The Church? Who Needs It-Part B

Every human being has some need to belong to a family group with a sick I belong here. We yearn for community the good old Bible Fellowship more modern term is community. We need that will offers a basic human need sociologically people gravitate toward the group. Welcome to correctly Skip weekend division at a question that keeps coming up is the church of the precipice of change of overlord must adapter for the times, or become entirely extinct. That is one of the fiercest debates taking place notably within the church, but also outside the church. What is the role of the church of the 21st century.

Well Skip as you started a new series that examines that very question. But before we continue with activity here and correctly Skip weekend division. Here's an update from our resource Center reading the Bible can lead to asking some serious questions like is the rapture real or how can I overcome anxiety.

These two questions are among those answered in pastor Skip pics a new DVD of four impactful message as my Skip I think, imagine knowing somebody who knows everything about.

Now imagine somebody who knows everything about you and loves you and that's what were dealing with and we deal with the knowledge of God. This collection of some of pastor Steph's most memorable teachings also includes what most people don't know about heaven and it's our thanks for your gift of $25 or more to connect more people to God's life changing word visit connectwithskip.com/offer to get online securely or call 800-922-1888, 800-922-1888 and request your copy of pastor Skip over your Bible/chapters 1 and two will examine some verses that Skip Heitzig continues his introduction to our new series church who needs some people attend church out of their background and other cultural expectation. I grew up going to church because I go to church. Other people we could say go to church because there pressured into it by a spouse or bio parent or by a child. They want to please them is probably safe to say that some want to go to church to be a good example to their children.

They were attending church before, but now they have children and they say they need something a moral underpinning, though I would never do it on my own now that I'm part of the family unit. Let's go to church that's possible. Others may attend church to call business contacts. After all, they might rationalize that it's better to do business with honest people that you would typically find a church than dishonest people.

Still others might attend church for a potential date. Husband wife boyfriend girlfriend. I don't know.

I will quote this to you, though, George Gallup, one of those pollsters wrote a book called saints among us, he said, though many Americans are religious in a loose sense. The core population says Gallup living deeply spiritual lives is 13%. That's after all of his polling those living deeply spiritual lives in our country, not 86 not 94 not 96%. There 18%.

Now we are basically following where Europe and England has preceded us, and last estimate since 1980.

Since 1974. Every year in England 85 churches shut their doors. They close 85 year spit business over in England to sell off church furnishings get this christening font for baptismal font look really cool in your garden and people are taking the old furnishings and selling them people are making them birdbaths in their gardens or buying pews and they become seats in one's garden big business and that part of the world now. I will confess I'm only painting so far.

Picture of the West. This is a picture of what's going on in Western culture in our country and in developed countries like Europe and England elsewhere.

You want to know this is not the case in other parts of the world. It's exactly the opposite in countries like China and India. There church growth is out of control. It's exponentially gone bonkers hard to keep track of it and so much in sub-Saharan Africa. Church growth is estimated at 20,000 conversions a day in Latin America.

The conversion rate is 10,000 people per day. What I want you to keep in mind is these are parts of the world where persecution is the highest parts of the world where political affiliations and political agendas are far from Christian and in a place where disease is rapid and the highest incidences of the AIDS virus is out of control. And yet the church is flourishing in that part of the world, Lee Sanderson and author from Minneapolis on societal change rights. This we read the book of acts and we celebrate the fact that on the day of Pentecost 3000 people came to Christ. But today, if you combine mainland China sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. There is nearly a Pentecost every hour.

Meanwhile, in the United States we are closing 60 churches a week. So here we are. We live in this culture. Let's answer the question. The kick off this series if if you have the recurring question. Who needs the church. What's the answer.

What's the biblical answer while the real answer is I do, you do. We all do I want to share something that is a deep conviction of mind. I sincerely believe this with all my heart I believe the best days for the church are not behind us. I believe there ahead of us. I do, I believe that for a number of reasons I believe work on the cusp of an opportunity because of what's happening in culture for the church to become so needed and so relevant. Let me give you four reasons why I needed you needed and we all need number one because we need God's people. We need God's people see every human being has some need to belong to a family, a group or they say I belong here. We yearn for community and the good old Bible word fellowship more modern term is community we we need that we lost is a basic human need sociologically people gravitate toward the group. The group that reflects their hobby or value system or culture, or ethnicity. People gather in groups, whether it's Boy Scouts of the girls club or the Elks Lodge or Alcoholics Anonymous. People gravitate toward the group's of basic need that we have and here's why God created us with the need to have relationship to have community.

This is precisely where the church can and should excel some 68 verse six says God sets the solitary and families mark that God sets the solitary in families, in other words, God's cure for isolation is to put people with his people. We need his people.

This is the place where when you weep somebody will sit next to you and weep with you.

This is the place when you're down and discouraged and you need help to find the right kind of help. There's no other place. There's no other organization that can duplicate the kind of accountable community that you find in the church is true true for me this when I struggle with an issue I don't feel the freedom to go down to City Hall pour out my heart or down to the Elks Lodge or down to the local laundromat and just share with anybody, but I will pour out my heart with God's family is works and I'll do it because of first Corinthians 1226 you know it. If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. If one member is honored, all the members rejoice with you think that happens at school, work in the civic group you get promoted. Everybody rejoices hardly so competitive. That's why say the best days are ahead of us know why we live in a complex, very busy world.

It's a world in which technology is is exponentially growing, moving so fast and people are feeling less connected you.

You wouldn't think that because of the modes of communication we have with the Internet but people are sensing the lack of human touch with people are crying for is that that's what the church can provide. We want more than an email or a text message or Facebook. We want face-to-face I do I touch real community. According to leadership magazine. 90% of new church members will stay in the church if number one they can learn to articulate their faith.

Number two, they belong to subgroups within the church acquire Bible study group Sunday school class number three if they have 4 to 8 close friendships within the church now to say with all of our shortcomings solve our problems as people with all of the baggage that we all bring to the table. This is still a pretty good place to be. I can imagine raising my family anywhere else but the church I can imagine getting good solid truthful accountable counsel from anywhere but the church I can imagine getting real encouragement from anywhere else so because we need God's people. We need the church is a second reason because we need God's principles. We need God's principles.

We need steady doses of truth that we are exposed to at least once, hopefully twice a week if not more. And if there's one place where truth ought to be very distinctly and unambiguously heard its the church. This is the place in first Timothy chapter 3 verse 15, Paul said the church of the living God is the pillar and ground of the truth. In other words, in a world cluttered with voices cluttered with opinions and how you should live when you should value how you should plan your life in the midst of all those voices and all of those opinions we need to hear that CLARiiON call that cuts through it all and says thus saith the Lord.

We need God's principles. No wonder in acts chapter 2 the very chapter we are reading it says that the early apostles and disciples gave themselves to the apostles doctrine because they knew they needed God's truth a couple of authors who observed and wrote about churches said this churches want to hear nice optimistic messages free of the mention of sin or a call for repentance.

Churches want nice Celine programs directed at nice clean families leading to growth without sacrifice, they want their organization to become bigger and bigger even as their God becomes smaller and smaller best way I know to fight that tendency is truth steady doses of truth God's principles, weekend and week out those first two reasons why we need the church as we need God's people in God's principles.

Those are two factors to characteristics of every living organism.

Every living organism has cells is comprised of cells and cells need a couple of things you need other cells around them to relate with interact with and they need food and when you give cells that they naturally reproduce, they naturally reproduce same in the body of Christ. We need God's people. We need God's principles. Number three. We need God's purpose. That's why we need the church because we need God's purpose.

I think without fail every human being. I have ever met Long's to know the purpose and the meaning of life. Why am I here where did I come from where my going every person I've ever met. Once those deep questions answered. We would love to know that were part of some great cause bigger than ourselves. You are.

That is what the church is this is the greatest cause in all of the world. Listen, if you're looking for some cause to get behind you find no greater cause than the forgiveness because the salvation cause and getting out the gospel because this causes greater than any philanthropic cause greater than any political cause greater than any societal cause to know that you're part of God's stuff. Would I like to call the family business. Paul wrote to the Philippians in chapter 1 of that book 1st three is that I always thank God for your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. Think of this as a family partnership. God is a business it's about getting people to know him getting people to heaven. You become one of his children and now he enlists you in the cause in the purpose in the meaning you're part of the family business. That's what motivated Jesus from a young child he said was mother. Don't you know that I must be about my father's business and that family business motivated him all the way through his life and that's our purpose that's our purpose that's our meaning that's our cause because of God. The cause of Christ. Because of the gospel. Our purpose is not to become the moral majority were we picket every social because you can think of that is not our purpose. The purpose of God's church on earth is to change one life at a time to preaching the gospel. Listen if you get one person is a Christian and it's another person and another person and another person, and 100 soon, the whole societies can change as the heart change that's our purpose that's our business is 1/4 reason we need the church because we need God's presence.

We need God's presence is wired to have God's presence. I can have it alone. True, but there is a special promise to those who gathered together who meet together who worship together as the body of Christ. Jesus said in Matthew 18 verse 20, wherever two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in their midst. We need that we need. What happens when we gather together like this and we hear each other's stories and we watch each other as we worship and were a part of it together. There is a special sense of God's presence and that's why when we gather together we we want to make about him and not us. Not about you know this special pastor or speaker or band, but it's all about him, principally a W toes are wrote it is scarcely possible in most places to get anyone to attend a meeting with the only attraction is God. One can only conclude that God's professed children are bored with him, for they must be wounded to a meeting with a stick of striped candy in the form of religious movies, games and refreshments to this is very crucial though the church is a social gathering where we need God's people it's more than a social gathering and the church is a place where we discover a purpose. It's more than a social gathering where we discover purpose to place where we corporately worship God and we need that you and I were were created with the need to worship him, we find fulfillment. When we worship him. Revelation 4 verse 11 says for your pleasure. We exist and were created. Now, in closing, let me ask you this. Can we do any of these things on our own can't wait sense God's presence on her own. Can we discover purpose on her own well yeah but not very well can do it very well. You cannot do it very well alone, apart from the group. You know why you're not the body of Christ personally I'm not the body of Christ personally together. We are the body of Christ corporately. No one person has. We need each other ever heard him somebody say I know you have somebody say that I don't need to go to church because here if I'm not into organized religion heard that that's like the cool thing to say. Now and I can only I always want to respond oh so you're into disorganize religion.

GE, although that is a copout saying I don't want to be around people to tell me what I need to do. I want to be accountable to anyone. I want to live my life as I see fit, without the group accountability that exists within the church. So can you do these things and be a Christian without going to church will yes but you know that's like it's like being a tuba player alone.

What could be more borings and that no offense if you play the tuba but you will admit if you do you need the rest of the orchestra to help out you have a certain place in that musical expression you need the balance. If you think you play a tuba solo concert and have a lot of people attend can happen or it's like being a football player without a team will you neglect from volunteer catcher ticket run after sweat throat again when after a while let's fun you need a team or like being up and army men or someone in the Navy without the company your soldier.

You need the Army or it's like being a being without the hive in either group and ask chapter 1 and two we read a phrase twice. They were together in one accord this mean they were driving the Honda means they were on the same page spiritually. They were together with the unity of purpose in mind together in one accord. I love God's church.

I love his universal church. I love traveling to India or other places and being with God's people, but I want you to know I love the local church.

I love this church there. I raise my family here and I can imagine being anywhere else. I raise Nathan here. I can't wait to raise my grand children here. No pressure. Can't wait for that. I've lived my best years of my life and I mean that the best years of my life have been here in the best years I believe are ahead.

I believe that. So let's not forsake the assembly of ourselves together, writer of Hebrews is as is the manner of some, do it all the more as you see the day approaching you in truth church should feel almost like a second family to. After all, it's a place where we can gather with our brothers and sisters in Christ course families don't always get along, but we don't want to let our disagreements keep us from the joy of meeting together that's all the time we have for today before we go. If you'd like a copy of today's teaching church who needs it.

It's available for just six dollars including shipping. When you call us at 1-800-922-1888 or when you visit connect was.com and come back next time you Skip Heitzig shares a message entitled hey look who's starting to church, so be sure to find out who that is here and correctly Skip weekend division of presentation of connection so you guys never changing true and ever-changing time