IWHA IS THAT?
ATTENDING CHURCH IS GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH.
Illus: Statistics reveal that the risk of fatal heart disease is almost twice as high for the non-churchgoer than for church-goers according to a study made by Dr. George W. Comstock of the university’s Department of Epidemiology. (Epi-demon-olgy)
There must be some truth to that because…
Illus: You can hear people when they attend a good Bible-preaching church, frequently say as they leave, “I am glad I came to church…I feel better now that I came.”
That could be because the Bible tells us in James 4:8 that if WE DRAW NEAR TO HIM HE WOULD DRAW NEAR TO US.
And when people attend church they have taken a step of drawing nigh to God.
Bible preachers preach on church attendance for at least two other reasons, as follows:
(1) BECAUSE THE WORD OF GOD COMMANDS IT
Notice, God’s Word does not say, “If you think it is a good idea, you can attend church regularly!”
The fact is, God commands church attendance as much as he commands “Thou shalt not steal” or “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”
The Lord clearly commands us in Hebrews 19:25, to “FORSAKE NOT THE ASSEMBLING OF OURSELVES TOGETHER.”
Illus: Remember that during the pandemic, when churches were closed down for months, we read that we had more suicides, divorces, fussing and fights and complaining than usual.
God Himself saw fit to establish the church. We, the family of God, need that time when we can come together and break bread as the family of God.
So one reason a preacher should preach on church attendance is because the Bible teaches it as a command.
But he preaches on church attendance for another reason.
(2) BECAUSE HE IS A BIBLE-PREACHING PREACHER
If a minister is going to be a Bible-preaching pastor, he is going to have to preach on church attendance. This is something God’s Word teaches.
However, any time a preacher preaches about church attendance, he needs to make two things very clear.
Such as:
(1) ATTENDING CHURCH WILL NOT SAVE ANYONE
Illus: One man said it very eloquently: “Going to church will not save you any more than going to a garage will make you a mechanic.”
Church attendance will not save us but it is something we are to do after we are saved.
(2) ATTENDING CHURCH IS SOMETHING YOU DO BECAUSE YOU LOVE THE LORD
Let’s face it; some people do not love the Lord. They say they do but their life does not reflect they do.
• There are a lot of men who say they love their wives, but their life does not reflect that they do.
• There are a lot of women who say they love their husbands but their life does not reflect that.
WHY DO SINNERS NOT LOVE TO ATTEND A BIBLE-PREACHING CHURCH?
Let me tell you why.
Most people who love sin do not want to attend a church and hear a Bible preacher preach about their sins. They love their sins - they are devoted to their sins.
Let me illustrate, suppose you have a good friend and you hear somone talking about your good friend in a bad way.
WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
You would speak up for our good friend. That last thing you would want to hear someone talking about your good friend.
The reason they do not want to attend church IS BECAUSE THEY LOVE THEIR SINS! And they do not want to hear any preacher putting down something you love
Illus: There are sinners that would rather go to a dentist and have a root canal than to attend a church and hear a man preach about their sins that they love.
Illus: Every Bible preacher that preaches against sin has had someone tell them, “I DO NOT INTEND TO COME BACK TO THIS CHURCH BECAUSE YOU PREACHED ABOUT….(A SIN THAT THEY LOVED).
However, there are people who say they love the Lord and they will not attend the house of God for six months or a year.
Illus: Suppose a fellow claims he loves his wife and he does not come home in six months. Do you think he could convince his wife that he loves her?
Illus: Speaking of love, before marriage, I can never remember a time when my wife begged me to come see her. (I went to see her so much that when I arrived at her house her parents must have said to each other, “Here he comes again!)
Illus: I was afraid they were going to start charging me rent.
• The fact is, because of my love for her, every time I got a chance I went to see her
• The fact is, I was never looking for an excuse not to go; I was always looking for an opportunity to go.
• And when I didn’t have an opportunity I made an opportunity to go and see her.
Illus: I still have that love of wanting to see her. I can have a long day in the office and I look forward to going home to see her.
Church is for people who love the Lord and they attend every time they can attend.
Illus: Some people’s love for the Lord is like the man who wrote his girlfriend this love letter.
• “Honey, words can never express how much I love you.
• I would climb the highest mountain to see your smiling face
• I would swim the deepest sea to kiss your sweet lips.
I truly love you, and if it does not rain Friday night I will try to come to see you!!”
Listen, someone said, “If your religion will not even take you to church, how do you expect that same religion will take you to heaven?”
These people with all these excuses for not attending church most likely will be a part of that bunch that will stand before the Lord one day and He will address them and say, “I NEVER KNEW YOU!”
They do not love church. To them the church is like a spare tire. They only attend when there is an emergency in their life and/or they need a preacher for a wedding or a funeral.
I WANT TO STATE AGAIN; GOING TO CHURCH WILL NOT SAVE YOU.
Regrettably there are hypocrites all over the world that go to church every time the church doors are open, and they are as lost as the sinners who do not even claim to be saved. GOING TO CHURCH WILL NOT SAVE YOU!
You cannot help but wonder about the salvation of that crowd that professes to be saved, when you have to beg them to attend the house of God for a worship service.
The god they serve is not in a church building; the god they serve is outside of the church building.
WHY IS IT THAT SOME CHRISTIANS TODAY HAVE A PROBLEM ATTENDING CHURCH?
As already stated they do not love the Lord. But there are other reasons also.
• Some are just flat out too lazy to get dressed to attend
• They love the things of the world more then they love God
• They do not consider the Lord worth the sacrifice of energy it will take to get them there
• They love the people of the world more then they love the people of God.
It takes some real prodding to get some folks to attend the house of God.
Illus: In Columbia, S.C. there was a preacher who was known for doing things that was somewhat unusual.
• This wife told this pastor that she felt bad every Sunday coming to church on Sunday without her husband who would stay home and sleep.
• This unusual preacher said, “He will be in church next Sunday!”
• She said, “How can you say for sure he will be in church next Sunday?” He said, “Trust me he will be in church next Sunday.
• The next Sunday her door bell rung and she answered it and there stood her preacher. He said, “Where is he?” She pointed to a long hallway and said, “At the end of the hall on the right side is a door to our bedroom and he is in the bed asleep.”
• This preacher walked down the hallway where the bedroom was and went inside where the husband was snoring and sleeping.
• He sat down on the bedside and took off his shoes and crawled in the bed beside him. This man was in a deep sleep and snoring like crazy! When he let out a big snore this preacher laying beside him took his elbow and jabbed him in the ribs.
• The man woke up thinking it was his wife who jabbed him and to his surprise looked and saw the preacher lying beside him.
• The man was shocked to see him in bed with him and the preacher said, “Are we going to lay in bed all day or are we going to church?” The man said, “We are going to church” and he kept attending church because he was afraid that crazy preacher would get in the bed with him again.
About the only time you can get some folks to attend church is to tell them that some celebrity is coming to their church and they will be there an hour early, sitting on the front seat!
Illus: President Andrew Jackson was scheduled to attend a certain church service.
• A man who hardly ever attended church called the church and said, “Is the president going to be in church today!”
• The church secretary said, “No, he had to cancel out, but we have someone greater them him will be here!”
• The caller said, “Who is that?
• The secretary said, “JESUS CHRIST!!!”
Our motive for attending church should be because WE LOVE THE LORD.
Now we have already found out why we should attend church:
• BECAUSE GOD COMMANDS IT
• BECAUSE OF OUR LOVE FOR THE LORD
But let me show you briefly some other reasons why Christians should attend church on a regular basis.
I. IT SHOWS COMMITMENT TO HIS CHURCH
Look at verse 23; we read "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering."
Look at the words, "hold fast", this is the Greek word katecho, (kat-ekh'-o) which means: “to make toward, seize on.”
In other words, every time we have a chance to attend church, we ought to SEIZE the opportunity.
Psalm 122:1 David said. I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.
What a wonderful way…
• To show our lost neighbors that we love the Lord, as they look out their windows and see us leaving to go to the house of God with a Bible in our hands
• To show our lost loved ones, we love them, but we love the Lord more
• To show the children you love the Lord
• To show the pastor that you love the Lord
There are two ways we can witness for the Lord.
(1) First, we can witness with our mouths to them.
(2) Second, we can witness by life-style evangelism. That is our family, neighbors, co-workers when they can see by our life-style that we love the Lord and we love His church where we gather to worship him.
Our love for the Lord and His church should never “waver”.
Paul said, "Let us HOLD FAST the profession of our faith without wavering."
One of the things that many Christians are going to regret as they stand before the Lord at the Judgment Seat of Christ is that they failed to seize the opportunity they had to attend the house of God.
That is, THEY COMPLETLEY DESTROYED THEIR CHRISTIAN TESTIMONY IN FRONT OF THEIR FAMILY AND FRIENDS SUNDAY AFTER SUNDAY!
Illus: I ask a young man one day, “Is your mother who claims to be a Christian is your mother coming to church today?” and he said, “NOT IF SHE FIND AN EXCUSE NOT TO COME.”
The way we can tell if a person loves the Lord is by his church attendance.
There are those who say they love Lord like a man that serve with Paul. He said, “Demas hath forsaken me having love this present world.”
Some have destroyed their testimony because it is obvious they love the world and the things the world offers over the things that God offers.
Illus: Have you ever been to a football game and seen the fans of one team that you were pulling for on one side, and the fans of the other team on the other side of the stadium?
But sometimes you find some fans from one team will leave their side of the field and come over to the opposing side.
Now I do not know how you feel about that, but that does not sit well with most people. Why? Because most folks believe you ought to be with your team and stand with them. You proudly stand with them and you wear their colors.
It does not speak well of us Christians that profess to love the Lord if we are out there with the devil’s crowd instead of being with God’s people.
When we attend church IT SHOWS COMMITMENT TO HIS CHURCH.
You might not be able to preach, sing, or teach, but one thing every Christian can do is be faithful in attending the house of God.
If you do not have a desire to support the work of God with your attendance, you have every right to be concerned about the kind of salvation you have.
Again, I want to remind you; when we attend church IT SHOWS OUR COMMITMENT TO CHRIST CHURCH. What a good testimony for the Lord.
Illus: On Sunday morning, September 27, 1959, President Eisenhower invited Khrushchev to accompany him to a worship service at Gettysburg Presbyterian Church. The Red leader declined and Eisenhower went without him.
WHAT A TESTIMONY, THAT THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES THOUGHT THAT ATTENDING CHURCH WAS SO IMPORTANT THAT HE PUT GOD AHEAD OF THIS COMMUNIST LEADER.
What a bad testimony it is to our lost family members and friends, when we profess to know the Lord and they know we are somewhere else when we should be in the house of God.
Illus: I am reminded of the story of the Christian young lady that went to a dance. She was advised by her Christian parents that it would hurt her Christian testimony. She went anyway, telling them that she was going to witness for the Lord there.
• She was dancing with a fellow and she said, “Are you a Christian?”
• He said, “Of course not! If I was, what would I be doing here?”
And listen when Christians are outside of the house of God when they should be in the house of God, the lost world is going to wonder why they are there.
When we attend church faithfully we are giving a visual testimony of our commitment of our love to the Lord’s church! And do not forget when we speak of the church we are not speaking of a church building.
WHEN WE FAITHFULLY ATTEND IT SHOWS COMMITMENT TO HIS CHURCH.
But also-
II. IT SHOWS COMMITMENT TO HIS CAUSE
We assume that people know every church that is built has a twofold mission.
(1)To Edify the saints of God. Christians have to have a place where they can come get their spiritual food.
(2)To preach the gospel and reach lost souls for Christ.
But it is obvious the CAUSE has been forgotten in many churches.
Illlus: Several years ago the city of Pittsburgh constructed a large, new post office at the cost of several million dollars. On the day of it’s opening:
• The Governor made a speech,
• The bands played and the people cheered.
It was quite a celebration.
But when the first man entered to mail a letter, to the embarrassment of the engineers, it was discovered that in the rush to meet the deadline, they had omitted the usual letter drop.
• Here was a costly new post office, but no place to mail a letter!
• It was a slight omission, but it negated the very reason for its existence.
That brings me to the very point of this message: WHEN ANY CHURCH LOSES THE SPIRIT OF THE GREAT COMMISION, IT SURRENDERS THE VERY REASON FOR IT’S EXISTENCE.
Missions are not a side line! It is theLIFELINE of the church.
It is a job that:
• Every deacon should be witnessing to a lost world that needs Christ.
• Every member of the board of directors should be witnessing to a lost world that needs Christ.
• Every Christian should be witnessing for the Lord.
DO YOU KNOW WHY THE EARLY CHURCH GREW SO FAST?
They turned the world upside down with the preaching of the gospel.
I want to ask you good folks that faithfully attend the house of God - have you forgotten the CAUSE FOR BUILDING THIS BEAUTIFUL CHURCH BUILDING?
• When lost souls walk into this church can they feel that the people of this church love them?
• When lost souls attend this church can they feel that the people of this church care for their souls?
• When lost souls attend Sunday school can they feel that the teacher and people there love them.?
• When lost souls walk in this church and the greeters welcome them can they feel they are loved by the greeters?
Many times today the devil has gotten Christians side-tracked with their buildings and programs. Nothing is more important than the CAUSE FOR BUILDING THEIR CHURCHES.
Illus: A German soldier was wounded. He was ordered to go to the military hospital for treatment.
• When he arrived at the large beautiful building, he saw two doors, one marked, "For the slightly wounded," and the other, "For the seriously wounded."
• He entered through the first door and found himself going down a long hall. At the end of it were two more doors, one marked, "For officer" and the other, "For non-officers."
• He entered through the latter and found himself going down another long hall. At the end of it were two more doors, one marked, "For party members" and the other, "For non-party members."
• He took the second door, and when he opened it he found himself out on the street.
• When the soldier returned home, his mother asked him, "How did you get along at the hospital?"
• "Well, Mother," he replied, "to tell you the truth, the people there didn’t do anything for me, but you ought to see the tremendous organization they have!"
The soldier’s comment describes many churches in our day: really organized, but accomplishing little for the Lord.
Eph. 4:1, “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,”
Our Church attendance reveals:
• OUR LOVE FOR HIS CHURCH
• OUR LOVE FOR HIS CAUSE
But also-
III. IT SHOWS COMMITMENT TO HIS COMMANDMENTS
I would like to remind you that CHURCH ATTENDANCE is a commandment.
When we miss church as a Christian we feel bad because we know we have broken one of the commandments of God.
But the sin of church attendance is like other sins. After you miss a few times you get where you no longer feel bad.
Look at Lev. 22:31, “Therefore shall ye keep my commandments, and do them: I am the LORD.”
The Christian's lack of commitment can be seen by the little things will keep them out of church.
• A FEW DROPS OF RAIN
• A SNIFFLE
• A GOOD TV PROGRAM
• A NEIGHBOR DROPPING BY
• A COMFORTABLE COUCH
• A HOBBY
Illus: Little Johnny can get a cold on Sunday morning and the whole family will stay home to blow his nose!
By the way, it is strange that these same things do not keep these folks from their jobs on Monday!
Look what the Bible says about the fact that our obedience to God’s commandments shows our love for Him.
John 14:15, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
When we attend church, we are keeping the commandment of, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves TOGETHER”
Conclusion:
When we go to church some things happen to us. People often say:
•“I came to church TIRED”, but after church they will say, “Now I am not tired at all!”
• “I came to church DISCOURAGED”, but after church they will say, “Now I am fired-up for the Lord.”
• “I came to church with all kinds of things ON MY MIND”, but after church they leave with only Christ on their mind.
You see, all week the devil keeps filling our lives with the things of the world, and we are not even aware of it. But when we come to church, the world gets knocked out of you while you are in church.
Anyone who wants to can find an excuse not to attend church.
But people who love the Lord are looking for an opportunity to attend church to worship the Savior who died for their sins.
Illus: The devil is doing everything he can do to shut down every Bible-preaching church.
• He knows more marraiges are strengthen in the church than any other place.
• He know more backslider repent of their sins in the church more than any other place.
• He knows more missionaries are sent from the church than any other place.
• He knows more people are save in the church than any other place.
He fights church attendance because He knows how important the church is to all of us.
But did you know when you without excuse do not attend the church he knows you have cast a vote to close down God’s Church.
THE CHURCH NEEDS YOU AND YOU NEED GOD’S CHURCH!
WHY SHOULD WE ATTEND CHURCH REGULARLY? IT SHOWS COMMITMENT…
I. HIS CHURCH
II. HIS CAUSE
III. HIS COMMANDMENTS
