Why do we go to church?
Texts:
Joh 4:13-14 Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life."
Joh 4:20 "Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship."
Joh 4:23 "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.
Joh 4:25 CEV The woman said, "I know that the Messiah will come. He is the one we call Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."
Joh 4:26 CEV "I am that one," Jesus told her, "and I am speaking to you now."
Rick: John tells about the time Jesus met the “woman at the well”. She asked Jesus a question that is important for us here today. But before I explain let me tell you a little of the circumstances…
This event stands out for a variety of reasons. One of which was that it was not the social custom for a man to speak to a woman in a public place in that day.
Jesus speaking to a Samaritan woman at the community source of water would be a lot like a stranger talking to a woman dressed in a Burka in Afganistan during the days of the Taliban. It just wasn’t done.
Jesus began the conversation by asking for water
When she was curious about why she would talk to her in a public place Jesus said that she’d like to tell her about some spiritual water – refreshment for a dry and thirst spirit – that would never need replenishment.
She immediately began to back pedal. This guy was over the line. He was beyond odd and right at the edge of pushy. She asked a very important question about worship of God. She asked, “Why do you Jews worship on one mountain and the Samaritans worship on another mountain? Which mountain are we supposed to worship on?
If the woman at the well were here today her question would be the same but different, “Why do you Christians worship Jesus while Hindu’s worship Vishnu, Buddists worship Budda, Moslems worship Allah, and Jews worship Jehovah? Which God should you follow?”
Jesus’ answer to the woman at the well is very important because it cut to the very heart of why and how we are all to worship God. His answer worked then and it still works today.
Jesus answer, “Worship God in spirit and truth”
Worship in spirit and truth is a community experience
Steve is going to talk with you about how the worship is a community experience. How the horizontal relationships of people to people works when it comes to worship and church. Why we come to church. Steve…
Steve: One reason we go to church is the spiritual community and relationships that take place in church activity and life….the question is what does that look like. It’s a lot like the human body.
As many of you know I’ve been really struggling with a sinus/ear infection the last couple of weeks that I believe was given to me by Satan himself. I’m feeling a lot better now, but I was really surprised at how a sinus/ear infection completely zapped my energy and my ability to function even in day to day activities.
Because my body was physically weakened I couldn’t play flag football last week, I get grumpy when I’m sick so I was short and kind of curt with people….not a very good attribute for a minister, and then just going into the office every day was even a chore. I ended up going to the doctors a second time and I asked her why I had these overwhelming feelings of fatigue. She told me that when you get sick or have some kind of infection your entire body will attack that infection to try to beat it. That’s why you feel so tired when you get sick….everything is working together to beat this infection.
The church is an interconnected community of people who help each other. Believe it or not, but that story actually illustrates one of the reasons that I go to church. The Bible spends a lot of time talking about how the church is a lot like the human body. The more I think about that the more I believe it’s true. Like the body, the church is completely interconnected. It’s interconnected with the relationships of the people.
Here’s what I love about the church: when a person in the church or one part of the body gets sick or goes through a difficult time, every other part of the body rallies around to help.
Here’s how the Bible comes out and describes this, “Laugh with your friends when they’re happy and share tears when they’re down.” Here’s how I would describe that statement, “church is a place where nobody stands alone.”
The church is a community of people who together do more than they can separately. The book of Acts in the Bible describes the role of the church, and one word that it uses again and again and again is “together.”
That’s the type of church this is….it’s a church that goes everywhere together. When it’s time for a party this church can party with the best of them, but when a good cry is needed there are about 200 available shoulders in this church, and they’ll be there at a moments notice…if you want it.. We believe that life can be too difficult to go it alone……we want to go through it together.
Here’s what it looked like for the first church, “All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need…..They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.”
Here’s how it looks like in this church. It looks like the man going into surgery that is met at the hospital by some of his closest friends. It looks like the home group that organizes meals or takes up an offering to help a hurting person. It looks like the ministry team leader that makes a phone call just to find out how someone’s doing. It looks like the crowd of people that welcomes a new mom and dad their first time back at church….offering to pray for their baby. “Laugh with your friends when they’re happy and share tears when their down.”
I grew up in a family that went to church. Every Sunday morning, evening, and Wednesday evening we were at church. If the custodian was cleaning the windows, we took up our row and watched. That’s the type of home I grew up in. I have been in church almost every Sunday that I’ve been alive. You know, I can’t remember very many sermons that I’ve heard in those 26 years, so why do I come.
I come because of what I do remember: The church is a community of people who really care about one another
I remember going to Jeff and Cheryls house after their little boy had died from liver complications and praying with them almost all night long. I remember going to see my youth minister after his first son was born, and the excitement on his face. I remember countless youth ministry trips, both as a student and as an adult….laughing sometimes until 2 or three in the morning. I remember all the funerals and the men and women that stepped forward to help the grieving family. The kind words that have been spoken to me, the endless encouragement.
So, we’re left with the question. Why do I go to church? One reason I go is that I love how God transforms our relationships. I love how God expresses his love for me everyday through my friends at this church. If you’ve been going through this life alone…..I want you to know that you don’t have to. Get connected into the body, and find out why church is a place that nobody stands alone.
Rick is going to explain the personal experience piece of worship. How we come together to build a vertical relationship with God and how we connect to him.
Rick: The church, like the human body, has a spiritual side. The community part is fantastic but there is another part that is intensely personal. In community we connect with the other parts of the body. But just like in the human body there is a personal, spiritual side that is very real.
Just because you can’t see the spirit doesn’t mean it isn’t real. Every time I have the occasion to minister to a family at the time of a funeral it is reinforced. When I look at the body laid out in the casket it is so clear that the person who was inside is not there.
Yet, I can’t prove there is a spirit or a soul. I can’t touch it or even describe it very well. But I have experienced it, personally. Several years ago my younger sister was killed in car accident and I remember looking at her body in the casket. I had to look closely because my first reaction was that it wasn’t her. When I looked more closely it was clear that her body was there but she was gone.
In the church there is the obvious body. There are meetings, Bible studies, ministries, and services. But there is another part. It is the connection to God piece. That’s why we have time in our Celebration Service on Sunday mornings for personal prayer. It’s why we normally have a special time each week for what is called, “The Lord’s Supper”. It was given to us by Jesus as a gift to help us remember our relationship with him. It’s very personal.
Now today is our “Open House” so we are not going to have this service because we don’t want anyone to be uncomfortable. There are still people who have personal needs today so we have set up the room immediately to the right as you exit as a place for prayer and communion. One of our Elders will be there to pray with you.
The spirit is real and so is truth. Spiritual things are real and solid – more real than mountains and oceans – and so is Truth. Truth is not something that changes and moves depending on the perception of the person. But truth, just as the spirit is not the body, is not facts and not philosophies. Truth is not cold and hard.
The body is the house of the spirit but eventually they separate and go their own way – the body goes the way of the earth, dust to dust, and the soul goes the way of God, spirit to spirit.
Truth can be embodied in facts and philosophies but they are not the same. Truth is a person – and that person is Jesus.
When Jesus talked with that woman and they began to speak of spiritual things she eventually tumbled to a truth – something was different about this man. She saw that he was learned and a prophet. Someday she said God will send a messenger to us to tell us about such things. Jesus said simply, “I am that messenger.” Later, Jesus was before Pilate, when he said, “I am truth.”
Truth is not about facts and philosophies. It’s not even about religion. Truth is about a person, of God, and who came from God, to show that woman at that well; to show me; and to show you; the way home to God.
Church is about following that truth – Jesus – home to God the father. Truth is not about religion. Truth is not about rules. Truth is not about tradition. Truth is not about my personal interpretation of my world. Truth is about a person. I come to church to connect with God.
The only thing I’m going to ask of you today is this. Do not merely accept what others tell you about church, Christians, or about Jesus. Look for yourself.
Steve: We want to help you find your way home – to be part of a real community and to be part of a real relationship with God.
That is what MCC is all about. Here is a video that tells a little bit more about Meridian Christian Church…
