Giving God the 1st day of the week
Hebrews 10:23-25
A Preacher told this story:
• Of something that happened during his week
• He had the undivided attention of his congregation when
• he related the following incident:
He said “I stopped:
? in a coffee shop the other day and
? sat at the counter next
? to a man reading the newspaper.
He glanced at my apparel:
? and then wanted to know
? where my church was.
When I pointed:
? in the direction of the
? Methodist church on the corner...
He said:
“Why that’s the church I go to myself.”
“Isn’t that strange?” I replied:
? “I’ve been preaching there for five years and
? I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you.”
“Come on now, preacher,” he shot back. “I didn’t say I was a fanatic.”
-------------------------
Another minister stood:
- at the church door one Easter Sunday morning,
? speaking to the people as they left the service.
? A man came by who hadn’t been to church in a long time.
“Good morning, Brother Zeek,”:
? the minister said,
? “I do wish we could see you more regularly.”
“What do you mean regularly” said the man angrily, “I come EVERY Easter!”
How we spend our time:
- reflects what is important to us
- after all time is what makes up our life
What does your calendar say about you?
- you are a hard worker? Great
- you love your family? Terrific
- You have a clean house - wonderful
- you like sports? Good
As you may know already:
? This year ACC’s theme is “I surrender all”.
? To surrender to God means
? We give up our rights and accept God’s commands.
Surrendering ALL to God:
- means putting Him first in everything everyday
- means God gets His way every time
We have already committed that:
“Jesus is Lord of my life….and I surrender ALL to Him”
Surrender to God also means:
- God gets priority in my weekly calendar
- God is not an after thought
- we don’t “have to worship God” we “Want to”
We are on week two of the sermon series called…
“God first”
Last 1. Give God the first part of every day.
2. Give God the first day of every week.
3. Give God the first word in every decision.
4. Give God the first portion of your income.
5. Give God the first place in your heart.
6. Give God’s Church the priority in your schedule.
7. Give God’s Son your first love.
Today we are talking about “Giving God the 1st day of the week.”
- starting the week off in the right direction
- following the pattern of the Bible
- striving to please God in all we do
A Pharisee asked Jesus:
- what is the greatest commandment of God?
- What does God want most from people?
Here is Jesus’ answer…
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment.”
Matthew 22:37 (ESV)
Start the week with God and His Church
1. The Priority of our life…
“Don’t let the urgent take the place of the important in your life.”
Charles E. Hummel, Tyranny of the Urgent
Every minute of every day:
- presents us with a nearly unlimited
- array of options of how to spend our life
We choose what:
- what we really want to do,
- what other people expect from me,
- what is required, and what is optional
Deciding what is MOST IMPORTANT NOW can be a grueling decision.
But the reality is that we made that decision when we became a Christian
Ryan Blair said:
“If it's important you'll find a way. If it's not, you'll find an excuse.”
Is putting God first important to you?
- then move everything else to a lower position
- God gets first pick in our lives
- He gets the first word, the position of highest priority
“In everything you do, put God first, and
he will direct you and crown your efforts with success.”
Proverbs 3:6 (TLB)
C.S. Lewis wrote:
“Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.”
Start the week with God and His Church
2. The Pattern of the Bible:
“DEAR GOD - IT’S JIM” Poem
For years each day Jim:
o would rise and pray And
o each week in church,
o he’d bow his knee
And meekly say, “Dear God, it’s Jim.”
? And when he’d leave,
? we all could see
? God’s holy presence walked with him.
Someone asked Ol’ Jim one day:
? Why he was so regular to church and to pray.
? Said Jim with a smile and a twinkle and a nod
? “It’s so one day I’ll hear ‘Dear Jim, it’s God.’”
The command and pattern of the OLD TESTAMENT:
- was that the people would REST and WORSHIP on the Sabbath day
- the Sabbath has always been Saturday
- Keeping the Sabbath day as holy is one of the 10 Commandments...
“Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the LORD your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work.”
Exodus 20:8-11 (NLT)
The Sabbath was a day of:
- Rest and Worship
- it was a day of blessing in an age
- where many people were forced to work 7 days a week
- it was a gift of God to His people
It was more than a DAY OFF; it was a DAY to worship God.
That was the Old Testament….
The New Testament pattern of the Apostles:
- was to meet on the 1st day of the week
- that is Sunday
“On the first day of the week we came together to break bread.”
Acts 20:7 (NIV)
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
Acts 2:42 (NIV)
Christians assembled for the purpose of:
- learning God’s word
- enjoying the company of other believers
- taking the Lord’s Supper
- to pray and to
- to care for the needs of one another
Doesn’t that sound like what we do here every Sunday morning?
Start the week with God and His Church
3. The Prescription to believers.
A prescription is:
- something a Dr. tells us will make us healthier
- it is good for us and can be lifesaving.
The Bible has a prescription for Christians…
- that will make us stronger
- that will bless others
- that will please God
- that may save our SOULS
“And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Hebrews 10:24-25 (NKJV)
This text basically says two things:
A. Do this…
- motivate one another to do God’s will
- think of other believers and how you can help them
- exhort or encourage one another
- meet often and more often than previously
B. Don’t do this…
- forget that gathering together is only partly about you
- you need to be HERE to help others
- don’t forget Jesus is COMING SOON
- so meet more often, not less often
Christian faith is not a spectator sport:
- there is no bench where you watch and experience from a distance
- it’s more than a show,
- WE ARE ALL IN THE GAME!
- it involves people engaging personally with other people
It is active and interactive:
- The Church sees when one of us is struggling
- The Church helps those who are weak in the faith
- The follow the lead of Jesus who is the head of the Church
“Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.”
Ephesians 5:23b (NKJV)
Jesus is the brains of the body, and we are HIS body:
- the Church is the body of Christ
- the Church are the people
- you don’t go to Church, you are the Church
The Church is not:
- this beautiful rock building:
- not a room full of pews with a pulpit
- is not where we store God
We need each other, Christianity is a family:
o Congregational worship
o is not an option for a Christian;
o It is a necessity.
It means a willingness to help struggling faith whenever Christians meet.
Start the week with God and His Church
4. Pushback regarding gathering as the Church
I’ve never been surprised when:
- the Lost don’t want to come to Church assembly
- after all why would a Atheist come to assemble as God’s Church?
- but lately something has caught me off guard.
I have noticed something strange:
- coming from people who claim to be Christians.
- it is the phenomenon of claiming
- I can be a SAVED Christian and not be PART OF THE CHURCH
This idea did not come from God….
What a crazy idea and it contradicts itself:
- They will agree that Christ died for the Church, but
- I want no part of the Church
- so they want the privilege of the Church but reject the Church. STRANGE
“Christ loved the church and gave himself for her.”
- Ephesians 5:25
What does it say when a person says:
? I don’t want to be part of the Church, but
? I want to be saved.
? It says they don’t know the Bible or God
It says “I want a Savior but not a Lord”:
- the truth is Jesus won’t be your savior
- if He is not also your Lord
- Lord and Savior come as a package or not at all
Jesus says if you are going to follow Him:
- that you are to take up your cross and follow Him to death
- if sitting in a pew is to much,
- that person is not serious
Think about this:
- Jesus, God in the flesh, came down from His home in heaven
- suffered, bleed and died on the Cross for OUR SIN
- but 60 minutes a week is too much for us
WE can give Hollywood and social media 50 hours, but God can’t get 1 hour.
WE need the Church, and the Church needs US!
Start the week with God and His Church
5. Setting the Path for next week
Our walk of faith is one:
- where we are in continual need of God’s presence
- not just periodically, but we need God every hour, minute and second
- the serious Christian will admit that distance from God equals disaster.
What better way to:
o set the tone for the week,
o to set the course for the week,
o than to start the week worshipping God with the Church
Before we all had GPS navigation:
- we had maps and map books
- we had to look up locations in the index and
- use grid numbers and letters to find locations and plot our course.
I remember:
- reading the map and making notes on another paper
- I might even use a pencil to trace the route I would go
- I planned my route and then drove the route.
Getting together to worship:
- is like picking up a map
- plotting the course for the week
- determining where you are and where you need to go
And deciding that Worshipping God with the Church is ESSENTIAL
When I miss worship services on a Sunday:
- my morning feels off, then my day,
- they my week starts off wrong
- I end up regretting being absent
The first thing I’ve done that week:
- is tell God worshipping Him was not important
- fail to take the Lord’s supper,
- failed to sing praises to God
- failed to encourage others
- failed to give my offerings….
- failed to hear God’s word…
You see:
o When I’m trying to move as close to God as possible
o I’m trying to get as far away from the distractions of the world as I can
o Focusing on God first thing Sunday goes along way towards a good week…
Hebrews 2:1 warns us about getting off course:
“We must pay the most careful attention therefore to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.”
Drifting is what gets most Christians:
- we get a little off course and don’t correct course
- then we don’t notice we are off course
- then we are lost…but it happened an inch at a time.
We’ve all seen it:
- someone misses worship
- then they miss a little more and
- then they are gone…often they hide from us…
Occasionally people will get onto me:
- about the people who drift away, go call on them
- but they don’t accept guidance
- then they don’t accept my phone calls and
- mysteriously are never home
Drifting away is not accidental:
- it occurs by not intentionally setting their course
- they let other events, activities, and people
- push their way into God’s position
We must set our course and stick to it:
? Decide in advance and that God get Sunday
? You can’t drift away and miss the destination
? Unless you get off course. STAY THE COURSE.
Start the week with God and His Church
Raylen was a preacher:
- didn’t make much money
- subsidized his income BY
- tutoring students
One student:
- overheard his parents say that he was sick and going to die.
- student confronted Raylen…
- ”yes you are going to die, you are terminal”
The Boy said:
? get out your bible and don’t leave anything out….(PAUSE)
? he knew he was going to leave this world
? He wanted to be prepared for the next life
Friends:
- We are all terminal.
- we are all going to die and
- we don’t know when, but we won’t live here like this forever..
The Bible says:
- Once to die and then the judgment.
- we are going to face God
- and we will have to face up to the reality of our sin
The wages of sin is death:
- and we owe death?
- what are you going to do?
- do you plan to go to Hell to pay for your sins?
That is one way, but it is NOT NECESSARY:
- God already sent His son
- to pay for your sins on the cross
- so you do not have to go to Hell
Some people know this to be true:
- they know they are not right with God
- they don’t know with absolute certainity
- that if they died right now, they would go to heaven…
Many many people:
- hear the gospel and don’t respond
- they put it off week after week,
- not knowing that they may miss their chance
- to accept the Gospel on God’s terms.
Will we surrender to God:
- will we…put our confidence in the work of Jesus,
- will we turn from our sin; will we confess Jesus with our lips?
- Will we be immersed into the death burial and resurrection of Jesus?
The ball is in your court it’s your move:
- God has done all he can do to save your soul
- You must decide for yourself if you want His salvation
- the offer is on the table, what is your decision?
