SUNDAY SERMONS

 

WHY YOU NEED A CHURCH FAMILY

Each week over 110 million people go to church somewhere in America. Let me put that into perspective. If you take all the people who have ever gone to a basketball game, ever gone to a football game, ever gone to a baseball game, tennis match, or any public sporting event and you added them all up in a single year, that would not equal the number of people who go to church on a single weekend. More people will be in church this weekend than will go to all the sporting events combined in America in an entire year.

Yet many of those people they have no idea why they attend church.

·      Some of them go out of tradition.

·      Some of them go out of guilt.

·      Some of them go out of habit.

Why we do what we do?

Why would we all get out of bed this morning and come to church? What purpose do we do this for?

1 Corinthians 3:1-11  Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ.  2  I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.  3  You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?  4  For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere human beings?  5  What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task.  6  I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.  7  So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.  8  The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.  9  For we are co-workers in God's service; you are God's field, God's building.  10  By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care.  11  For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.

The Bible says that God created the church to help people fulfill His five purposes for their lives. 

I.                  God Created Us to Worship Him!

a.  Worship is simply building your life around God.

b.  He put you here for His benefit.You exist for God not vice versa.

God wants to be the hub of your heart, the axis of your existence, the core of your being, the focus of your attention. He wants to be the center of your life.

c.   Anytime God is the center of your life you are worshipping God.

How do you know if God is really at the center of your life?  You stop worrying. Worry is the warning light that God’s not at the center of your life. You will either be worshipping or worrying. When God is not the center of your life -- when anything else, your career becomes the center of your life, your family becomes the center of your life, your money becomes the center, any time anything except God takes the center place in your life you’re going to be prone to worry … anxiety. Prone to fear. Prone to worry. So every time you start worrying, it’s just a little sign that at that particular moment God is not the center of your life.

Matthew 22:37 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind. This is the first and greatest commandment."

d.  God put you on earth so you could have a relationship to Him.

Unfortunately many people go all through life and never get that relationship to God and they miss the first purpose of life.

e.  Whenever you focus on God, whenever you put Him at the center of your life that’s called worship.

What do I have to do to worship? In the Bible there’s only one requirement for genuine worship. Jesus said, "True worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. For they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks."

f.    God is looking for people who want a relationship with Him?

Worship is not just for weekends. Worship is every day. Learn to put Him at the center of your life everyday of your life. 

Psalm 27:4 "The thing I seek most of all is the privilege of meditating in His temple, living in His presence, every day of my life  and delighting in His incomparable perfections and glory."

g.  That’s worship. Putting God at the center of your life every day.

 

II.               God Created Us to Fellowship together!

a.  God wants to help connect you with other believers through fellowship.

b.  Fellowship is learning to love other people in God’s family.

1 Peter "God has given us the privilege of being born again so that we are now members of God’s very own family."

The Bible says God is love. So He wanted a family and He created us. You want to know why you’re alive? God made you to be a part of His family.

c.   God wants you to learn to love. Why? Because God is love.

The most important lesson you can learn in life is learning to love God. The second most important lesson you can learn in life is learning to love other people in God’s family. God says I didn’t put you on earth to live an isolated, insolated life. Kind of a solo act. I put you on earth to practice loving other people in the family of God. So you’ll be ready for heaven.

d.  That family is the church of the living God, the support and foundation of the truth."

Have you ever seen a building in an earthquake. If you don’t have a good support and a good foundation when the earthquake comes your home is going to crash. It’s going to crack up and fall apart. I’m no mind reader. I’m no fortuneteller. I can’t predict the future. But I can tell you this about your life. You’re going to have some earthquakes in the future. Personal earthquakes. You’re going to have some health earthquakes that rock your life. You’re going to have some financial earthquakes that are going to rock your life. You’re going to have some relational and emotional and moral earthquakes that rock your life. And if you don’t have the support and foundation of the truth you’re going to crack up.

What is the support and foundation? It says it’s fellowship in God’s family. It’s the church.

e.  To be healthy and balanced in the Christian life you have to have both relationships and you have to have truth in your life.

f.    Notice how God wants us to connect with other believers. 

Acts 2:41-47  Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.  42  They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.  43  Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.  44  All the believers were together and had everything in common.  45  They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.  46  Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,  47  praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

g.  Notice … "They worshipped together regularly in the temple courts...".

h.  You need fellowship.

Notice the order of Acts 2.

·      First it says they believed.

·       Then they were baptized.

·      They were part of a church family.

·      Four, they committed to regular worship.

·      And five, they connected to a group of friends for fellowship.

Romans 12:5 "We belong to each other and each of us needs all the others."

 

III.           God Created Us for Discipleship!

a.  Discipleship is just the Bible word for growing up.

b.  It is the process of growing to spiritual maturity, becoming a disciple.

God doesn’t want you to stay a spiritual baby. He wants you to grow up.

c.   How?

                                                           i.      By knowing His word.

                                                        ii.      By trusting His wisdom.

                                                     iii.      By obeying His commands.

                                                     iv.      By developing His character.

d.  God wants you to grow up. A lot of people are saved but they’re shallow.

e.  They’re stuck in perpetual immaturity.

f.     How do you know when you are spiritually mature?

g.   The primary ways you know when you’re growing and mature is you start passing it on to other people.

h.  It’s the ability to reproduce.

Hebrews 5:16 "By now you should be teachers. Instead you still need someone to teach you."

i.      Maturity is not an end in itself. Maturity is for ministry.

We’re called to teach a friend who needs some advice. We’ re called to teach a brother, a sister, a loved one, a parent. Sometimes called to teach our children, a co-worker, one on one. Every Christian is called to grow to the point that they can pass on what they know to others.

IV.          God Created Us for Ministry.

a.  Ministry is something everybody’s called to do.

b.  It just means using your gifts and abilities to help other people in love.

c.   God didn’t put you on this earth just to take up space, just to use resources, party and die.

d.  He put you here to make a contribution with your life.

e.  You’re to leave this place a better place because of you. That’s called ministry.

f.    God wants you to practice that here on earth because you’re going to do that in heaven.

In heaven for eternity you’re going to do four things. You’re going to love God -- worship. You’re going to love the other people there -- fellowship. You’re going to grow spiritually. And you’re going to serve God. And God says I want you to practice on earth before you get there. In fact, the Bible says that your reward in heaven and your responsibility in heaven is going to be based on how well you serve here. Jesus said if you’re faithful in little things then I’m going to give you greater responsibility and greater reward in heaven.

g.  One day God’s going to ask you this question. "What did you do with what I gave you?"

Some people go all through life basically living the selfish life. They never do anything except for money. Is there anything you’re doing in your life that you’re doing totally unselfishly? You’re serving the needs of our community, the church or something and you get nothing back from it. You get no reward. You get no money. You’re just doing it out of a servant’s serving heart.

h.  God says I want you to learn how to serve others.

1 Peter 4:10  Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms.

If you were to take tennis lessons, they would tell you that you need to practice your serve. That’s why you’re here on earth. God wants you to practice your serve so you’re ready for eternity. Practice serving. Jesus said, if you want to be great learn to be the minister of all. Learn to be the servant of all.

i.      The Bible says that everybody is a minister. If you know the Lord, you are a minister.

I read a study the other day that said one-half of all the men in New York die within two years of retirement. Why? Because we weren’t made for 24-hour a day leisure. If the whole goal of your life is just to retire, you are missing the point of life.

j.      Let me give you a word I want you to write down. It’s very important for this purpose in your life. It’s the word "whatever." What you say to God is, "God, I don’t know what You want me to do but whatever You want me to do, I’ll do it. Whatever."

 

V.             God Created Us For Evangelism.

a.  What does that mean? Evangelism.

b.  That means "sharing good news." That’s all it means.

Here’s the good news: you’re not an accident. Here’s the good news: you were made to last forever. Here’s the good news God has a purpose for your life. Here’s the good news: no matter what you’ve done Jesus Christ will forgive you because He’s paid for it on the cross. God has a purpose for your life. He has a plan and a place for you in heaven. He wants to forgive all your sins. That’s good news. And everybody needs to hear it.

c.   God says is I want you to pass it on.

There are only two things you can’t do in heaven. One of them is sin. And the other is tell people who haven’t heard the good news. Now which of those two do you think God leaves you here on earth to do?

d.  He doesn’t leave you here to sin.

He leaves you here on earth for one purpose, the reason you’re still alive is this. He wants you to tell others. He wants you to pass it on. If you don’t share the good news why should God leave you here on earth?

2 Corinthians 5 "God has done it all. He sent Christ to make peace between Himself and us and He’s given us the work of making peace between Himself and others. What that means is God was in Christ offering peace and forgiveness to the people of this world. Now He’s given us the work of sharing His message about peace."

e.  Is anybody going to be in heaven because of you?

f.     Tell somebody.

g.   The greatest thing you can do for others is tell them about Jesus Christ.

h.  Tell them that God has a plan and purpose for their lives.

i.      So here’s the question. Who do I know who doesn’t know Jesus? Start praying for them and invite them to church. Ask God to give you the opportunity to share your story.