Reasons We Congregate Series

Turn Your Bibles to Psalm 122:1

Title: Reasons We Congregate

Theme: Reasons for Congregational Worship Services

Series: Girding up the Local Church

Introduction: Our key text today is written by King David (The Treasury of David; The Pulpit Commentary; Matthew Henry Commentary) and is part of a song that was to be sung as the people of God were going to Jerusalem to enjoy the holy feast. David is reflecting on the many times that he had heard the call to go to the house of the Lord. The language we are about to read expresses the happiness that is found in the heart of the child of God who loves the Lord. This child of God loves to be with other Christians for the purpose of publicly worshiping God in Christ’s name under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

Listen as I read Psalm 122:1, “I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD.’" We are told that this verse can be translated as, “I rejoice whenever they say to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.” (The Expositors Bible Commentary) Pray!

David expresses joy that is in the heart of the child of God who is offered a personal invitation to go to the house of public worship. This announcement meets the desire of the heart that is in the child of God who is in love with Christ and the invitation is to be responded to cheerfully and joyfully.

Propositions: I would propose to you that even though Christians are the temple of God in this dispensation, they are still to congregate in public worship for the purpose of enjoying fellowship in the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Ghost has given many different gifts to the Body of Christ for the purpose of meeting the common good for all. (1 Corinthians 12:7) Each Christian has different gifts. One way of enjoying all that the Lord has for His children is to congregate and exercise those gifts as a corporate Body of Christ. Corporate worship takes many forms such as congregational services, Bible studies, fellowship dinners, group preparation for ministry, and prayer meetings. These are just a few of the ways the Lord has made for us to enjoy service to Him and to one another.

The Holy Spirit moved the writer of Hebrews 10:25 to write, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing,” because when one or more Christians choose to do their own thing and not fulfill their part of corporate worship the Body of Christ becomes anemic in the ability to publicly proclaim all the works of Christ on this earth. (1 Corinthians 12:12-31)

It is the will of God that we should worship in public ordinances that are in line with the Word of God. It should be our desire to stir up one another to go and worship the Lord in public worship. The New Testament writer of the Book of Hebrews reminds us of our need to quicken and sharpen one another to do what is good and right.

However, we as Christians must offer some Biblical explanation for what can be enjoyed in public worship services, whether it being a Sunday morning worship service, Bible study, fellowship meeting or in prayer ministry.

Interrogative Sentence: Just what can Christians enjoy as they sacrifice time and energy to offer heartfelt praise to God and Christ in corporate worship services?

Transitional Sentence: The first step to enjoying public worship services is to understand that Christians are not their own. They were purchased at the highest price that could be paid. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price.”

Everyone who has received Jesus Christ as personal Savior and Lord plays a key role in worship to God in Christ’s Name. Christians who enjoy all the benefits of congregational worship have the heart of the Apostle Paul who wrote, “…a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God.” (Romans 1:1)

“Servant” (doulos) here means “a bond-servant” or “slave,” one who is in a permanent relation of servitude to the one who paid the highest price possible to set someone free. The practical application is the person who accepts the purchase price paid for him sets his will to the will of Jesus Christ. Jesus teaches that a faithful servant does the master’s will. (Matthew 24:45-46) Jesus is God in the flesh and He sets the example by making ‘…Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant…” (Philippians 2:7)