[The following is the manuscript of my sermon delivered on the 16th of August, 2015. Look for the video on our Vimeo channel, http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]
So, how many of you wonder if I’m confused about what time of year it is? I must be thinking it’s Thanksgiving, with a message title like “We Gather Together”, right?
Well, Family, those three words should hold special meaning for us every time we Christians meet. The old hymn says, “We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessings”. But don’t we do that every Sunday? I bet many of us do it every day.
Do you remember how I opened our service today? My invocation began with, “We gather together now in the name of Jesus”. And anytime we gather together in the name of Jesus, we can be assured He will join us. Our first hymn and our Responsive Reading point to what we do when we gather together: we worship God and His majesty.
So we could and do say those three words – we gather together - quite often throughout the year. And now I’d like to look at why we not only should say those words, be also do what the words imply: gather together.
Listen and follow along as I read from the Epistle to the Hebrews, chapter 10, verses 19 through 25, using the Contemporary English Version of our Holy Bible…
Well, Family, those three words should hold special meaning for us every time we Christians meet. The old hymn says, “We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessings”. But don’t we do that every Sunday? I bet many of us do it every day.
Do you remember how I opened our service today? My invocation began with, “We gather together now in the name of Jesus”. And anytime we gather together in the name of Jesus, we can be assured He will join us. Our first hymn and our Responsive Reading point to what we do when we gather together: we worship God and His majesty.
So we could and do say those three words – we gather together - quite often throughout the year. And now I’d like to look at why we not only should say those words, be also do what the words imply: gather together.
Listen and follow along as I read from the Epistle to the Hebrews, chapter 10, verses 19 through 25, using the Contemporary English Version of our Holy Bible…
19 My friends, the blood of Jesus gives us courage to enter the most holy place 20 by a new way that leads to life! And this way takes us through the curtain that is Christ himself.
21 We have a great high priest who is in charge of God’s house. 22 So let’s come near God with pure hearts and a confidence that comes from having faith. Let’s keep our hearts pure, our consciences free from evil, and our bodies washed with clean water. 23 We must hold tightly to the hope that we say is ours. After all, we can trust the one who made the agreement with us. 24 We should keep on encouraging each other to be thoughtful and to do helpful things. 25 Some people have gotten out of the habit of meeting for worship, but we must not do that. We should keep on encouraging each other, especially since you know that the day of the Lord’s coming is getting closer.
--Hebrews 10:19-25 (CEV)
Let us pray… Father God, we’ve come together this morning in the name of Your Son Jesus to worship You and to learn from You. Speak to us through Your Holy Spirit that we might better understand Your message and Your will for us all. In the blessed name of our Savior Jesus we pray. Amen.
The Carolina Panthers have already started practices and the newspapers carry some tidbit about the team or a player almost every day. High school and college teams will soon hit the field too. And thus starts the annual frenzy known as football season.
So I thought it might be interesting to look at an only slightly tongue-in-cheek comparison between your typical football fan and your typical church-goer. Now I’m talking “typical” here, and not saying that every football fan or every church-goer fits these statements. Just typical, meaning some, or perhaps in some cases even the majority. And if I happen to step on any toes, know that I’m tromping on my own as well.
Now there are possibly quite a few of us who fit the mold of a typical football fan – I myself love the game, especially college football. But I sincerely hope not too many of us fall into that typical church-goer category. After all, we’re all active church members here. Right?
In verse 22 of our scripture reading this morning, the author of the letter to the Hebrews instructs us to come near God with pure hearts and with confidence born of our faith, keeping our consciences free of evil. And he adds we must hold tightly to the hope we say is ours.
Just last week we looked at the definition this same author gave us of faith being the assurance of things hoped for. Since our hope is in the Lord Jesus, we can indeed hold fast to that hope because of the covenant He made with us through His own blood.
And then the author adds we should keep on encouraging each other. Even back when this letter was written, in the first century, our author noticed that many people had gotten out of the habit of meeting for worship on a regular basis. In other words, they stopped going to church regularly. Twice in those last two verses the author strongly says “we should keep on encouraging each other”. And at the end of verse 25 he gives the most important reason: because the day of our Lord’s coming is getting closer, drawing nigh.
The author wants us to encourage each other to be thoughtful and do helpful things, in other words to show our love for one another as Jesus commands us. But how can we encourage one another if we don’t get together? Better yet, how can we keep on encouraging one another if we don’t gather together frequently, and I would add every chance we get?
We are encouraged to worship together to inspire each other, to strengthen each other, to help each other grow in our faith. In effect, our author is admonishing us to join together as often as possible so we can keep each other on the right track, so we can help each other stay on that straight and narrow path that Jesus laid. It’s a sad truth but it is very easy to lapse back into sinful ways if we don’t spend more time together, because we tend to hold each other accountable for our actions and our words. We need to commune frequently, if for no other reason than to keep our faith strong and refreshed, to keep our hope alive.
Now this is not “new” concept, even by first century standards. Let’s go back to the days of Moses and his Old Testament writings. Near the end of their long journey in the wilderness, Moses gave some final instructions to the children of Israel. Listen to what he says in the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 31, verses 12 and 13…
The Carolina Panthers have already started practices and the newspapers carry some tidbit about the team or a player almost every day. High school and college teams will soon hit the field too. And thus starts the annual frenzy known as football season.
So I thought it might be interesting to look at an only slightly tongue-in-cheek comparison between your typical football fan and your typical church-goer. Now I’m talking “typical” here, and not saying that every football fan or every church-goer fits these statements. Just typical, meaning some, or perhaps in some cases even the majority. And if I happen to step on any toes, know that I’m tromping on my own as well.
- A typical football fan loves to win, loves for their team to win so they can have bragging rights. A typical church-goer almost never wins someone to Christ.
- A typical football fan gets excited if a game goes into overtime, especially if their team had been losing up to that point. A typical church-goer is likely to get a bit agitated if the service goes too much past an hour.
- A typical football fan is loyal to their team, no matter what. A typical church-goer might stop attending, at least for a while, if things aren’t going the way they think they should go.
- A typical football fan dresses up in all the team sportswear and is easily recognized by their bumper stickers, pennants, and flags. A typical church-goer may not be recognized as a Christian by the people they associate with on a daily basis.
- A typical football fan pays big bucks for tickets, travel, souvenirs, and refreshments at games. A typical church-goer may give very little to their local church, rather than tithing.
- A typical football fan reads about their team as much as they can, using any and all available resources. A typical church-goers seldom if ever reads from their Bible during the week.
- A typical football fan attends the game no matter how bad the weather. A typical church-goer might just stay home if it rains.
- A typical football fan invites friends to come over and watch the game with them. A typical church-goer likely never invites anyone to come visit their church.
Now there are possibly quite a few of us who fit the mold of a typical football fan – I myself love the game, especially college football. But I sincerely hope not too many of us fall into that typical church-goer category. After all, we’re all active church members here. Right?
In verse 22 of our scripture reading this morning, the author of the letter to the Hebrews instructs us to come near God with pure hearts and with confidence born of our faith, keeping our consciences free of evil. And he adds we must hold tightly to the hope we say is ours.
Just last week we looked at the definition this same author gave us of faith being the assurance of things hoped for. Since our hope is in the Lord Jesus, we can indeed hold fast to that hope because of the covenant He made with us through His own blood.
And then the author adds we should keep on encouraging each other. Even back when this letter was written, in the first century, our author noticed that many people had gotten out of the habit of meeting for worship on a regular basis. In other words, they stopped going to church regularly. Twice in those last two verses the author strongly says “we should keep on encouraging each other”. And at the end of verse 25 he gives the most important reason: because the day of our Lord’s coming is getting closer, drawing nigh.
The author wants us to encourage each other to be thoughtful and do helpful things, in other words to show our love for one another as Jesus commands us. But how can we encourage one another if we don’t get together? Better yet, how can we keep on encouraging one another if we don’t gather together frequently, and I would add every chance we get?
We are encouraged to worship together to inspire each other, to strengthen each other, to help each other grow in our faith. In effect, our author is admonishing us to join together as often as possible so we can keep each other on the right track, so we can help each other stay on that straight and narrow path that Jesus laid. It’s a sad truth but it is very easy to lapse back into sinful ways if we don’t spend more time together, because we tend to hold each other accountable for our actions and our words. We need to commune frequently, if for no other reason than to keep our faith strong and refreshed, to keep our hope alive.
Now this is not “new” concept, even by first century standards. Let’s go back to the days of Moses and his Old Testament writings. Near the end of their long journey in the wilderness, Moses gave some final instructions to the children of Israel. Listen to what he says in the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 31, verses 12 and 13…
12-13 Everyone must come—men, women, children, and even the foreigners who live in your towns. And each new generation will listen and learn to worship the Lord their God with fear and trembling and to do exactly what is said in God’s Law.
--Deuteronomy 31:12-13 (CEV)
Everyone must come to worship the Lord – men, women, children… even visitors! If it was important that all believers gather together to worship in Moses’ time, if it was important for the first century Christian church, is it not at least as important for us today, when all around us we see the signs that point to our Lord’s return getting closer and closer?!?
The Apostle Paul speaks of the body of Christ, and how each member of that body must work together for the whole body to function correctly. He does this by first looking at how the human body functions, with all its members – our eyes, our ears, our hands, our stomachs – though very different, still working together to make up the full body. And then he sums it up in verse 5 of the 12th chapter of his letter to the Romans…
The Apostle Paul speaks of the body of Christ, and how each member of that body must work together for the whole body to function correctly. He does this by first looking at how the human body functions, with all its members – our eyes, our ears, our hands, our stomachs – though very different, still working together to make up the full body. And then he sums it up in verse 5 of the 12th chapter of his letter to the Romans…
5 That’s how it is with us. There are many of us, but we each are part of the body of Christ, as well as part of one another.
--Romans 12:5 (CEV)
The full and complete body of Christ, His church left on earth, is composed of many members: us and all those who follow Jesus as Lord. We are all part of Him, and part of each other. And all those many parts must work together for the body to be able to operate.
We are a diverse group, even here within this one local church known as Pilgrim Reformed. And if you look across His entire body – at all churches and not just ours - the diversity among members is great. Paul was not the only one to take note of the differences in the church’s members. The Book of the Acts of the Apostles relates an encounter between the Apostle Peter and a Roman centurion named Cornelius.
Cornelius was a believer in God, but he was still a Gentile. At that point in time, Peter, being a Jew by upbringing and tradition, tried to have little or nothing to do with Gentiles. But the Lord showed him in a vision just how wrong that way of thinking is. This is part of the exchange between Peter and Cornelius, as recorded in Acts chapter 10, verses 27 and 28…
If we are all the creations of our almighty God, and if He loves each and every one of us as His dearest possessions, how can we look at anyone else as being common or unclean, if we ourselves are not “common” or “unclean”? To put it bluntly, how can we consider someone else to be somehow unfit for us to associate with? If they are believers, how can we say they are too different from us for us to offer them encouragement?
How can we refuse to gather together with another set of members of the body of Jesus Christ just because they might live in a different part of town or prefer another preacher or – heaven forbid! – follow a slightly different theology but still put their faith and hope in Jesus as Lord?!? We can’t! Or at least we shouldn’t, according to Peter and Moses and Paul and the author of the Book of Hebrews.
I can’t help but believe that one day, when I stand before my Lord, Jesus will look me in the eye and say, “Do you remember those Sundays when you went fishing instead of attending church? Was it really more important to catch that bass than it was spending time with Me and worshiping our Father? Was that time on the water more worthwhile than sharing fellowship with other believers?”
And I won’t be able to return His stare. I’ll just stand there with downcast eyes shaking my head, unable to speak the simple word, “No”.
Now I know there are times when we just cannot be in church. We’re on the road or we’re ill or we’re hospitalized or there is a family situation we just have to attend to or some similar circumstance. I think Jesus will make allowances for those times, even if He may question our prioritization in some instances.
But you’re here this morning, with your fellow believers, worshiping God our Father, when you could be off doing any number of other things, and I bet God is smiling on you for it. Of course, we’re used to being here. We’re comfortable here around folks we know so well.
Tonight we have the opportunity to gather together with a larger body of Jesus, composed of members from other church families. Some of them we know quite well and have known for years. Others we just haven’t had the chance to meet yet. They are all our brothers and sisters in Christ. And we will all be gathering together in the name of Jesus to worship our heavenly Father God, to fellowship together, and together to share in the joy and love of our Lord and of each other.
This is not about duty or responsibility or doing something because it makes us look good by doing it or because our friends are doing it. It’s about loving our Lord and each other. It’s about wanting to spend more time together with our Lord and with each other.
All of us - different, but the same. All members of one body, the body of our Lord Jesus. Please join us all tonight at Paul’s Chapel. Please take advantage of this opportunity to broaden your sphere of influence, to help encourage so many others, and to receive encouragement yourself. For the day of our Lord’s coming is getting closer and closer.
Amen.
Let us pray… Lord God, we’ve gathered here this morning in the name of Your Son Jesus Christ to worship You and to listen to You speak through Your Holy Spirit directly into our lives. Help us Lord to always come here not out of some sense of duty or of what is right and proper for a Christian to do. But help us to understand that we need to come because of love: the love You have for us, the love we have for You, the love we have for each other.
And Father, please show us how to broaden our circle of brothers and sisters by accepting other families into our own, because we are all part of Your big family. We who believe in Jesus as Your Son and our Lord are all brothers and sisters, whether we attend the same worship service in the same building or not. Help us expand our circle just as Jesus expanded the circle of believers to include all Gentiles as well as Jews, so that we might include all other church families and not just those we are comfortable with in our own family. Help us to seek out opportunities to worship and fellowship with others when we can. And most importantly, Lord, help us to put You first in our lives, ahead of any other priorities.
Hear us now, heavenly Father, as we come to You in the silence of this place to speak to You from our hearts what our words cannot say…
Father God, we do love You. And we try so hard to love all those of our brothers and sisters in Christ. We pray that others may see Your love working through us, that they might see Jesus in us. Jesus tells us people will know we are His followers by our love. May they also know by our associations with all believers. This in the blessed name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
We are a diverse group, even here within this one local church known as Pilgrim Reformed. And if you look across His entire body – at all churches and not just ours - the diversity among members is great. Paul was not the only one to take note of the differences in the church’s members. The Book of the Acts of the Apostles relates an encounter between the Apostle Peter and a Roman centurion named Cornelius.
Cornelius was a believer in God, but he was still a Gentile. At that point in time, Peter, being a Jew by upbringing and tradition, tried to have little or nothing to do with Gentiles. But the Lord showed him in a vision just how wrong that way of thinking is. This is part of the exchange between Peter and Cornelius, as recorded in Acts chapter 10, verses 27 and 28…
27 And as he talked with him, he went in and found many who had come together. 28 Then he said to them, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean.”
--Acts 10:27-28 (NKJV)
How can we refuse to gather together with another set of members of the body of Jesus Christ just because they might live in a different part of town or prefer another preacher or – heaven forbid! – follow a slightly different theology but still put their faith and hope in Jesus as Lord?!? We can’t! Or at least we shouldn’t, according to Peter and Moses and Paul and the author of the Book of Hebrews.
I can’t help but believe that one day, when I stand before my Lord, Jesus will look me in the eye and say, “Do you remember those Sundays when you went fishing instead of attending church? Was it really more important to catch that bass than it was spending time with Me and worshiping our Father? Was that time on the water more worthwhile than sharing fellowship with other believers?”
And I won’t be able to return His stare. I’ll just stand there with downcast eyes shaking my head, unable to speak the simple word, “No”.
Now I know there are times when we just cannot be in church. We’re on the road or we’re ill or we’re hospitalized or there is a family situation we just have to attend to or some similar circumstance. I think Jesus will make allowances for those times, even if He may question our prioritization in some instances.
But you’re here this morning, with your fellow believers, worshiping God our Father, when you could be off doing any number of other things, and I bet God is smiling on you for it. Of course, we’re used to being here. We’re comfortable here around folks we know so well.
Tonight we have the opportunity to gather together with a larger body of Jesus, composed of members from other church families. Some of them we know quite well and have known for years. Others we just haven’t had the chance to meet yet. They are all our brothers and sisters in Christ. And we will all be gathering together in the name of Jesus to worship our heavenly Father God, to fellowship together, and together to share in the joy and love of our Lord and of each other.
This is not about duty or responsibility or doing something because it makes us look good by doing it or because our friends are doing it. It’s about loving our Lord and each other. It’s about wanting to spend more time together with our Lord and with each other.
All of us - different, but the same. All members of one body, the body of our Lord Jesus. Please join us all tonight at Paul’s Chapel. Please take advantage of this opportunity to broaden your sphere of influence, to help encourage so many others, and to receive encouragement yourself. For the day of our Lord’s coming is getting closer and closer.
Amen.
Let us pray… Lord God, we’ve gathered here this morning in the name of Your Son Jesus Christ to worship You and to listen to You speak through Your Holy Spirit directly into our lives. Help us Lord to always come here not out of some sense of duty or of what is right and proper for a Christian to do. But help us to understand that we need to come because of love: the love You have for us, the love we have for You, the love we have for each other.
And Father, please show us how to broaden our circle of brothers and sisters by accepting other families into our own, because we are all part of Your big family. We who believe in Jesus as Your Son and our Lord are all brothers and sisters, whether we attend the same worship service in the same building or not. Help us expand our circle just as Jesus expanded the circle of believers to include all Gentiles as well as Jews, so that we might include all other church families and not just those we are comfortable with in our own family. Help us to seek out opportunities to worship and fellowship with others when we can. And most importantly, Lord, help us to put You first in our lives, ahead of any other priorities.
Hear us now, heavenly Father, as we come to You in the silence of this place to speak to You from our hearts what our words cannot say…
Father God, we do love You. And we try so hard to love all those of our brothers and sisters in Christ. We pray that others may see Your love working through us, that they might see Jesus in us. Jesus tells us people will know we are His followers by our love. May they also know by our associations with all believers. This in the blessed name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
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