Feeding Frenzy
How To Get The Most Out Of Going To Church
7/28/04
I. Introduction
A local newspaper had a Sunday morning religion section that contained, among other things, letters to the editor about various religious issues. Most weeks these letters were pretty innocuous, but one Sunday something was printed that became quite controversial.
A man wrote:
I quit going to church this year. I decided that listening to sermons week after week was a stupid thing to do. After all, I went to church for more than 40 years and during my lifetime I probably heard 5,000 sermons. I can only remember about five of them. What a waste of time.—Bored and Busy
This sparked a fury of incoming letters. Some people wrote that sermons do make a difference, while others sided with Bored and Busy’s opinion that they were basically meaningless and unnecessary. Finally, one letter was printed that ended the debate:
I quit eating this year. Thanks to Bored and Busy’s insights, I decided that eating week after week was a stupid thing to do. After all, I have been eating for more than 40 years and during my lifetime I probably have eaten 5,000 meals. I can only remember about five of them. What a waste of time.—Starved and Stupid
Sometimes you may wonder what good it does to listen to sermons or participate in weekly Bible studies or have daily devotions. Like the first letter writer, you may feel that you’re too bored or busy for the things of God. But don’t overlook the fact that you need those things to survive.
In order to grow as a Christian, you need spiritual food. You need to feed on the Word of God. Not every spiritual meal is going to be memorable, but it will provide you with the nourishment you need to survive and thrive as a Christian.
Tonight’s message is FEEDING FRENZY: How to Get the Most Out of Going to Church. Not only is it important that you go to church, but that you know how to get the most out of it while you’re here.
II. Show Up
1 Corinthians 3:1-3 NKJV 1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. 2I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; 3for you are still carnal.
The first step in getting the most out of going to church is to actually show up. You can’t get anything out of going to church if you don’t go to church. But there are people who go to church and still don’t know how to get anything out of it.
When you were a baby, you couldn’t feed yourself at all, you had to have somebody stick a bottle in your mouth and all you did was suck. As you grew older, you were able to pick up these little round cheerios and stick them in your mouth. You weren’t very coordinated, so most of the cheerios ended up on the floor. But at the same time, mom or dad was still feeding you these saucy baby foods. But still as you grew older, you learned more and more about how to feed yourself, and you were able to eat better foods. And now, most of you are at the point where you can feed yourself without wearing a bib or spilling something all over you…most of you. But if you’re not at the house when supper’s on the table or you don’t show up to the table to eat, you’re going to miss out on the food, right?
Well, just like you have to show up at the table to eat, you have to show up at church to actually get something out of it.
But it’s more than just showing up in bodily form. Everybody understand that you are a 3 part being. You are a spirit, you have a soul, and you live in a body. Some people think that just because their bodies are in a certain location, that the rest of them is there, too. But that’s not necessarily the case. You’ve probably experienced that in class at school. Your body is sitting in the desk and the teacher is giving a lecture, yet you’re not hearing one word she’s saying because you’re off in la la land day dreaming about what it would be like to be a bird. You’re there in body, but your soul is somewhere else.
And it can be like that in church, too. Your body’s there in the chair. Your spirit is perked up because it wants to be here and get all it can get out of the service. But your soul, your mind, is the gateway to your spirit. So, if your mind is all over the place thinking about all kinds of things, your spirit ain’t getting anything. So, you have to show up in your body, train your soul/mind to listen and pay attention, and your spirit will be happy because it’s getting to grow.
III. Participate
Hebrews 10:24-25 MSG 24Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, 25not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching.
After you’ve shown up, don’t just sit there. Get involved. Time will pass much quicker when you’re doing something. If it’s praise and worship, sing the songs, close your eyes, lift your hands, participate in worshipping God. If it’s the game, volunteer to play, who knows, you might win and we might give out something other than a prize from the tub o stuff. Whatever it is that’s going on, do it, heh, do it.
IV. Write It Down
Romans 12:1-2 NKJV 1I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Ok, present your bodies as a living sacrifice…your bodies are here, ok, you’ve sacrificed the body for the benefit of the spirit. You’ve come to church. Then he says renew your mind! How do you renew your mind?
You renew your mind by feeding it the Word. That means you can’t let your mind think about all kinds of other things when the Word’s trying to get in. One way you can do that is by writing down what you hear. Taking notes. Your mind is very content to stay the same, but one benefit of renewing your mind is that you’ll be able to know what God wants you to do, and you’ll know just how good, pleasing, and perfect His will really is.
2 Corinthians 10 talks about bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. That means your mind is gonna try to work against you sometimes. Have you ever been sitting in a service listening to the pastor or youth pastor speak and then you start thinking about something you’ve done wrong…and then it starts to grow into other things that you’ve done? What you have to do is boldly declare and tell your mind, “I’m going to listen and pay attention and take notes.”
Some keys to taking notes are writing down the title of the message and the purpose for it…which I mostly give you the purpose in the form of a subtitle.
Isaiah 55:11 “11So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”
Well, one thing you write down is why is this Word being sent? You can note the purpose in my messages via the subtitle. On Sundays, listen for the overall theme and write it down.
Write down every Scripture that’s mentioned. You don’t necessarily have to copy the whole passage, but write down the reference so you can go back and read it again later.
Write down every definition of words that you don’t understand.
Write down every phrase or statement that jumps out at you.
Write down what you’ll do as a result of what you’re hearing.
Write it down.
V. Review
After you’ve taken notes and the service is over, you can still get more out of going to church. Get your notebook out. It may be the next day or the next few days. Get your notebook out that has your notes, and review the message. Re-read the Scriptures and meditate on them. Read what you wrote about what you’re going to do. Make a confession about what you’ve heard and that it will prosper in your life.
I used to take notes in the margin of my Bible, and then I started buying notebooks to take my notes in because I could fit more in there. But those messages and services that I went to years ago continue to help me today. For instance, I was preparing a message a couple of months ago and I remembered something I had written down that Pastor Wyatt Brown had taught a few years ago, so I immediately went to my notebook and searched through it until I found the exact quote or Scripture that I was looking for. So you see, reviewing those notes not only helped me, but it’s gone on to help you guys because I’ve used some of the same things that I’ve heard and learned over the years to teach you. And you can do the same thing for others. Maybe a friend’s going through a tough situation. Well, you know that there’s a Scripture somewhere about that situation and you remembered writing it down that time that PN did a message on escaping temptation. So you whip out your notebook and turn to page and call up your friend and give him or her some encouragement. You see, it’s not just about us. We grow spiritually and we help others grow spiritually.
Matthew 10:8 says “8Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received!”
- Get A Tape
Another way to review the message is to get the tape and listen to it again. If you want a tape of one of our services, request it and we’ll be able to get it to you through the Resource Center. They don’t usually make copies of our services, but if they get a request, we’ll make sure you get the tape you need.
How many of you guys have ever seen a movie more than once? Was there something that you noticed the second time watching it that you didn’t see the first time through? Yeah, that happens a lot. And it happens during a service, too. When you listen to the tape, you’ll be able to pick out a lot more and get some things that you may have missed.
VI. Practice What We Preach
James 1:22 NIV “22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”
James 1:22 MSG “22Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear!”
That Scripture says it all. When you hear a message, act on it. If we’re teaching about loving your neighbor, do it. If we’re teaching about speaking your faith, do it. If we’re teaching about handing money, do it. If we’re teaching about spreading the gospel, do it. If we’re teaching about finding your true identity, do it. If we’re teaching about getting the most out of going to church, do it.
It’s important to come to church, but it’s even more important to know how to grow while you’re here. Because if you’re not growing in your relationship with God, we’ve failed. All we’ve done is entertained you with cool music, fun games, and a 30 minute speech. And that’s not what we’re about. That’s not what we’re here for. We want you to grow. We want you to experience God’s best in your life. So come next week with your Bible, a notebook and a pen. And I promise that if you’ll act on this message, you’ll see some changes in your life and it’s gonna get better. Amen.
Let’s pray.
