Should the Church Allow Public Health to Impede Corporate Worship?

Should the church allow health concerns to hinder its worship. That's just one of the questions will be answering on today's addition of core Christianity hi this is Bill Meyer along with Pastor Israel Sanchez and this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day.

You can call us right now with your question. At 833 the core that's 1-833-843-2673 also email us with your questions at questions at core, Christianity.com and you can post your question on our Instagram or Facebook accounts. First up today.

Do you want to buy a town in New Zealand. The town was built as a tribute to the US wild West and it includes 10 buildings and a thriving honey business.

It's called melon folly ranch.

It was built on 900 acres of New Zealand's North Island in 2006 and it was designed to resemble an 1860s frontier town in Wyoming. This town listed for sale by New Zealand's Sotheby's international Realty includes a licensed saloon, a courthouse that features a movie theater I Sheriff's office. A billiards lounge and three houses now just one catch a drill.

The asking price is 7.5 million, but I'm thinking you could get a grip your friends together and maybe all chip in and buy yourself a town yeah I think that we would fall very short 7.5 million. I feel like if I had that town I could fulfill my dream of of living in the days of tombstone you know is walking around and you make a great gunslinger. I told you the hassle over your four head and yeah, in my dreams I take that spring while though. So this this place in New Zealand that supposed to look like a cowboy town.

I mean, I feel like there's got to be someone out there who who snatches the steel up and moves out there with all their friends and they just role-play for the rest of their lives.

It's pretty wild will get to our first question of the day and this one came in through our website at core, Christianity.com/radio and Jessica has this question and listening to some making these. It seemed like hundreds hey Jessica I love your question and I love the book of Psalms.

II think I shared this before but it was actually the first book I ever read as a brand-new believer, you know, most people start with the gospel of John of the book of Romans or something like that and I don't know what got into me but I started reading the book of Psalms and I'm glad that I did because you know the book of Psalms.

It really teaches us how to pray and you're right. Sometimes we read some Psalms and we think okay is it okay to pray like this to me it seems like the psalmist is questioning God or even as you say, making demands upon the Lord doesn't seem very polite but one of the things that you have to understand, especially with this idea of saying God, why haven't you done this is a lot of the times, the psalmist is appealing to the promises that God has made that don't seem to be being fulfilled in his experience, I think of Psalm 89. For example, one of the things we see in the book of Psalms is to have the whole book sort of tracing the rise and the fall of the Davidic kingdom member, and in second Samuel chapter 7 God made all of these promises to King David and even in the very beginning of the Psalter you have, you know, Psalms one into talking about how God is establishing his kingdom was going to rule over the whole earth will Psalm 89 beginning in verse one begins, I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord forever with my mouth. I will make known your faithfulness to all generations. Fry said steadfast love will be built up forever in the heavens you establish your faithfulness. You have said, I have made a covenant with my chosen one. I have sworn to David my servant, I will establish your offspring forever and build your throne for all generations cc of the psalmist.

He's he's appealing to something that God has set a promise that God has made any yet in his own experiences. Seems like God has not been faithful to that promise. If you go ahead a little bit in the Psalm to verse 38 we read, but now you have cast off and rejected, you are full of wrath against your anointed you have renounced the covenant with your servant, you have defiled his crown in the dust. You have breached all his walls, you have laid his strongholds in ruins all who pass by plunder him. He has become the scorn of his neighbors. You have exalted the right hand of his foes. You have made all his enemies rejoice. You also turned back the edge of his sword, and you have not made him stand in battle. He goes on how long the Lord will you hide yourself forever. How long will your wrath burn like fire. Remember how short my time is for what vanity you have created all the children of man, Lord. In verse 49 where is your steadfast love of old which by your faithfulness. You swore to David is he's calling upon the Lord, but is not just calling upon the Lord blindly. He saying God, you have promised us this and yet in our experience that the kingdom has been destroyed. The temple is in trouble got where are your promises and you know what I I'm so glad that this Psalm is in the Bible because the fact of the matter is in our own experience. Do we have all these promises that have been given to us in Scripture as the people of God in Jesus Christ. And yet, sometimes in our own experience and in how things go in life. It feels like God. Are you there are you being faithful to your promises, and God is and and that's one of the things that we see in the book of of Psalms actually is. This is the Psalter continues what you have is this focus on the fact that God is the King of his people that even when there's no king raining in Jerusalem, the Lord reigns from heaven, and ultimately write all of these promises are pointing us forward to Jesus there fulfilled and in ways that the psalmist really didn't fully understand. At that time when he wrote Psalm 89 Jesus is the Davidic king is that a reign over the whole world and for these promises are sure and they are fulfilled. But sometimes in our experience, we wonder, God. Where is your steadfast love that you promised us, so it is okay.

I think the crowd to the Lord to lament and that's a whole genre in the Psalter as well be Psalms of lamentation and I think what makes these prayers okay is there honest and sincere prayers to God. And that's what God wants Jessica. He wants your honest prayers. It does no good for us to to put on a show for the Lord to pray like the hypocrites you know to be extra wordy because we think that the Lord is going to really hear us if we use that old King James English or something like that.

No, God wants your honesty and that's what we see throughout the Psalter is that the psalmist appealing to God's promises and saying God where are you winter you can fulfill these promises help us were suffering were struggling in the Lord hears and the Lord accepts those prayers because they're offered up in faith and even those laments are an act of worship. You know II think back to this one of the first prayers I can ever remember praying it was when I first meet, even before I started going to church but I knew I needed to begin going to church and following Jesus met my life was not right and I remember you really struggling with this. I didn't want to go to church. I remember praying to the Lord one night and saying God I really don't want to go to church but I don't want to go to hell either help me like my mind is that church is boring. That's not something that I want to do when I said, Lord, help me. It was an honest prayer. It was God. I don't know if I if I want to folly. I can fall you but II think that I need to help me in the Lord hears those sincere prayers those cries of faith we say Lord help us and that's about the Psalms of lament. Show us and that's what those honest prayer, show us and I think we ought to pray in that way to Jessica thank you so much for your call and for your great question.

This is core Christianity with pastor Pedro Sanchez in April's question came in through our Instagram account from Chandler gender says why did Jesus tell all those whom he healed not to tell anyone about them, oh yeah, that's a really good questioning of this is what some people refer to as the messianic secret you know it seems like in the Gospels, Jesus will heal someone and then José don't tell anyone about this and incidentally a lot of times will still go and tell people because great miraculous thing that's happened, why does Jesus do that. Why does any state. Go tell the whole world you know your life is been changed. Well, one of the things I think that this shows this is the focus. The cross centered focus that Jesus has Jesus knew that the people there temptation was going to beat it to take Jesus and to try to make him king to have this earthly ruler there and then the role as King David was promised he was going to rule again thinking about those promises that were made to David and second single chapter 7 but Jesus is coming, and he came as a different kind of king right what is he conquering he's conquering sin, death and Satan and how is he doing it. He's doing it by going to the cross by bearing our sins by taking the judgment that we deserve and so Jesus is focus in his ministry. Even with all the miracles is not to establish his kingdom right there and then this sort of earthly kingdoms and across the Romans know his focus is I've come to plunder Satan's kingdom and I'm doing that by shedding my blood and so he tells people he does these miracles don't don't go and spread this. Why, because he knows that the crowd is fickle and that there temptation is to be. Let's just make him king right now. Will Jesus is headed to the cross. That's his focus because that's his focus.

He doesn't want anything to get in the way of that. I think that's why you have this messianic secret why Jesus is repeatedly telling people after healing or after casting out demons in opaque keep it quiet. I have a mission and it's the cross. And of course that's what the Gospels .2 this is core Christianity and we would love to get your questions. If you have one force.

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If you believe it's important and something that's valuable to you in your life once again. The numbers 833-843-2673 warning about great handwriting that went off to college involving thing he had no business event alcohol, smoking and just spiraling down from one thing to another.

He admits he needs how enter into the most painful saying if you can send me some resources need help I need have any.I thank you for calling us and let let me just begin by offering up a prayer for you and for your son gracious heavenly father. I lift on up to you and and her son. In this situation. Lord I pray God that you would comfort her that you would fill her with your spirit and give her the wisdom that comes from you, Lord, so that she would know how to best love her son in this time of difficulty that you would give her the words to speak to her son, Lord, that would point her son to you. We know ultimately God that faith.

Salvation comes from you God that you pour your mercy out upon us, Lord, we do pray that you would pour your mercy out upon daughter and her son, Lord, that the situation this downward spiral, Lord, that you would put an end to it. God, that you would open his eyes to see his need of help thinking that he has expressed that he recognizes that he needs help with.

But I pray that you would open doors for him to find the help that he needs both Lord professional help and and also with the help of your people. The body of Christ coming alongside of him and encouraging him and pointing him to you, Lord. So would you do the work that only you can do would you minister to our sister by the comfort of the Holy Spirit to grant her wisdom and which you deliver her son from the pit that he's in right now we ask in Jesus name, amen and on 11 we really are dependent upon the Lord, are we not here. It's one of those situations where we desperately need God's help, you can't save your son. You can't pull him out if this it requires the Lord and that's not just true for your son Nestor for all of our kids know we cannot save our kids.

We can do all that we believe God is called us to. As parents call to raise our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, but at the end of the day.

Salvation is a work of the Holy Spirit. And so each of us, all of us are dependent upon the Lord and his grace to work in our own hearts and in the hearts of our children. I was just talking to might my eight-year-old last night about this and I was saying, son, my faith is not enough to save you. You need to have a personal relationship with Jesus to we all do. God calls each of us to know him, and Jesus loves you. He's given himself so that you might know him so that you might have communion with him. He was asked some really great questions about God last night and and I realize as a as a father and as a pastor.

How dependent I am upon the Lord to see those changes in my children is the same thing for you Donna and I would encourage you to continue praying every single day to cry out to the Lord for your son, that he would be delivered from from the bondage is that he's in. You know, there's this wonderful story in in church history is the story of St. Augustine. He was one of the most influential, if not the most influential writer in all of the Western church and just these wonderful, beautiful theological treatises that he wrote and if he didn't come to the Lord till later in life and he lived his life in bondage to all sorts of things initially sexual sin. All these different things and yet this book all the confessions were. He talks about his life in a prior to coming to Jesus all the things that he was engaged in. You know he talks about so affectionately.

The prayers of his mother Monica. She watered the ground with her tears as she cried out to God for her son because she saw the direction that he was going. She knew that it was destructive and she prayed for him and she didn't stop praying for him, even when it seemed hopeless. Don't stop praying for your son every day, cry out to the Lord because the Lord hears your prayers, daughter, and God is the only one the primary one who can help out practically an end with all of this you with all of the prayers as well.

If your son recognizes he needs help but think working to get them into a recovery facility something like that could be good.

I've I've seen those have a really positive effect on people, especially who were in bondage to drugs and alcohol is a finding something like that. There are some that that are free even for people who are struggling with addictions and can't break free from them. No there there are different options there and I would encourage you to look into that. Sometimes just cutting off our opportunity to engage in some of these destructive behaviors is the first step for us to be able to have a clear mind and maybe that's what your son needs right now is to cut those things off to separate himself from those things so that he can just think clearly and see that his ultimate need isn't even necessarily sobriety it's Jesus at all of our need is Jesus. So pray for him. I would say look into some of these recovery facilities and the body of Christ. As I said before so important. I'm not sure if you're in a good church, or if if you know he has a church community, but having people around you daughter who can encourage you, who can pray with you, who can also help you with good resources for your son, Evan, that is so important. So if you're not in a good church get in a good church where you can have other partners there, praying with you for your son encouraging him and if he's willing get him plugged into the church to bring them back the word of God is so powerful daughter just being under the ministry of the word.

Being willing to sit there and to listen to the word of God preached. Paul says in Romans 10.

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ. God does miracles through his word. Your son needs to hear the word of Christ that word of the gospel set for all of us so pray looking some of these recovery facilities that could I think, have a real positive impact, potentially and get plugged into a good church and make sure your hearing the word you're praying with others are being encouraged by others and see if your son would join you to hear the word that he might be transformed by the word. Thank you, Donna. One thing that might be helpful daughter is to join an Al-Anon group Al-Anon is organization for family members who have a son or daughter husband wife someone in their family who are struggling with alcohol or drug addiction. There's probably sublimating your car you could pursue that.

So will be praying for you. This is core Christianity and we would love to hear your question. If you want to call us anytime. Here's the phone number is 833, the court, that's 1-833-843-2673 we should mention that we have a special program coming up on July 17 that we are going to dedicate to the topic of marriage were excited about this coming week. We've been getting a lot of questions about marriage and you have a strong Christian marriage what is marriage thing with all the definitions floating around and in society today. What is the biblical definition of marriage so important for us to understand this for ourselves as best people who want to honor the Lord and value marriage the way the Scripture values it and if you have a question for us about marriage. We would love to hear from you. You can email us at questions at core, Christianity.com you can also call us and record your question at 833 the core or go to a website which is core Christianity.com/radio.

Click on the microphone icon and you can record your question right there again. Call us in the next couple of days because we are collecting questions for that special broadcast on marriage coming up on July 17, L, here's a question that came in through our Facebook account. Eric says is corporate worship commanded and how is the church gathering together on Sunday morning different from personal and small group worship. If corporate worship is commanded and if there's a particular purpose and benefit unique to it.

Why has the church been so quick to allow health concerns to replace its worship of God. If we can accomplish all the same things by Zoom.

For example, then why not just join online every Sunday or get connected with some friends each week direct. This is a really good question and I think you actually have three questions here, one is corporate worship, something that is commanded.

Yes, many of the Sabbath in the Old Testament you have the command not to forsake the assembly of the saints in Hebrews chapter 10 verse 25 God is the one who summons us to worship calls us into his presence in the beautiful thing about this is, he promises to meet us through the preaching of his word through the administration of the gifts that Jesus is as instituted in the church. Baptism, the Lord's supper. We have a special communion with Jesus. When we gather together for worship that is different than hang out with some Christians at Starbucks or a Bible study or a zoom meeting were gathering together under the ministry of the word with pastors and and elders who have been ordained according to what Paula said in first Timothy three and Titus chapter 1 of this is the church gathering together and it's so important and yet at a time like this when were in this global pandemic. I understand why many churches pull back and said you know we probably shouldn't meet right now because we want to love our neighbors well and and if our meeting together poses that a risk for the people in our church, especially those who are who are the most vulnerable to the older population and those whose immune systems have been compromised because of some other sickness that we want to take care of them. I think of that the situation of Jesus healing on the Sabbath in Mark chapter 3 it's a really interesting text.

I just want to read you Mark chapter 3 the first six verses listen to what happened there again.

Jesus entered the synagogue and a man was there with a withered hand and they watched Jesus to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath. This is the call the day of worship, they might accuse him.

And he said to the man with a withered hand come here and he said to them, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm to save life or to kill. They were silent and he looked around at them with anger grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man stretch out your hand. He stretched it out in his hand was restored and the Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodian's against and how they might destroy him. Jesus is the part of observing the day of worship rightly is not doing harm to our neighbors doing good instead of doing evil and so he sealed the sky on the Sabbath out for every single individual church there. You have to think through what's what's wise for us in terms of meeting gathering together heating God's call to worship.

We must not forget is that God calls us to worship were called to gather together as the people of God according to the word of God to receive the gifts of God we should do everything that we can to come together to encourage each other. As the author of the Hebrews as earlier day by day less were hardened by the deceitfulness of sin and fixing our eyes on Jesus, through the preaching of the word by receiving the gifts that he gives to us every week is not that were enslaved were invited to the banquet meal. Thanks for listening to core Christianity to request your copy of today's special offer. Visit us@corechristianity.com and click on offers in the menu bar or call us at 1-833-843-2673 that's a 33. The core when you contact us. Please let us know how you been encouraged by this podcast and be sure to join us next time.

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