I recently began a new sermon series called Commit at my church on what biblically committed church membership looks like. This post is based off of the fourth sermon in that series, which you can watch here.
Sermon Text: Acts 2:46-47a; Heb 10:24-25
Introduction
You had to admire his commitment. He made the decision to attend. He would not miss it. The weather was terrible that day—steady rain, temperature in the forties. He still got out in that weather.
Because of the bad weather, he did not quite make it on time. It was difficult to get to his seat as well. But he persevered. His seat was not comfortable, but he neither left nor complained. His presence vividly demonstrated his love and commitment.
He was joyous the entire time. He enjoyed the presence of fellow believers. His attitude, his attendance, and his enthusiasm all reflected his deep and abiding commitment.
He was at a college football game on a Saturday afternoon. By the way, he did not attend church worship services the next day. He was tired from the ball game. And there was a 40 percent chance of rain.[1]Thom Rainer, I Will!, 25.
A few weeks ago, I began a new sermon series called Commit. This sermon series is on the importance for us as Christians to commit to Jesus by committing to a local church. So far, we’ve looked at the importance of baptism and church membership.
The rest of our Commit sermon series is about how we can be faithful church members. Of course, first and foremost we are to be dedicated followers of Christ. We are followers of Jesus first. But, as we’ve seen so far, faithful followers of Christ also love His people.
Having your name on the membership roll of a local church doesn’t save you from hell, but the fact remains that you cannot be faithful to Jesus apart from a local church. Remember our paradigm from Acts 2:41.
Acts 2:41
41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
The Jews spoken of in Acts 2 had heard the gospel. They received Peter’s preaching, repented of their sins and trusted (believed) in Jesus. They were then baptized and added to the church. Acts 2:42-47 show how the early Christians committed themselves to one another. That is the paradigm we see in the rest of the New Testament – conversion, baptism, committed church membership.
After joining a church, what is the most obvious way to express our commitment to the local church? It’s by regularly attending. Just show up! We see this in Acts 2:46-47. These newly converted Christians attended the temple and broke bread in their homes.
Acts 2:46-47a
And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people.
Of course, Christians outside of Jerusalem could not attend the temple and we know that the temple was destroyed in 70 A.D.
New Testament Christians primarily met in homes. We know this from church history as well as Scripture itself. One example is Philemon 2, where Paul refers to the Colossian church meeting in Philemon’s house.
In our American context, most churches typically gather in a church building. In many other parts of the world, due to persecution and other factors, many Christians still meet in homes. Some churches do both, meeting together for Sunday worship in a building and meeting in smaller groups in homes.
The principle that is most important is that Christians regularly come together. The word translated church in our English Bibles is the Greek word ekklesia, which means an assembly or a gathering. In other words, a church that doesn’t ever gather is not a church in any sense of the word. There is no such thing as an online church.
Today, I want to first show you that we are required by Scripture to gather with the church. Second, I want to show you why we gather with the church. And finally, I want to give you some practical advice for gathering with the church.
Here’s what I want us to see:
BIG IDEA: After joining a church, we are to commit to regularly gathering with that church.
Hebrews 10:24-25
24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
We gather with the church because God commands us to (24-25)
In verse 25, the author of Hebrews says that Christians are not to neglect to meet together. The author is referring to the public meeting of the church body. He tells believers not to forsake the regular meeting of the church.
The author of Hebrews is pointing out something that we all know. Until “the Day” comes (the day of Jesus’ return), it will be difficult to follow Christ in this world. As we anticipate His return, there will be false teachers and persecution. The world will hate us if we speak the truth of God’s Word because the darkness hates the light (John 3:19).
When Hebrews was written, these early Jewish Christians faced persecution and possible imprisonment. The author of Hebrews was concerned about those who were neglecting to meet with the church.
Friends, when someone quits attending church, it’s one of the first signs that they are in grave spiritual danger. If you quit attending church, you in danger of drifting spiritually. It makes sense. When you are not hearing the Word preached and being prayed for and encouraged by others, you’re going to start drifting. To be clear, I’m not talking about homebound folks. I’m talking about those who are perfectly capable of attending but refuse to do so for whatever reason.
If you quit attending church, you in danger of drifting spiritually.
The author of Hebrews says that we need to meet together. We meet to “stir up one another to love and good works.” We are not to neglect meeting together, but rather are to “encourage one another,” and “all the more” as we see the Day of Christ’s return drawing near.
I am going to say this as clearly as I can. Gathering with the church for corporate worship should be the highest priority in your life.
Gathering with the church for corporate worship should be the highest priority in your life.
As Christians, we are commanded to make weekly attendance a priority. Men, I want to speak to you for a moment. It is your responsibility as the head of your home to set the tone for your family in this area. If you can watch football for hours on Saturday but not make it to church for a couple hours on Sunday, then your priorities are wrong.
Brothers and sisters, make church a priority. Don’t just go to church when nothing else is going on. Don’t just go when you happen to be in town. Cut your weekend trips short so you can be back in time for church. I’m not trying to be legalistic here. Church attendance doesn’t save us. What I’m saying is this – we need fellowship and encouragement more than we know and we need it every single week of our lives.
We need to build our week around the Sunday and not the other way around.
We need to build our week around the Sunday and not the other way around.
So, we gather with the church because God commands us to. But we shouldn’t just go out of a sense of duty! Another reason that we gather with the church is to love and encourage others.
We gather with the church to love and encourage others (24-25)
So often, when we think of church, we think of our wants. I want to hear the songs I like. I want the pastor to preach only 30 minutes. I want the pews to be softer and the temperature to be cooler or warmer.
The truth is that we don’t come to church to get our needs met. We don’t come to church to be entertained. Instead, we come to church to worship the one true God and to love and encourage others. I’m not saying that you won’t be encouraged. I’m saying that shouldn’t be your sole focus.
Notice again what the author of Hebrews says in these verses:
24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
We are to consider how to stir up one another to love and good deeds. We are to encourage one another. As we gather to worship God, we are also to build one another up.
Howard Marshall says the worship gathering is like a “service station” where Christians are “serviced” so that they may serve God better and to worship Him with all of their lives.
In NASCAR, the cars have pit stops every so often. If the the cars are not serviced with fresh tires and fuel then they will not finish the race. How many professing Christians are in danger of hell and will not finish the race in part because they refused to meet together with other Christians?
I mentioned Hebrews 3:13 last week. It says that we are to exhort one another so that none of us may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
When people neglect the worship gathering, they become hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. They are not receiving the encouragement and accountability from other Christians and the teaching of God’s Word.
Thus, the author of Hebrews says that we are not to neglect the corporate worship gathering. If someone consistently neglects the corporate worship gathering, that is sin. If they continually neglect it for an extended period of time, they need to be contacted and encouraged to attend. If that fails, then they need to disciplined by the church and eventually removed from membership.
When you refuse to meet with the church, you are not being filled up to worship God with your whole life. You are not serving others. At best, you are spiritually dry. At worst, you may not even be a Christian at all.
The great preacher Adrian Rogers said it like this: “If your faith can’t get you to church on Sunday, I doubt if it will get you into heaven.”
“If your faith can’t get you to church on Sunday, I doubt if it will get you into heaven.”
Adrian Rogers
No one should have to beg you to come to church if you’re truly a believer. If you are a true believer, you will want to worship God and encourage others more than anything else.
We gather with the church because God commands us to. We gather with the church to love and encourage others. Finally, we should prepare to gather with the church.
We (should) gather with the church in a deliberate manner.
Before we go, I want to give you some practical tips for gathering with the church. The tips I’m giving will focus mostly on our Sunday worship service, but Sunday school groups, Wednesday nights, and business meetings are important as well.
1. Spend time with God during the week.
Spend time in God’s Word and in prayer. Listen to music that glorifies God. Worship with your family during the week through Bible reading, prayer, and singing.
Matt 4:4
“Man shall not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
2. Rehearse the gospel.
Meditate on God’s love, mercy, and grace. As we think about God’s gift of grace through Jesus, we are reminded of God’s love. We are also reminded that we should forgive others as Christ has forgiven us. This will help us to love others in the congregation. It’s hard to be mad at someone when you see how gracious God has been to you.
3. Make corporate worship the highest priority of your life.
Men lead your wives and family in this. Do not wait until Saturday night or Sunday morning to make the decision to come to church. To consistently neglect church is to disobey God. We are not to neglect meeting together.
4. Eat breakfast and show up early.
You may have heard it said, “Attending church on Sunday is a Saturday night decision.” Go to bed early enough to wake up, eat breakfast, and get ready. Make sure you give yourself enough travel time. If you get here late, you’ll be stressed and anxious and you probably won’t be as encouraged as you would have been. You will have missed fellowship before the service. Arrive early and stay late to encourage others.
5. Pray for the service.
Pray that you will hear God’s voice through His Word and experience the love of God through His people. Pray through your church’s membership directory. Pray that those who attend (including yourself) would have ears to hear from God’s Word. Pray for the preaching of the Word and for souls to be saved.
6. Come ready to hear from God’s Word.
If your church provides the upcoming biblical texts for sermons, read through the biblical text in advance. Come ready to take notes.
7. Seek to serve.
Seek to build others up. We come together to stir one another to love and good works and encourage one another. The Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to us to build up the body of Christ (1 Cor 12-14). When you come to church, seek to serve someone.
8. Seek to respond.
Reread the sermon text and your notes after the service. Discuss the sermon with your spouse and family.
John MacArthur: “If the corporate worship in the church leaves people unchanged, the church is not really worshiping. If what goes on in the church service does not propel the saints to greater obedience, call it what you will, it isn’t worship. Worship always results in transformation, and the church is edified by it.”
James 1:22
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
Conclusion
Brothers and sisters, have you committed to the local church?
Where does church attendance rank on the list of your weekly priorities?
Are you shaping your week around Sunday or are you giving God the leftovers of your time and energy?
Often, we are tempted to believe there is something better than meeting together to worship God with His people.
We are tempted to do many things on Sundays:
- We are tempted to sleep in.
- We are tempted to study for a test.
- We are tempted to play golf.
- We are tempted to go to the lake or the river.
- We are tempted to go to a ball tournament for our kids or grandkids.
- We are tempted to catch up on housework.
Folks, don’t believe that these things are more important than gathering with your local church. There are no normal Sundays. Every Sunday is an opportunity to behold the glory of God and to be transformed by His grace.
References
| ↑1 | Thom Rainer, I Will!, 25. |
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