WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE CHURCH? Many folks have many different ideas about what the purpose of the church is. For example:
(1) Some seem to think the purpose of the church is for us to come together and see if we can build a more beautiful church building than the church down the street.
Illus: In Columbia, South Carolina, a church built a beautiful church building that cost in the millions. Well, a lot of folks who think that is the purpose of the church left their churches and started attending that beautiful church. One of the churches affected decided they would buy a forty-thousand dollar chandelier for the foyer of their church, hoping it would draw back all the people who left their church.
A national television documentary did a story on this movement among some churches. They showed a large Baptist church in Texas, building a church that cost over 13 million.
Well another church with a nice church building decided they had better build one at least as nice to keep up with this church and so they did.
Then the big church built a nice gymnasium, and, you’ve got it, so did the other church.
The big church built a nice bowling alley for their congregation, and of course so did the other church.
The big church built a Christian theater, and so did the other church.
The documentary showed how both of these churches were trying to outdo each other to draw a crowd.
WHY DO THEY DO THIS?
It is a statistical fact that if you build a nice building in this day and age, even if you preach out of a Sear’s and Roebuck Catalog, you are going to attract large numbers of people.
(2) Some seem to think the purpose of the church is to compete with the local YMCA and see if they can offer every kind of activity people could want.
Listen every church should strive to have as beautiful a church building as they can possibly provide for the Lord’s work. And every church should strive to have as many good wholesome activities as they can provide for their church families. But that is not the purpose of the church.
We have a major misunderstanding here when it comes to the purpose of the church.
Illus: Did you hear about the misunderstanding in the days before the church had indoor plumbing facilities?
An English woman was planning a trip to Germany. She was registered to stay in a small guest house owned by the local schoolmaster. She was concerned as to whether the guest house contained a WC. (In England, a bathroom is commonly called a WC which stands for water closet.)
She wrote the schoolmaster inquiring into the location of the nearest WC.
The school master, not fluent in English, asked the local priest if he knew the meaning of WC. Together they pondered possible meanings of the letters and concluded that the lady wanted to know if there was a "Wayside Chapel" near the house. (A bathroom never entered their minds)
So the schoolmaster wrote the following reply:
Dear Madam,
I take great pleasure in informing you that the WC is
located 9 miles from the house. It is located in the
middle of a grove of pine trees, surrounded by lovely
grounds. It is capable of holding 229 people at once and is open on Sundays and Thursdays. As there are many people expected in the summer months, I suggest you arrive early. There is, however, plenty of standing room. This is an unfortunate situation especially if you are in the habit of going regularly.
It may be of some interest to you that my daughter was married in the WC as it was there that she met her husband. It was a wonderful event.
There were 10 people in every seat. It was wonderful to see the
expressions on their faces. My wife, sadly, has been ill and unable to go recently. It has been almost a year since she went last, which pains her greatly.
You will be pleased to know that many people bring their lunch and make a day of it. Others prefer to wait till the last minute and arrive just in time! I would recommend your ladyship plan to go on a Thursday
as there is an organ accompaniment.
The acoustics are excellent and even the most delicate sounds can
be heard everywhere.
The newest addition is a bell which rings every time a person enters. We are holding a bazaar to provide plush seats for all since many feel it is long needed.
I look forward to escorting you there myself and seating you in a place where you can be seen by all.
With deepest regards,
The Schoolmaster
Now as you can see, this is a major misunderstanding concerning this, “Wayside Chapel”. But this misunderstanding is nothing compared to what some folks think the purpose of the church is.
One of the purposes of the church is for the people of God to come together at the appointed time and offer up PRAISE TO GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW!
This is done primarily through personal testimonies and the song service. Some say, “Preacher, I do not sing very well, so I do not sing.”
Listen, the purpose of the church is not a talent contest to see who has the best voice; the purpose of the church is to SING PRAISES UNTO THE LORD! God’s Word does not excuse anyone from doing this.
Psalm 150:6, we read, “Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD….”
Listen, if you are among the breathing, you should be PRAISING THE LORD!
Illus: Speaking about not being able to sing well reminds me of a church that had a man in the choir who couldn't sing very well. Several people hinted to him that he could serve in other places, but he continued to come to the choir.
The choir director became desperate and went to the pastor. "You've got to get that man out of the choir," he said. "If you don't, I'm going to resign. The choir members are going to quit too. Please do something."
So the pastor went to the man and suggested, "Perhaps you should leave the choir."
"Why should I get out of the choir?" he asked.
"Well, five or six people have told me you can't sing."
“That's no reason to get out of the choir Pastor,” the man snorted. "At least fifty people have told me that you can't preach, but still you keep trying!"
One of the purposes of the church is for us to come together and through PERSONAL TESTIMONIES and through the SONG SERVICE offer up praise unto the Lord. When a church does this, God is going to shower them with His presence and it is going to be a “Happy Church.”
It is BECAUSE CHURCH IS A PLACE OF GOD’S PRAISE and . . .
II. BECAUSE CHURCH IS A PLACE OF GOD'S PRESENCE
God has promised His presence where two are three have come together in His name.
Look at Matthew 18:20, we read, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
Let me ask you a question. Who in your mind is so great that you would do anything to be in their presence?
Remember how it was when you fell in love for the first time? You wanted to be with them all the time and when you were not with them you were thinking about them.
Illus: That reminds me of a young man who was dating his first love. After a lovely evening, he was taking her home and he wanted to experience his first kiss.
With an air of confidence, on her front porch, he leans with his hand against the wall and, smiling, he says to her, "Darling, how 'bout a goodnight kiss?"
• Horrified, she replies, "Are you mad? My parents will see us!"
• "Oh come on! Who's gonna see us at this hour?"
• "No, please. Can you imagine if we get caught?"
• "Oh come on, there's nobody around, they're all sleeping!"
• "No way. It's just too risky!"
• "Oh please, please, I like you so much!!"
• "No, no, and no. I like you too, but I just can't!"
• "Oh yes you can. Please?"
• "No, no. I just can't."
• "Pleeeeease?..."
Out of the blue, the porch light goes on, and the girl's sister shows up in her pajamas, hair disheveled. In a sleepy voice the sister says: "Dad says to go ahead and give him a kiss. Or I can do it. Or if need be, he'll come down himself and do it. But for crying out loud tell him to take his hand off the intercom button!"
We all remember that first love; we just could not be with them enough.
When some people are asked who they would like to meet , the have different answers.
• The Scientist would say some Scientist
• Those in the world of entertainment would say some movie star or actress
• Roman Catholics would say the Pope
Illus: Did you hear about the Pope arriving in America in his limo? He says to the driver, "Why don't you let me drive for once?" The driver thinks to himself, “Well, I can't say no to this guy, he's the Pope.” So the driver pulls over and they change places.
The Pope was having fun, going down the highway about twice as fast as he should have been. After a while the driver taps on the window and tells the Pope, "Slow down a bit, you might get pulled over." The Pope says, "Ahhh, don't worry about it, I'm the Pope." So he rolls up the window and continues to drive very fast. After a few moments he gets pulled over. The cop walks to the car and the Pope rolls down the tinted window. The policeman sees the Pope and says, "Oh, I, ehhh, sorry, can you hold on a minute?" The Pope says, "Sure."
• The policeman walks back to his car and radios back to the station. He says, "Guys I just pulled over someone really important." They ask, “Who is it, an ambassador?" "No, more important than that."
• "The president of another country?" "No, more important than that." "Well, who is it?" "I don't know, but the Pope is the chauffeur."
There are Catholics who believe that the Pope is more important than anyone on the face of this earth, and they would do almost anything to be in his presence.
But for Christians, in our minds the greatest individual we could ever be in the presence of is God almighty.
This is why the Psalmist said, “I was glad when they said unto me, let us go unto the house of the Lord.”
God has promised us that if two or three have come together because they recognize His greatness, He would be in the midst of them.
Illus: When Elvis Pressley was living, he came to Columbia, South Carolina. Almost a year in advance, they announced that he was coming. As the day approached, a lot folks began to get excited. And when they put the tickets on sale, everyone knew it was going to be a sell out and some went and camped out overnight, so when the ticket office opened, they would be able to purchase their tickets. Once the office was open, it was a stampede like you have never seen.
WHY SUCH A STAMPEDE? Because they all wanted to see the king of Rock and Roll!
But listen, for Christians, God has promised us when we come together to be in His presence He would be in the midst of us.
Why shouldn’t we be excited about being in the presence of the greatest one who ever walked on this earth, the Lord Jesus Christ.
A church that recognizes this, it going to be one HAPPY CHURCH!
It is BECAUSE CHURCH IS A PLACE OF GOD’S PRAISE, BECAUSE CHURCH IS A PLACE OF GOD'S PRESENCE and . . .
III. BECAUSE CHURCH IS THE PLACE OF GOD'S PEOPLE
We can walk through a mall and be surrounded by strangers. But then all of a sudden, we see one of our biological brothers or sisters coming our way and automatically a smile appears on our face. Why? Because all these that surround us are strangers, but this is a family member.
And the same thing is true for the church. All week long, we walk among strangers, but when we come to the house of God, we are meeting with our spiritual brothers and sisters in the Lord.
This is why the Bible tells us, in Hebrews 10:25, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”
The church is to be a place for brothers and sisters. We are family! We are going to spend all of eternity with one another, we should start learning how to get along with all of the Lord’s family and how to worship together now.
The church is to be a place for the closest of relationships and fellowships. Your closest relationships should be with God’s people.
The Lord Jesus said, in John 13:34 35, "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."
CHURCH SHOULD BE A PLACE OF HAPPINESS!
Conclusion:
We should be happy today as we worship!
What has been your attitude toward Church lately?
Is it time for an attitude adjustment?
If you aren’t a child of God, it will take more than an attitude adjustment. It takes a complete overhaul. It takes becoming a new creature in Christ.
God’s church should be a place of happiness. David said, “I was glad when they said unto me let us go unto the house of the Lord.”
It is a place of happiness:
Part 1 of 2
I. BECAUSE CHURCH IS A PLACE OF GOD'S PRAISE
Part 2 of 2
II. BECAUSE CHURCH IS A PLACE OF GOD'S PRESENCE
III. BECAUSE CHURCH IS THE PLACE OF GOD'S PEOPLE
