Introduction at the start of church:
How to Have a Good Day Psalm 34:11-16 How often has someone said to you, "Have a good day"? That’s a nice statement, but what does it mean? When you review the day’s activities before you go to bed, how do you know whether the day was good or bad? When Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery that was a bad day. But God turned it into good for him. When Potiphar’s wife lied about Joseph and had him put into prison, it was a bad day. But God turned that into good for him also. You see, we don’t always know what a good day is. However, we can make our days good if we follow the instructions given in today’s passage.
First, control your tongue. David asks, "Who is the man who desires life, and loves many days, that he may see good?" (vs.. 12). Of course, everybody wants long life and good days. So you must "keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit" (vs.. 13). When you say the wrong thing, you will have a bad day. So keep your tongue under control.
Second, "depart from evil and do good" (vs.. 14). If you want to have a good day, do good. If you sow the seeds of goodness, you’ll reap the harvest of goodness.
Third, "seek peace and pursue it" (vs.. 14). Don’t go around with a revolver in your hand. Don’t be bothered by every little slight or by everything that people say. If somebody cuts in front of you in a line, don’t let it bother you. Be a peacemaker, not a troublemaker.
Finally, trust the Lord because He’s watching you. "The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry" (vs.. 15). The word open means "attentive to." You don’t have to worry about what other people do. God is watching you, and He’s listening to you. You can have a good day if you’ll just follow these instructions. So, have a good day!
"Have a good day!" may be a trite expression, but you can have a good day if you follow certain instructions from Scripture. Try following the guidelines of this psalm. Not only will you have a good day, but those with whom you come in contact will be blessed.
WHAT THE CHURCH IS HERE FOR
Ephesians 1:18 "I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20 which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way."
2:1 "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 6 and God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 10 for we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. 11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)-- 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. 14 for he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, 16 land in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Disenfranchised people wonder what the church is here for. There are people that I know who have given of their time and money to see a church start and go. After it got going some pastor and people who started coming to the church did some wrong things and they had to close the church. So these people are left wondering why I should give to something that might fail. They did not feel connected to the church any more. Disappointed people wonder what the church is here for. There was lady who came into a church to worship who the pastor had been trying to help her into a faith of believing in Christ. As she came in all the people turned around and wondered why she was in their church. She could have left the church because of the looks she got that morning. Perhaps the reason we do not see more people walking into the church is because they sense that the people in the church are waiting to condemn them for what they wear or what they look like.
Disillusioned people wonder what the church is here for. They have seen scandals and dishonesty among those who belong to the church. They say they have more faith in the court system, police or even lawyers. Disbelieving people wonder what the church is here for. One has said it this way, “I have no objections to churches as long as they do not interfere with the work of God.”
Disinterested people wonder what the church is here for... Barclay said, “The problem is not hostility to the church it is indifference. For many the church is simple irrelevant; it is not even worth criticizing, it is simply to be ignored.” Some have problems to believe in the church because they do not like authority. Others do not like organizations. Some reject the church because they demand a degree of perfection that even they would not put on their own lives. Some have been wounded spiritually. Many are just so consumed with the daily affairs of life that they have no time to give to think about their souls.
For the church we know that there are problems. We have seen scandals, inquiry, suspicion and ridicule. We have disruption, desertions, splitting up and judgment. We have great challenges, changes and choices that we have not faced before. We are faced with culture wars, worship styles, historical memory loss and spiritual anemia. We also find these are days of fearfulness, brokenness, emptiness and people in need that make people reflect on their spiritual lives. Today is a day of dreaming, longing, searching and hoping that makes people spiritual receptive. We are also seeing a day of openness, options and opportunity that bring people to being responsive to spiritual things.
With all these what must we be as a church to make us worth believing in?
I. The church is here because it defies hell. MT 10:28 “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Hell is interested in the church. The church is hells’ greatest threat here on earth. Hell is put in the shade by the Lordship of Jesus Christ. God has placed all things under the feet of Jesus and that included hell. With the church around, the devil is losing his grip. It is in the church that we get in touch with God and with God He forgives us our past and we become new creatures in Christ. Every time we enter the church and worship God Satan is losing because our minds are being filled with the message of God’s love. Satan used to control and use us but when we join in the church of Jesus Christ he no longer has the power to control us. His desire is to sow doubt and dissention to weaken and destroy one’s faith but in the church we hear the Good news and are minds are renewed in faith. Why did Jesus come into the world? 1 John 3:8 “The reason that the Son of God appeared was to destroy what the devil does.” Listen to this, the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church because the almighty, life giving, sin destroying, hell resisting power of God is the head of the Church and He is in Charge. You see even when there is human weakness and sometimes poor judgment is made and this causes problems and pain in the church, Hell does not win. Persecutions have not crushed the church; evil powers have not beaten it back, time has not stopped its force, the mistreatment of its friends have not upset its strength. Hell once thought it had beaten the church for the head lay in the tomb, but Jesus walked out of that tomb and remains the Head. It is the Church that challenges hell and hell can not defeat the church because it is the body of Christ. The greatest reality about the church is that it is the only place that makes saints out of sinners.
II. The Church is here because it makes a person better. Maybe this seems strange but here are some who say we should close the church because there is still sin in the world. The ones who work in the church have not done their job. I would say to that should we close all the hospitals for there is still disease and sickness in the world? Should we close the colleges in our country because people still do badly informed things? Should we get rid of stop signs because there are people who do not stop at them? Should we close all our prisons because we have not solved the problem of criminals? Why is it that many politicians, news media, college professors are out to down play the he good of the Church in society today? The desire of many is to push Christianity to the edge of public life and deny letting it have voice in issues of life. Faith in many ways is treated as a hold over from less enlightened days. The founding fathers did not have separation of church and state in their minds when they formed this county and in fact looked to those with a strong religious belief to be the leaders. It wasn’t until 1937 that we heard of this separation. Christians who hold strong to their belief are now labeled religious fanatics or right wing fundamentalists. I like to say the church has many who are critics but it has no to equal it. There is no force on the face of the earth that does as much good as the he church does under the leadership of Jesus Christ. One has said, “The Church is a force for good in a world bombarded with evil. It is a force for love in a world buried with hatred. It is a force for peace in a world torn with violence.” It is not governed by the narrow-mindedness of Hollywood, Washington, Madison Avenue, Disney, wall street or the liberal college. God made the Church significant to affect the moral and ethical compass of life through the stormy waters of the world. Eph. 2:10 “God has made us what we are. He has created us in Christ Jesus to live lives filled with good works that he has prepared for us to do.” It was Church that history says stood for the abolition of slavery, the correct treatment of the mentally ill, the care of the elderly, the end of child labor, the right of civil rights and for women to be equal to men. The first idea and support for public schools, hospitals, nursing homes, orphanages, colleges and relief centers came out of the church. The Church provides the enthusiasm, motivation, machinery, and manpower for the most lasting and selfless accomplishments of all else that exists by humans. It is the church that makes saints
out
of sinners.
III. THE CHURCH is here because it brings together PEOPLE. A broken relationship with God is the worst problem we have. It tells us in the Bible that we were without Christ, without hope, without God in this present world. We were the ones who built the barriers to keep God out of our thinking and out of the way of what we are pursuing. We were far away from Christ. The bible says that we have been brought near to God by the blood of Christ. God did this so we would not remain with out Him and without hope. It is the primary mission of the Church to bring people first of all to God and then to bring people together in peace. There is much hate in the world due to differences such as race, class, culture and sex. Jesus came to give us peace with God and to bring us together as a one family. The Church is the only place on earth that hat brings people together to love one another. It brings a craving to belonging to be one in family. The Church represents the extended family of the best parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters and cousins that one could ever find. It is in the world that when things go wrong that we know there is a place we can go to find help and it is the Church where we find mercy and forgiveness and love. It is in the Church we find people who have also messed up their lives but have found Christ is the answer and we are here to help others. A family does that. We found many from the family of God who helped through this time of sickness with our grandson. We got prayers, expenses, visits, telephone calls, e-mails and people in person helping in ways that were needed in all that was going on. C. S. Lewis has said that hell is a place of isolation. Not only is one separated from God and His love but they are also separated from people because there is no love there. The Church is about bringing people together in Christ and it will be for eternity.
1V. THE CHURCH IS HERE BECAUSE IT exalts CHRIST. Christ is the example the church needs to follow. Jesus Christ is the One who breaks down the barrier between us and God. In the O T there used to be a marble screen that separated the courtyard to the temple. There were even signs saying that if you were not a Jew you could by no means enter the temple and if you did death was the penalty. So this wall drew a line around the most holy place to worship for the purpose of turning some people away. When Jesus came it was still there. Something had to be done. Jesus went to the cross bearing the sins of all mankind and break down the wall between us and God. He broke down the barrier. The Jews in the days of Jesus also had rituals and laws that kept people away from God. The Bible says that Jesus put an end to the law with its commandments and regulations. The Jews wanted salvation to be earned by keeping their laws. By adding rules and regulations to the genuine law of Moses and doing nothing to help others keep them, while inventing ways for themselves to get out of them. Jesus knew that none of us is able to keep the whole law and that it was only given to show us our need of a Savior. “So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.” Jesus took on Himself the burden placed on us by the law and died a violent death that we deserved to free us from its impossible demands and the curse with breaking them. He was the only one who could do this to this and meet the standard of God because He was without sin. Jesus opened the door for us to become part of God’s family and remove the distance that separated us from God. So the church because of Jesus Christ calls all who believe together because of what He has done. The Church enhances Christ because He is the only one to solve the sin problem. V. THE CHURCH IS HERE BECAUSE IT PAYS tribute TO HUMANITY. THE CHURCH is the dwelling place where God’s Holy Spirit lives. One has said it well, “The trouble with the church is that hat you and I are in it.” Another said, “If you ever find a perfect church, don’t join it for it will not be perfect then.” The fact is that the church is made up of people who come to Christ hoping for and looking for salvation from sin and they find God who takes them from their sinful past and makes them something beautiful and holy. The Church is truly the only organization in the world that membership is given to those who do not deserve it. We read in Psalms 8:4 “what is a man that you remember him? You have made him a little lower than the angels.” We live in a time that we are taught that man is not a little lower than the angels. We are taught that we are just a little higher than other animals and simple accident of evolution. Our worth is judged by our contribution to society and when we no longer can contribute we are worth nothing.
The Church believes and teaches that you are incredibly valuable to God. Jesus gave a story about a shepherd who leaves 99 of his sheep just to look for one that is lost. Jesus spoke of the fact that all of heaven rejoices when one sinner comes to salvation through repentance and forgiveness in Jesus Christ. He God notices when one sparrow falls to the ground and says we are of much more value than many sparrows. It wasn’t the politicians or marches on Washington that really gave us human rights for it was God’s plan from the beginning. We are described as living stones held together by God’s love. He calls us a holy people set apart for His glory and honor. We are His treasures. It is in the church we find human worth for in the church we are equal in God’s sight no matter what position in life we have.
One person wrote something like this: “When I became a Christian, I believed I could make it on my own. I went to my room and read books on theology, beliefs and the Bible. I did not want to go to church because they sang songs that reminded me of fifth rate poems set to sixth rate music. As I lingered on I begin to see things differently. I was caught in my own conceit for I found that these people sang these songs from a heart filled with joy that spread to others. I had to join in because alone I was lonely and lacked having joy or sharing the joy of others.”
The Church is here to defy hell, to make a good person better, to bring people together as a family that loves, to lift up Christ as the Savior from sin and to lift up the worth of mankind.
There is no other place you can find that will do these things. Believe in the Church, join the church, worship in the church and be the church so that others might also know what the church is here for. Jesus said, “The gates of hell will not prevail against the church.” I want to make sure I am on the right side and Jesus Christ brings me there.
