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:
Genesis 1:1
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.
John 10:10
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.
And the tabernacle has 2 rooms – the front room that the priests get to use every day = and a back room – the HOLY of HOLIES – that only 1 priest can enter, 1 time a year! The 2 rooms are separated by a VEIL, a CURTAIN.
Eventually a temple gets built, with the same set up. Man sins, there are sacrifices, and as long as the sacrifices are made, the sin is temporarily covered – man is right with God – the relationship is temporarily restored. God tells man how we SHOULD live, and violations of that is SIN.
But this sacrificial system was never good enough. Because it relied on MAN to do what is right. And it doesn’t take much of a read through the Bible, or through a history book, to realize that man has a hard time doing the right thing.
So we are introduced to the plan.
Romans 5:8
But God proves His own love for us in the while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!
God proves His love by sending the Savior to die for us.
But not without reason.
John 3:14-17
Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.
Belief in Jesus = Eternal life
= Salvation
If you think that coming to church is about getting into heaven, you have missed the point.
You gain entry to heaven because you accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, understanding that you are a sinner saved by Grace, and bought at a price by the blood of Jesus!
The point of the Bible is NOT HEAVEN!
It’s the restoration of a relationship!
That’s why we celebrate Good Friday, the crucifixion, the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior – and the moment He gave up His spirit:
Matt 27:51
Suddenly, the curtain of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom, the earth quaked, and the rocks were split.
AND THE VEIL WAS TORN!
And for the first time, anyone in the temple could see into the holy of holies! There was NO MORE separation!
The whole point of what we believe is JESUS!
Why do we go to church?
To become more like Jesus!
1 Corinthians 11:1
Imitate me as I also imitate Christ
That’s why Paul says imitate me! To become more like Jesus. Paul went to church.
Why?
Not to get into heaven. That’s covered.
Hebrews 10:24-25
And let us watch out for one another to provoke love and good works,
not neglecting to gather together, (not neglecting to go to church)
as some are in the habit of doing,
but encouraging each other,
and all the more as you see the day approaching.
We gather together to lift each other up! To strengthen each other. To encourage each other. To help each other get better.
When we are alone, we are weak – but together we are strong.
Ecclesiastes 4:12
A Cord of three strands is NOT EASILY BROKEN!
Basic stuff right there: a cord of 3 strands is NOT quickly broken.
You can think of church like paracord!
Each little strand by itself, not so good.
But you put it all together and WOW is it strong.
Why do we go to church? To become better, to learn more, to be more like Jesus!
YES, getting into heaven is a benefit, that’s our destination – the destination is set, but the ROUTE is not!
• Think of life like a road trip:
o When you accept Jesus, your GPS has been set to heaven.
o The route guidance has not started yet!
? You get to choose the route.
o You can follow God’s way – or NOT.
o Church helps you on your journey!
o Sure you can go it alone –
? but think about the problems that lie ahead.
o What if you get a flat tire?
? Yeah you can change it alone, but it tends to go faster with some help.
? Especially if you get a lug nut that won’t budge.
? Sometimes we need a little extra help.
o What if you run out of gas and have to push your car?
? Been there. I tell you what, I sure was glad I had some help!
o Even better if the road trip has someone who is familiar with the journey.
• My Road Trip – Moving from Puyallup Washington to Fort Gordon, GA – driving through Washington, Idaho, Montana, Detoured South to Yellowstone in Wyoming – saw Old Faithful, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Pitstop in TN –
o It was a ROAD TRIP, and it was amazing!
o I was so glad NOT to be doing it alone – because it got sketchy a few time!
o South Dakota – There are not a lot of gas stations in SD.
? Cattle on the highway out west – NORMAL! Signs “watch for cattle”
? Not many road signs
? The sun was getting low on the horizon, and the gas gauge agreed!
? Jeanie was on her phone scanning! Looking for anything!
? Finally we saw an exit and Jeanie said there was a gas station down the road a bit.
? I took the exit, we drove and literally coasted into the gas station because the car had NOTHING LEFT!
? I could NOT have done that alone! Both drove and searched for gas, and kept the kid calm (we only had Clayton at the time)
We go to church to become more like Jesus,
so we are better for the journey.
Better equipped to help others.
Better able to withstand attacks.
To help each other.
Because it is better together than alone.
Challenge for the week:
Plan to be @ Church IN PERSON Sunday!
Table of Contents
Genesis 1:1 1
Geneses 1:26 2
Verse 27 – 2
Gen 2:7 2
John 10:10 2
Gen 3:15 2
Romans 5:8 3
John 3:14-17 3
Matt 27:51 4
1 Corinthians 11:1 4
Hebrews 10:24-25 4
Ecclesiastes 4:12 5
Challenge for the week: 6
