Scott Bayles, pastor
Blooming Grove Christian Church: 1/31/16
• Bumper Video: I Love Sundays (People)
A mother went to wake her son for church one Sunday morning. When she knocked on his door, he said, “I’m not going!” “Why not?” asked his mother. “I’ll give you two good reasons,” he said. “One, they don’t like me. Two, I don’t like them.” His mother replied, “I’ll give you two good reasons why YOU WILL go to church. One, you’re 47 years old. Two, you’re the pastor!”
I promise you my wife and I have never had a conversation like that. Quite the contrary. I love Sundays. Sundays are the highlight of my week and I look forward to being here with all of you each week. I hope the same is true for you, but I realize that not everyone feels that way about church.
Many of us grew up in situations where Sunday was full of conflict or the church we attended was boring. Maybe your parents forced you to go to church and you would have rather been anywhere else! Those early experiences tend to stick with us. I really love Christian comedian Michael Junior’s testimony about his early church experiences, so I want to play a clip for you from his standup routine.
• Video: Michael Junior Testimony
Maybe some of you can relate to Michael Junior. So it might come as a surprise when I tell you that Sundays are meant to be the best day of your week! And church ought to be the best hour of your Sunday. To someone who understands church and what it’s really all about, going to church can be the most fulfilling, inspiring thing you do all week. One person who knows all about that is King David.
If there is a Bible in your pew or on your smartphone, I want to invite you to open it up to Psalm 122. Psalm 122:1 is our anchor verse for this series on Sundays because in this Psalm David writes about a time when somebody invited him to attend church with them and this is how David responded:
I rejoiced with those who said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.” (Psalm 122:1 NIV)
Unlike many people today, David didn’t dread going to church. He looked forward to it. He didn’t see it as a perfectly good hour wasted in order to keep his wife or priest or his parents off his back. David was excited about going to “the house of Lord” and we should be too.
As David continues in Psalm 122, he lays out three reasons why he was glad to go to the house of Lord—first is the praise of God, second is the people of God, and third is the peace of God. When these three elements are present in our churches today, Sunday will become the best day of your week.
Last Sunday I talked about that first reason and explored what it really means to praise God, why we do it on Sunday mornings, and what happens to us when we “praise the name of the Lord.” This week, I want to look the second reason David gives us to love Sundays. He highlights this reason, saying, “Jerusalem is built as a city where people come together. That is where the different families go, the families of the Lord” (Psalm 122:3-4 NLV).
The Temple, or “the house of the Lord,” was located in the heart of Jerusalem so Jerusalem became a gathering place for God’s people. Another translation puts it this way: “All the tribes of Israel—the Lord’s people—make their pilgrimage here” (Psalm 122:4 NLT). In other words, I love Sundays because I love the people of God!
Church is about people, it’s about family. In the short little bumper video we watched, three different people said, “I love Sundays because that’s when I feel I’m a part of God’s family.”
I’m reminded of the old Sunday School rhyme: “Here is the church and here is the steeple. Open the door and see all the people.” Do you remember that? The only problem with it is that it draws a distinction between the church and the people. The Bible tells us however that the church isn’t a place—it’s people. Church isn’t just something you attend. It’s something you are!
The Bible uses a lot of metaphors to describe the church, but the most persistent is that of family. In the New Testament, believers call each other brothers and sisters, the book of Romans describes our “adoption” as “children of God” (Romans 8:14-15), the church itself is called the household of God, and in his letter to the church in Ephesus, Paul writes: “Now you…are not foreigners or strangers any longer, but are citizens together with God’s holy people. You belong to God’s family” (Ephesians 2:19 NCV).
Take a moment to let this amazing truth sink in. You belong to God’s family. When you place your faith in Jesus, God becomes your Father, you become his child, other believers become your brothers and sisters, and the church becomes your spiritual family. That’s what church is about. It’s about having brothers and sisters who love you, who can come along next to you and see you through life’s trying times. Being included in God’s family is the highest honor and the greatest privilege you will ever receive. Whenever you feel unimportant, unloved, or insecure, remember to whom you belong.
That’s what family is, isn’t it—a place to belong? Everyone needs a place where they belong, where people smile when you arrive and say, “See you soon!” when you leave. A place that fits you like a favorite pair of jeans, that’s as welcoming as your much-loved and much-worn recliner at home. That’s the way we’re made. Not to be isolated. Not to be alone. Even in the perfect paradise of Eden, God said, “It is not good for man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18).
Stephen Ilardi, writing for Psychology Today, calls social isolation “a modern plague,” noting that “25% of Americans have no meaningful social support at all—not a single person they can confide in.” This isolation takes its toll, making us more vulnerable to mental illness, depression and addiction. We are not meant to live lone-ranger lives; rather, we are created for communion and community. You might be able to praise God at home or in the car or even up in a deer stand, but you cannot be part of a family in isolation.
A Christian without a church home is like a child without a family—an orphan. Today’s culture of independent individualism has created many spiritual orphans—“bunny believers” who hop around from one church to another, never really connecting.
Being a part of God’s family means connecting with each other—laughing together, crying together, and dreaming together. In fact, the Bible says that Christians are put together, joined together, built together, members together, heirs together, fitted together, held together, and will be caught up together. There’s a lot of togetherness in God’s family! Today many people believe you can be a “good Christian” without joining (or even attending a local church), but God would strongly disagree. There are far too many commands for Christians that can’t be completed in seclusion. Take a look at some of these “one another” verses.
• “Love one another” (John 13:34).
• “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love” (Romans 12:10).
• “Honor one another” (Romans 12:10).
• “Live in harmony with one another” (Romans 12:16).
• “Let us not judge one another” (Romans 14:13).
• “Accept one another” (Romans 15:7).
• “Greet one another with a holy kiss” (Romans 16:16).
• “Teach one another” (Romans 15:14).
• “Serve one another in love” (Galatians 5:13).
• “Be kind and compassionate to one another” (Ephesians 4:32).
• “Encourage one another” (Hebrews 10:25).
• “Offer hospitality to one another” (2 Peter 4:9).
• “Love one another” (1 John 3:23, 4:7, 4:11, etc.)
These “one another” verses (and others like them) paint a picture of what church life should be like and they can’t be accomplished in isolation.
Now, I know some people might be thinking, “Yeah, but the church is full of hypocrites!” I really like the way a friend of mine responded to that though. He said, “Staying away from church because it’s full of hypocrites is like staying away from the gym because it’s full of fat people!” You don’t go to the gym because you’re in shape; you go to the gym to get into shape. Similarly, we go to church and surround ourselves with other believers so that we can learn to get along in God’s family.
Just as families sometimes struggle to get along, so do churches. Every church, just like every family, experiences conflict. Personalities clash. Feelings get hurt. Grudges are held. People—including Christians—can be down-right unlovable at times. We can be selfish, stubborn, and short-sighted. But God knew all that ahead of time. The local church is a classroom for learning how to love unlovable people. It’s a lab for practicing unselfish, sympathetic love.
The Bible says, “And now this word to all of you: You should be like one big happy family, full of sympathy toward each other, loving one another with tender hearts and humble minds” (1 Peter 3:8 TLB).
Belonging to God’s family is a precious gift. We all need a family that will love us even when we’re unpleasant, forgive us when we lose our patience, and help us to live at peace with one another. When we follow Peter’s prescription to be sympathetic, tender hearted and humble, our churches will each be “one big happy family” the way God intended us to be.
And believe me—the benefits of belonging to God’s family far outweigh any potential problems.
Belonging to God’s family gives us the blessing of teamwork. Solomon recognized this when he wrote: “Two people are better than one, because they get more done by working together” (Ecclesiastes 4:9 NCV). We can accomplish so much more in our churches and our communities when we work together.
From 1959 to 1966 the Boston Celtics won eight consecutive NBA championships, a feat never accomplished before or since. No other team has even come close. When asked what set the Celtics apart from other NBA teams, head coach Red Auerbach answered, “Everything we’ve done has been the result of PEOPLE WORKING TOGETHER to meet our common goals.”
What’s true for basketball teams is true for churches. God has given each one of us a mission and ministry and none of us can do alone what all of us can do together. Belonging to God’s family provides us with the strength to get more done by working together.
Furthermore, belonging to God’s family gives us the blessing of support. The Bible says, “Help carry each other’s burdens. In this way you will follow Christ’s teachings” (Galatians 6:2 GWT). We all have burdens to bear and bad days to endure. The good news is—we don’t have to do it alone. When you’re part of a local church family, you have people who will come along next to you and help you carry your burdens, whatever they might be.
Just this week, our foster baby came down with the flu and Ashley had to take her to the hospital where she stayed for three days, which left me at home with our other three kids. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to work from home with three kids, but that’s kind of like trying to lick your own elbow. But Friday afternoon Kassidy texted me offering to watch the kids while I go visit Ashley and the baby in the hospital. Evon made dinner for them. And multiple people offered to watch the kids on Saturday just so I could get some work done. No less than 40 people let us know that they were praying for the baby, Ashley and the rest of us.
Because of you—because of our church family—I know that no matter what struggles or burdens I face, I’ll never have to face them alone.
Finally, belonging to a church family gives us the blessing of spiritually stimulating one another. The Bible says, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another” (Hebrew 10:24-25 ESV). When we start neglecting church, when we stop meeting together on Sundays, we miss out on something very important. One of the most important reasons the church meets together every Sunday is to stir each other up, to spur each other on to love and good deeds. You see, when we’re on our own, it’s easy to lose focus, to lose our motivation and spiritual enthusiasm. Gathering together with your church family gives us accountability, encouragement, and motivation to keep growing in Christ—to keep loving God and loving our neighbor.
A pastor once visited a man who had been absent from church for some time. When the pastor arrived at the house of his wayward parishioner, he found him sitting by a fire of glowing coals. The man fully expected his pastor to rebuke him for his lack of attendance. Instead, the pastor drew up a chair beside the fireplace. He reached into the fire with metal tongs, removed one of the red glowing coals, and placed it by itself on the hearth. In no time at all, the coal lost its glow and moments later it was cold and grey. Looking up into the face of his pastor who hadn’t spoken a word, the man said, “I'll be there next Sunday.”
We need each other to keep our spiritual fire going, don’t we?
Conclusion:
Here’s the thing—God doesn’t just call us to believe; he calls us to belong. The entire Bible is the story of God building a family that will support, strengthen, and stir one another up to love and good works for all eternity—and he created you to be a part of it. If you are a believer in need of a place to belong, I want to invite you to get plugged in right here at the Grove. If you’ve never joined God’s family, I’d love to talk with you about being born again. Believe me, there's nothing like belonging to God’s family.
So why do I love Sundays?
First, I love Sundays because I love the praise of God. Furthermore, I love Sundays because I love the people of God. And finally, I love Sundays because I love the peace of God—be we’ll get to that last one next.
Invitation:
In the meantime, just as I said last week, I know that most of you here today already realize the blessing of belonging to God’s family. But I’ll bet you know some people who don’t. So I want to offer a special invitation today to share with message with someone who needs it. You can post it to your Facebook page or e-mail the link a friend or family member. We want to encourage our friends and family, and remind them that Sunday was meant to be the best day of their week!
For now, let’s stand and sing together!
