Why Are You Here?

Why are you here?

You are not here today to be seen and heard.

We have not come here to show off a new dress or anything like that.

We are not here to visit friends and family.

You did not come here to hear an elite speaker or be entertained.

Worship God

To be here for any other reason is in vain!

John 4: 24 “…those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Spirit Lives within Feeling and Emotion Inter-being

Truth Right According to God’s word

John 17: 17 “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”

By being here we are purifying our souls.

I Peter 1: 22-23 “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever.”

By being at worship we do not purify our souls but rather add more impurities to it.

By being together for worship we are to love one another with a pure heart.

But that is not the reason you are here.

You are not here because you love me!

Nor your sister!

We are here because we love God!

We are here because we love Jesus Christ!

John 14: 15 “If ye love me keep my commandments!”

John 5: 3 “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments,”

Because we love Him it is not grievous for us to be here.

Contrary: It is grievous when we are not here!

It is grievous to us and our Brothers and Sisters in Christ!

It is grievous to God!

We are here to worship because we love God!

I John 4: 10 “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

John 3: 16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Greater love has no man than this: that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Jesus lay down his life for us!

Matt 27:27-50

This is why we are here today.

We are here because he loved us and gave himself for us and now we love him and want to remember him and keep his commandments.

Matt 26: 26-29

I Cor 11: 23-26 & 33

We are here because Jesus commanded it.

Acts 20: 7 “Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.”

We are here to commune with Jesus Christ today!

Because Jesus wants us to.

I Cor 10: 16-17 “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body: for we all partake of that one bread.”

We are here to examine ourselves and be chastened of the Lord.

I Cor 11: 28-32

What about your life since you last communed with Jesus Christ!

When we sin before all, before others, the world we put Christ to open shame.

Heb 6: 6 “If they fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they

crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open

shame.”

Sin separates us from God and we are here to be drawn near.

We are here today to be cleansed and purified that Jesus Christ will bless us with His

spirit as we commune with Him.

We are cleansed by obedience to the Gospel, the truth, God’s word.

Rom 1: 16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of

God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the first and also for

the Greek.”

Acts 2: 38 “Then Peter said to them, “Repent and let every one of you be

baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and

you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Our communion with him cannot be proper without this, for not to obey is to be in

rebellion.

2 Thess 1: 8 “For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in

Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith toward

God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything.”

We are here to obey his gospel!

Then we are cleansed by confession.

I John 1: 8 “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is