services this morning who are probably too sick to be here or too elderly or too something to be here but they are here because they have a deeply held conviction about where a Christian ought to be on the Lord's Day!
b. A lack of commitment
How many of you love you children and grandchildren? That's a pretty easy question to answer isn't it? What would you do for them? I think I know what Sis. Judy and I would do for ours! We just bought an IPAD and the main reason is so we can Face time our family (that's code for my grandsons!). Because we love our grandsons we are willing to commit time, talent and treasure to them and their well-being! That's what we do when love something. Now let me ask you one more question? Do you love your church? If you do then the same reasoning would apply. What you love you are concerned about and are willing to commit your time, talent and treasure in! Can I get an amen?
"BIGGER AND BETTER RATTLE SNAKES"
Mr. Jones called his pastor from the hospital one day and frantically said, "Oh, pastor come quickly, my son, John was just bitten by a rattle snake and is at the point of death." Of course the pastor hurried to the side of the worried father. "Pastor, pray for my son!", cried the father, " I have promised the Lord that if my son recovers, I will come back to church and bring my family and will again start living for the Lord."
Of course the pastor prayed. He said, "Dear Lord, we come to you now in behalf of Mr. Jones' son. We pray that he might recover from this snake bite. We want to praise your name for sending this rattle snake to bite John! This one rattle snake has done what I or the church has been unable to do in the life of Mr. Jones now for over 5 years. During all this time, he has not been interested in his spiritual well-being or the spiritual well-being of his family and this one rattle snake has turned his mind back to you. Lord, could it be, what we may need in the lives of many of our other church members are bigger and better rattle snakes?"
c. A lack of concern
WHEN MY HAT IS HERE...
So, it's not true that you can be just as good a Christian without going to church. You can't simply say "Well, I'm there in Spirit... but I don't have to be there in body."
It's kind of like the true story of an incident that took place at a University. This university had a policy that if the professor was 10 minutes late for class...it was cancelled. But one day a professor put his hat on his desk and then went to the faculty room. He apparently lost track of time and when he arrived back at the class he was 10 minutes late and found it room empty. He was furious.
When the class next met, he informed his students "When my hat is here, I'm here!"
His class learned their lesson well. The following day, the professor arrived at 9 a.m. and he was met by the sight of 25 hats on the desks -- but no students.
(Albert I. Raizman, Reader's Digest 1/05 p. 54. From a sermon by Jeff Strite, Iron Man - The Learning Curve, 6/7/2010)
Third there is:
III. THE PAYOFF OF CHURCH ATTENDANCE
a. Church attendance helps us gain perspective
Psalms 73:12 Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches.
13 Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency.
14 For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.
15 If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children.
16 When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me;
17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.
b. Church attendance helps us to grow spiritually
One of the main reasons that we attend church is so that we can receive spiritual food which is so vital to our growth as believers.
1 Peter 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
"The Word of God, applied by the Holy Spirit, is crucial to the believer's spiritual health and growth. In corporate worship we receive Scriptural truth in various ways, but especially through the preaching of the Word (1 Timothy 4:13; II Timothy 4:2; Colossians 3:16). If we neglect this assembly, we miss a vital venue for experiencing God's unique presence and life-changing power in our lives (Matthew 18:20; I Corinthians 5:4)." Emmanuel Bible Church Website
Why Go To Church
ILL - A Churchgoer wrote a letter to the editor of the newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. "I've gone for 30 years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all."
This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher:
I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this: They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today.
Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!"
c. Church attendance gives us a sense of community that encourages others and we are encouraged ourselves...
Exhort comes from parakaleo which is defined as comfort or encourage. We get the word paracletos comforter or Holy Spirit from this same root.
Pastor and author, Chuck Swindoll says of these verses, "it isn't just a suggestion, an off-the-cuff, casual idea like, "Oh, by the way,...it might be good, while your holding fast to the faith, to toss in a little encouragement." The whole family of God is responsible to encourage others. Besides encouragement there is also another aspect of this truth.
God fulfills our joy through corporate worship
"When God demands worship, he is making us focus on the only one who completely satisfies our souls (Psalm 16:11; 63:3; 73:25; 84:2, 4). He's making us do the very thing that will bring our joy to its highest level, because praise is the climax of delight. We maximize our joy in God by worshiping him; and we worship God most fully when we gather with his people." Emmanuel Bible Church Website
d. Church attendance is the antidote to the selfishness and self-centeredness of our culture.
ILL - A little old lady was amazed at how nice the young man was next door. Every day he would help her gather things from her car or help her in her yard. One day, the old lady finally asks the young man, "Son, how did you become such a fine young man?" The young man replied, "Well, when I was a boy, I had a drug problem." The old lady was shocked. "I can't believe that." The young man replied, "It's true. My parents drug me to church on Sunday morning, drug me to church on Sunday night and drug me to church on Wednesday night."
We are selfish by nature and if we attend regularly and often we will have a constant reminder of the truth "...that no man is an island unto himself..." and that we are a part of something bigger than us.
Conclusion: I given some thought as to how to finish this message and have come up with a question. What would you do if you had a crisis in your life? Do you think that your heart and mind would turn towards God and the church? I think that I'm a pretty good judge of human nature and I believe that the overwhelming majority of you would say yes to me question. If you need the church in a crisis then why don't you feel that you need it in the everyday life?
Ill. for offering: In the hills of Virginia, many years ago, there was a small country church that desperately needed a new roof. They had a small congregation and most did not have too much money, except one older man who owned the local bank.
He would make sure to be among the first to be at church, always sitting on the very back pew so he could leave just as the offering plate was passed. One day, on the way to church, however, an accident made him late. The only place he found to sit was on the very front pew.
During the prayer time, they were praying that God would supply some money for them to fix the roof as there was no money in the bank account. Just as they started praying for more money, a piece of ceiling fell down and hit this banker in the head.
He instantly yelled out that he would give $1,000.00 for the roof. In the back, there was a voice heard that said, "Hit him again, Lord!"
Have you ever noticed how $100.00 looks so big when you take it to church, but looks so small when you take it to the mall?
