"i Was Glad When They Said Unto Me, "let Us Go Into The House Of The Lord."

C. There is an Involvement in Going: A Gathering.

1. The Psalmist was looking forward to a gathering of God’s people. It was a religious festival. A celebration of the Person and provision of God, and the entire nation was to celebrate this together.

2. For the Christian, the Church is in some ways God’s “house”, God’s school, God’s hospital, God’s bank. It is also where God’s people meet, give, and grow. Illust: Donald Grey Barnhouse told the story about former Chief Justice Charles Hughes. When he moved to D.C., to take up his duties as Chief Justice, he transferred his membership letter to a Baptist Church in the area. The custom was for all new members to come to the front of the sanctuary at the close of the worship service. The first to be called that morning was an immigrant laundry man, who had moved to the capital from China. He took his place at the far side of the church. As a dozen o people were called forward they stood at the opposite side of the church, leaving him standing alone. When Chief Justice Hughes was called, he took his place beside the laundry man. The wise pastor turned to the congregation and said "I do not want this congregation to miss this remarkable illustration of the fact that at the cross of Jesus Christ the ground is level." "Mr. Hughes behaved like a true Christian. He took his place beside the laundry man, and by his act he prevented embarrassment to the humble Chinese; he showed, too, the love of Christ -- he had this gift of standing by."

D. Applic: Today we are able to begin to “stand by” one another. But let us not forget those who cannot yet. Call them. Write them. Love them. Let us continue to “Stand by one another.” There is a value we cannot have on our own when we worship together.

II. David Describes His Worship Environment vv.3-5

*Today we’ve a unique worship environ.. Next week should be inside familiar surroundings.

A. There is a Togetherness there. V. 3

1. David described the gathering place of Jerusalem. V. 3 “Jerusalem is built as a city that is compact together”. The Hebrew word means to have fellowship, to be joined together, not scattered, not separate. All too often, we believers take our fellowship for granted. Separatists. Selfishly wanting our own way instead seeking the good of my brother.

2. There is a “togetherness” at GNBC. Many visitors often remark to me that it seems like one very large family more than a church. Friends, there is an internal union of God’s Chosen people, the Church. Fellowship is one of the key functions of the Church. This recent pandemic has tested the bonds of fellowship in our physical distancing during quarantine. We cannot do it on our own. During the past few weeks a handful of people have worked overtime in an attempt to keep us connected and concerned. Illust: The movie, “Beau Gueste” is an example of the way some churches function. In the movie, the Arabs are attacking a French Foreign Legion outpost. There are only four legionnaires left alive in the post. But they want the enemy to think they have lots of strength so they propped up the dead bodies of their comrades in the turrets and the four men ran around the walls shooting the dead men’s guns for them. This is the plan of many churches today. They hire a large staff of clergy to prop up the spiritually dead and fire their guns for them. But this will never accomplish God’s plan. We need to be in contact with one another. See one another. Be a part of one another’s life.