The ground has shifted in remarkable ways over the past four months. With the onset of a deadly virus, many of you rightly changed your Sunday habits of worship. A virus has demanded that we take precautions with our health. We are at a crossroads where scientists and doctors are battling for our safety. And economists are battling for our economy – to get us back to work.
But I want us to look underneath these two issues for something else. I want to focus on our attention on our habits related to worship for a few minutes. I believe this pandemic may very will alter our worship habits.
Colossal events have a way of changing us in ways we don’t see coming. Known as the greatest generation, many of our grandparents successfully fought WW II, came home and started a housing boom as well as a baby boom. Urbanization has moved more than half of the world’s population to cities for the first time in our history.
Do you know The Pill is turning sixty years old this year? Medical technology gave us birth control. The FDA approved the revolutionary pill on May 9, 1960. Known simply as The Pill, it changed the world. Not surprisingly, families are much smaller today than before the invention of the pill. In 1959, the US birth rate was just a hair over twenty-three babies for every 1,000 people. In 2020, that same rate is just under twelve babies for every 1,000 people. In time, we may not have enough children to make social security work for our nation. Yes, technology gives us some great gifts but at times, they come with a cost.
And now a pandemic has halted America in its tracks. For Christian worshippers, the ability to watch worship online is a great gift. I am so grateful for technology to connect with you. Yet, the ability to watch worship online comes with challenges too. You are good and right to be cautious and safe in these days. Yet, when our worship habits change so drastically, I think we need to refresh our thinking on our habits. If we’re not careful, we will develop new, harmful habits.
Take God’s Word and find Hebrews chapter 10 with me, would you? Page 1194 in the pew Bible.
Today’s Scripture
Our Scripture today is many sentences in English but is only one sentence in the original language of Greek.
This is a tightly knit argument: “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:19-25).
Over the next few moments, I want to trace out why the Bible tells us to develop the habit of worshipping together. Let me offer you four reasons why you need to reconsider your personal worship habits in the coming days.
1. We Need to Follow God’s Commands
The primary reason we have gathered together is to worship Jesus Christ: “let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:22).
The first reason you should develop the habit of worshipping together is because God Himself commands it.
1.1 God Commands Worship
The Lord commands it: “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:24-25).
God commands us to come together and this alone really should settle it for all of us. But this sounds heavy-handed and so we resist a command like this. We bristle at commands in our day.
1.2 His Commands, My Benefit
Most of us aren’t mature enough to simply obey God’s commands; instead, we have to understand why He commands us to worship together. We want His rationale to verify if His commands are good for us. Again, this is a lack of spiritual maturity on our part. God doesn’t tell us to do things because He has needs, but because we have needs. God’s commands are for our good. Every one of God’s commands is for your happiness. Every one of God’s commands is for your holiness. Every one of God’s commands is for your safety. Every one of God’s commands is for your security. Everyone of God’s commands are for our good.
1.3 Neglecting Worship
I think one of the tragedies of this age in which we live is that there are so many who claim to know and love the Lord Jesus Christ, and yet they do not regularly attend the worship service. Some people claim to be Christians and go to church about three times: when they’re born, when they get married, and when they have a funeral. They attend church when their hatched, matched, and dispatched — three times in their life will they walk into the doors of a church. The Bible commands we meet together.
1.4 Recent Church Attendance in USA
Take a quick look at recent trends in worship attendance over the past decade. The committed are less committed that they used to be. We didn’t a pandemic to tell us to stay home from church. Over the past decade, the number of people attending church weekly has dropped. Add to this when divorce happens to a family; it’s then church attendance will peak around twenty-six Sundays a year for many children. So no, many of you have not left. You just haven’t been lately.
Again, we need to develop the habit of worshipping together. When it’s the Lord’s Day, I need to be in the Lord’s House.
1.5 My Experience
Late in 2019, I was calling recent guests to our church to invite them to a dinner. Most of the people I was calling had attended church at least once in the past ninety days. As I reviewed the list, I was hesitant to call some of the people. They hadn’t visited our church in nearly two months and I thought to myself, “They have moved on.” Yet, when I called them, they told me they were attending our church and was seriously considering it. I realized how out of step my thinking was: they felt normal by attending church once a month.
1.6 Neglecting God
Old Testament saints did not have access to God – you couldn’t get behind the curtain: “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus…” (Hebrews 10:19).
Hebrews is comparing the way it used to be with how it is now. The Holy of Holies was one place where most Old Testament people were curious about it but didn’t dare to go. Then, Christ dies and at His death, the curtain in the Temple rips from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51). As if God Himself reached down from Heaven to tear it asunder. Notice the words, “by the blood of Jesus” in verse 19. Now, when you trust Christ to save you, you have direct access to God. You don’t need to go through anyone else – don’t pass “Go” and don’t collect $200. The way to God has been opened to you “by the blood of Jesus”. Since most of we don’t know anything different that access to worship, we don’t really appreciate what Christ has accomplished.
It’s much like voting in America where just over 61% of eligible voters went to the polls in the 2016 Presidential election. We have grown accustomed to the freedom of direct access to God so we neglect it.
We have switched from going to church weekly to going to church monthly. We have switched from going to church monthly to going to church quarterly. Many families that were faithful to church only a decade ago, now have slipped to holiday church goers. You get the idea.
For the majority of churches, the experts agree – people are not leaving the church but they attending church less than they used to. We need to develop the habit of worshipping together. I know Covid 19 is serious as a friend’s father passed away from it just yesterday. Yes, be cautious during this time. Yet, when it’s the Lord’s Day, I need to be in the Lord’s House.
1. We Need to Follow God’s Commands
2. We Need to Confront One Another
Inside your worship guide is a list of nearly 50 one another commands scattered throughout the New Testament. We’ve given you a summary of these in your guide. You’ll find a link to those who are worshipping online and even one for those using the QR code. You cannot really do the “one another’s” of the New Testament online.
2.1 Stir Up
“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:24-25).
Do you know what this word “stir up” means literally in Greek? Some of your translations have the word “spurring” instead. It means to irritate each other – some of you are really good at this! It’s a command. It’s a word that means to sharply disagree, to sharply confront. UNLESS you have some people around you whom you allow sometimes to sharply confront you, you’re not going to grow. Unless these people are in your lives regularly, you’re not going to become a person of love and good deeds.
I’ve come to preach, and you’ve come to listen. Please don’t be finished before I do ?.
2.2 Congregation, Not an Audience
“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:24-25).
That word meeting is a Greek word where we get our word synagogue. The word means a congregation. You’re not an audience; you are a congregation. An audience comes to hear a speaker but a congregation shares their lives with one another. What is this and why does it matter? An audience is like a bag of marbles with all the marbles slipping and sliding all over each other. But a congregation is like a cluster of grapes, in which all the grapes are organically related to each other.
A congregation is a community where our lives touch one another. You don’t just come together to hear a speaker or to have an experience. You eat together. You pray together. You learn together. You love one another. You confess your sins to each other. When you arrive here, be ready to teach and be taught. And it’s easy to see that so much of this doesn’t happen in the big setting. To truly encourage one another, love one another, honor one another, and learn from one another, you need a different setting. You could come to “Big Church” every week and not do any of this.
This is why you need to add a small groups experience as a habit. Do you have people you are looking at and saying, “What do I have to do to help this person grow?” Are you that intentional about helping each other? Again, we need to develop the habit of worshipping together. When it’s the Lord’s Day, I need to be in the Lord’s House TO CONFRONT ONE ANOTHER.
1. We Need to Follow God’s Commands
2. We Need to Confront One Another
3. We Need to Encourage One Another
“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:24-25).
Your attendance in this assembly this morning is your way of saying that, “I am still a believer.” We gather to encourage one another.
3.1 Loneliness Epidemic
For many of you, you want to talk but have no one to call. Recent surveys are telling us that large numbers of people don’t have significant relationships with other people. More than half of you in surveys feel like no one knows you really well. In surveys, you don’t have anyone to have a long conversation with. One in five of you, don’t have anyone you feel really close to. Scientists know that loneliness is emotionally painful and can lead to psychiatric disorders like depression, anxiety, and even schizophrenia. Now, scientists recognize how destructive loneliness is to the body. In 2015, researchers at UCLA discovered that social isolation triggers cellular changes that result in chronic inflammation, predisposing the lonely to serious physical conditions like heart disease, stroke, certain forms of cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease. One 2015 analysis, pooled data from seventy studies following 3.4 million people over seven years, discovered that lonely individuals had a 26% higher risk of dying.
We need encouragement – we need to gather together. Online will not substitute for this – only a small group of believers will do this. Haven’t we all felt the energy that comes from a packed room of worshippers? Our attendance encourages one another.
The Apostle Paul needed encouragement: “For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within. 6 But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, 7 and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you…” (2 Corinthians 7:5-7a).
A child needs encouragement to move through the rungs of the ladder from elementary school to college. An athlete has a home court advantage because of the encouragement of those in the crowd. And a Christian is encouraged by the power of love and encouragement from other Christians. Again, we need to develop the habit of worshipping together.
When it’s the Lord’s Day, I need to be in the Lord’s House TO ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER.
1. We Need to Follow God’s Commands
2. We Need to Confront One Another
3. We Need to Encourage One Another
4. We Need to Step It Up
“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:24-25).
Notice the end of verse 25, where it speaks of “the Day drawing near.” The Day is the Second Coming of Christ. Stress and trouble will only increase as the Day approaches. As we move closer to the Second Coming of Christ, we are step up our encouragement.
Too many want the kind of meeting where you sneak in the back door, say nothing to anyone, and leave before the service has ended. The Bible calls on you to say something to someone. When you say something that will help someone be more loving. Where someone says something to you that will help you have strength to more good deeds.
Now, I know this runs the cat’s fur the wrong way. For many, the thought of staying in your jammies and worshipping from your home is so convenient. You have no underlying conditions, you are not caring for any elderly people at risk. You simply love the convenience. You click on the TV and there’s a host of great church options on a Sunday.
Let’s consider a question together for a moment: What will the pandemic do to your church attendance? Once there’s a cure, what will you do?
Great Britain
We may have a canary in the coal mine, if look at England. Take the church attendance in Great Britain as an example of where we maybe going. Around the time of WW II, experts feel around 25% of the United Kingdom attended church on any given Sunday. Today, less than 5% attend a worship service in the UK. If we are not careful, our nation’s church attendance was fall rapidly as a result of this disease. Once the cure is discovered and everyone can come out of their homes safely, will the habit of Sunday morning worship been replaced with exercise, hobbies, family time, or a thousand other choices.
Let’s ask an important question: “How do we want our church come out of Covid on the other side?” Will we be stronger as a church on the other side?
Let me ask you a searching question: do you trust your faith a year from now when you are not making the habit of regular church attendance? I know the Lord holds us in His hand but your continual faithfulness to the people of God is really important to keep you believing in real time. Do you trust your faith a decade from now if your trend continues?
