Why We Go to Church - Part 1

Christian and the wonder of the church device is any resemblance to the early church doesn't so overwrite the white gold originally intended for Dr. David Jeremiah turns to the book of acts look at how wide a church function in its earliest full walk in today's church loomed for most Christian listen is the special message why we go to church, friends, church is been quite different for us hasn't been that way for you. We started out trying to have church outdoors in the morning and it was too hot.

We moved to 6 o'clock in the evening and it was still hot. We moved to 7 PM and so for several weeks in a row. We had church at 7 o'clock at night on Saturday and 7 o'clock at night on Sunday.

No children's programs no youth programs just everybody coming to the church service and we had a couple of thousand people became a church every week and we say and we preached and we celebrated things are changing. Now we don't know where it all ends up but what we have learned is the importance of gathering there was an awful lot of material out there during the coronavirus that when you watched church online that was the same as being in church, but it's not because in the Bible church is when we gather it's the gathering together that's actually in the name itself. So today I thought it would be interesting for us to just kinda review why we go to church why it's important maybe maybe have stayed home doing all of this and decided that online services are just fine for you to get up and change your pajamas, you going to go to church in the living room and you think that's pretty cool but Francis not church that's the best substitute we can have her church when church is impossible, but it's not church so today will open your heart, as we talk about this very seriously.

Why do we go to church. Acts chapter 2 verses 40 through 47, to read a portion of Scripture and I want you to read it from your Bible.

It's in the second chapter of the book of acts. It's a portion of just a few verses beginning at the 40th verse but before we read that if I read that out loud. You follow reading it in your own Bible. I would tell you that this is a very special section of God's word to put in the right setting. The Lord Jesus has died, married he's resurrected and it's now during this period of time after his resurrection and ascension, and then the Holy Spirit is poured out on the day of Pentecost and you will know what happened in the second chapter of acts. The Bible says everybody was filled with the spirit of God, and they were miraculously empowered to speak in languages they have never studied, and they share the word of God, and there was a tremendous evangelistic response and people got saved in the church just caught on fire and so now the church is alive.

The Holy Spirit is here people are coming to Christ in the next question is what do we do what we do with all these people. How do we go forward from this explosion that happened on the day of Pentecost.

The Bible tells us that there was a gathering of people together.

This is what the Scripture says follow in your Bible is.

I read from the 40th verse of the second chapter now with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, be saved from this perverse generation and those who gladly received his word were baptized in that day, 3000 souls were added to them and they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, and in the breaking of bread, and in prayers and fear came on every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together and had all things in common and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.

And continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people and the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved, here's a question I'd like to pose to you why in the world do we church, why is it important in our culture in our families among us that church is on our schedule. We hear a lot today about the church and some of that is not so good. I read the statistics that come across my desk about how churches are failing.

I really thought that in the next seven years, 50,000 churches in America will close their doors is hard to believe but we know this from a first-hand knowledge that churches across the country. Not all of them are doing well, but the news is not totally negative evangelical Christianity is growing in America from 2007. The 2014 the number of evangelicals in America rose from 59 million to 62 million.

And despite what many people are saying evangelical Christians are attending church more than ever, the latest Gen. social survey found that in the last two years of the study, a greater percentage of evangelicals are attending church than in any other time in the last 40 years.

Currently 55% of evangelicals attend church at least every week. Now let's be honest, the church is not a building. The church is not a place where we go. The church is the body of Christ is made up of everyone who is put their trust and faith in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. So just like in those early days after those people came to Christ as the result of Pentecost and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. They came together in the unity and they develop a new thing.

This was God's idea church was God's idea, and here in the book of acts. These words we have just read. That's the first mention of the church in the book of acts, and so were asking the question, why do I go to church, church, should we believe that people would not want to come here. We have to go back to the beginning we have to go back to where the church was founded. Why was the church instituted in the first place and what didn't look like if you had been alive back then walked in on one of the church services. What would you have seen what was happening. How many of you know that if you want to know how to do something you read the directions is hard for us men, but it's still a good idea. So whether you're a man or a woman when it comes to how do you do church you should read the directions and the directions for the church are found in the Bible and especially in the book of acts, which is the book which is called the acts of the Holy Spirit through the apostles and here in the seminal passage of Scripture we have a picture of the church as God intends it to be and is he wants it to be. Now, so I want to go through what this passage says it was kind of particular inventory to say how can we do church better by reading all of the new things that come out in the mail. I can't believe all the stuff I get about how to do church and some of it's pretty ridiculous.

If you want to know the truth and so far-fetched she would even think about it, but some people do. I want to know what church is supposed to be like what were supposed to do the church and only place I know to go to find out the Bible. So let's go through this list. What was the church and what did they do when they met the first time.

First of all, there was exposition, there was the teaching of the word of God. Acts 241 says those who received the word and later on, continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine.

I read an article recently that was written by Tim Charlie's reporting on the hottest thing at church today. This is really quite amazing. He said according to a new study by Gallup the hottest thing at church today is not the worship and not the pastor. It's not the smoke and lights and it's not the hip and relevant youth programs. It's not the fair trade organic coffee in the bookstore. It's not the hottest thing in the church. The hottest thing in the church today is the preaching.

Not only is it the preaching, but a very specific form of it preaching that's based on the Bible and just like that decades of church growth. Buncombe thrown under the bus is an interesting we've gone on this journey trying to figure out how to do church and now here we are back people are really discovery. One of the key things about a good churches they teach the Bible. Despite a new wave of contemporary church buzzwords that I read about people who show up on Sunday are looking for something that has long anchored all of our key services. Preachers preaching the Bible should come as no surprise that God's people want God's word a baby wants nothing more than his mother's milk because he needs nothing more than his mother's milk, a Christian wants nothing more than God's word because there's nothing he needs more than God's word and Christians may not know it or be able to verbalize it anymore than the baby can. But within every true believer. There is a deep hunger to be spiritually fed to be nourished up in the word of God to come to a place where you hear a word from God, not a word from the pastor but a word from God.

One of those words live they live in the Bible so is good or bad or indifferent as all the rest of the things we do if we ever stop doing this, the church will never flourish and if you want to know the truth. One of the reasons I think there's been such discouragement in so many churches, as we've gotten away from doing that. You can go to some churches and you will never hear the Bible ever mentioned, I'm just here to tell you how to make this up and I'm just telling you this because this is what I do. I'm telling you this is what I do because this is what the Bible tells us to do and this is the only thing I know how to do so if you're looking for some outside allow to do anything else.

All I know how to do is open the Bible and teach the truth. That's interesting that in this text that we've looked at. There are a lot of things that lucrative said about the church, the author of the book of acts is recording all of this.

He could have said that it was a joyful church. He could've said that it was an expanding church a vibrant church. These are all important things but the first thing that Lou talks about when he describes the early church is the teaching and that's pretty relevant because these people had just come through the most emotional supernatural experience with probably ever happened in any church anywhere. These people had come through Pentecost, they came through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit from heaven. You talk about a charged up environment.

I mean, today we would have said get them altogether get their hands up in there let's Newton, Oliver Jesus, I mean that's the way it would've been but Luke said no y'all save you came through Pentecost. Here's what you need you need the teaching of the word of God.

He put it first. The first thing Lou talks about is the teaching. He stresses that in these early days in spite of an experience as great as Pentecost which might have caused them to focus on their experience.

The disciples devoted themselves first to teaching in the Bible says they were teaching the apostles doctrine. What was that we didn't have the New Testament in the early church that the Old Testament, but they didn't have the New Testament they had the oral words of Jesus. Probably some of them written down in fragmentary form, but they didn't have the Jeremiah study Bible in the early church and all they had worked different parts of the teachings of Jesus, but the apostles took what Jesus had taught them and they taught that to these early disciples. God's church is a place where God's word is to be proclaimed and explained in this truth is emphasized throughout the epistles, but it is especially emphasized. When Paul writes to young Timothy know Timothy was Paul's disciple and Paul's trying to help Timothy become a pastor and teach them how to do church. So Paul writes to Timothy, listen to what he says if you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed later on he said in the things that you have heard from among many witnesses, Timothy commit these things to faithful men who can teach others also. In other words, don't just teach it to those people teach it to people who can teach other people get the cycle going.

Timothy and then to young Titus, who was also one of Paul's protégés. He said hold fast the faithful word as you have been taught that you may be able by sound doctrine, to exhort and convict those who contradict. I could stay on this and make this the whole message is just one part. This is one of the things they did at the church. One of the reasons I put it first is because in so many places today they put it last in so many places today. If, like all yet we have something from the Bible in so many places. They say we don't do much with the Bible anymore. It's not relevant.

How many of you know the Bible is getting more relevant every day.

Just read the papers is read the news this book that's supposed to be not relevant.

It's pretty relevant. So one of the things I did when they went to churches. They learned they studied.

They opened their Bibles and somebody got up and explained what the Bible meant and they came to church with a hunger to learn. I am so thankful that you all are like that. I watch you off and then I see you taking notes. I see looking things up in it makes me realize that just as it was in the early days.

There's a group of people who hunger after the word of God.

Number two.

Not only was their exposition the teaching of the word of God.

There was evangelism the winning of the lost to Christ.

Even after the day of Pentecost when there were so many people who became Christians. Here's what we read in acts two and with many other words Stephen testified and exhorted them, saying, be saved from this perverse generation in that day, 3000 people were added to them.

And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. The result of Peter's preaching and Stephen's preaching was that the Holy Spirit was outpoured. Can you imagine going to church one Sunday and having 3000 people come to Christ in the service and I can imagine that but it happened.

It happened in that early day and the Bible says their names were added to the number but it doesn't say it really does their names.

It says their souls were added. Peter did you know that Peter had more converts on that day when he preached then Jesus had in his entire lifetime on this earth. This made the total number of believers in the early church total up to 3120, because if you go back to the first chapter you found there were 120 disciples now 3000 more people gun safe. So now the churches got 3120 people believe it or not, they counted him and that's how my dad so they taught the word of God and then they shared the gospel. I need to talk to you about that, just for a moment because there's not anything that I know that puts most of us into fear and guilt and grief than somebody coming up to us and saying to us what was the last time you shared your faith when you mean share my faith, we have only sold classes and we teach people to do all these little things and we've made this way too hard sharing your faith is just telling people what Jesus Christ is done for you. It's not a formula you can get some things. In fact, I was reminded again that there been many people who've taken the gospel and put it into little books. We can just take one page at a time and go through the book and tell people how to be safe and you have to be a rocket scientist to do that. Just give them a copy of the book and you keep the book and go through the book together so you can only do it and you probably people come to Christ by that because the power isn't what you say.

The power isn't what the book says the powers of the Holy Spirit.

And if you just follow the Holy Spirit let him lead you probably one of the greatest evangelistic tools that has been used in my lifetime campus Crusade for spiritual laws and you can debate the theology of it all you want to thousands of people came to Christ. Hundreds of thousands, probably millions of people simply because somebody came up with an idea to make the gospel simple enough that anybody could share it. Bible tells us to share our faith share tell people how Jesus is blessed your life and then when they ask you, how did Jesus get in your life without you too little books and say hey let's go through this and I'll show you how this happens so that was exposition and that was evangelism.

And then there was expression when they got together in the church. I think there church service was pretty lively lesson what it says and fear came upon every soul. Many wonders and signs were done through the apostles and continuing daily with one accord in the temple breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all men, so we went to church like I did what we do, they worshiped worship was one of the ways they expressed their faith and I think their worship wasn't all that different than what we know the Bible says. First of all when they came to worship became the sense of all because the apostles were still in the afterglow of the presence of Christ on this earth, and they were doing signs and miracles. So when you went to church. Something happened and they came to church and they watch these things happen and then the Bible says that they begin to lift their worship. The word praising God is in the text that it's evident from this passage that there were two kinds of worship in the early church. There was no formal worship where they experienced a temple worship, like what we do in the church services and then there was informal worship, which they did in their home all of their worship.

Have a couple of qualities I want you to see this in the text look at your Bibles to qualities that describe their worship are gladness and simplicity. You see that with gladness and simplicity. They worshiped the Lord. Gladness is the word from which we get the word to rejoice. Others have translated this word exalt unaffected joy. Total joy when we get together to worship men and women we should all be sad. We have some somber songs we sing on occasion, but worship is primarily a glad and happy and joyous experience and if you come to this church and you think well there musics to up-tempo wards to the guards to happy. I cannot explain to you that I don't have an answer for you when you mean it's too happy. How happy should you be because your sins have been forgiven and you're on your way to heaven is like this, like this.

I would however it is you worship the Bible says it is with gladness and joy and I love this with simplicity.

I never saw that before in one of the things you hear about modern worship is all it's so simple. Seven words spoken 11 times in every song. 711 worship everywhere that worship songs are so simple goal. Simple doesn't mean they're meaningless. Want to know what happened. They come together in the church and they teach the word of God becoming in the church and I have a desire to see other people become Christians. So they had some way that they did that they shared their faith. I would imagine in the early church there were many bashful people and that churches there are in this church but somehow they work through their bashful assembly begin to tell other people about Jesus. And if you can't do that, you can invite them to church at least do that and then they worshiped. They were praising God. And when they gathered in the temple courts.

They saying Psalms and hymns. Did you know that Christianity is the only singing religion in the world you know that others moan and groan in the mobile but only Christians sing.

And of course you know that was called in question. In recent weeks, we were told we could go to church but we can say most of us didn't pay any attention to that because we know trying to worship God without singing is pretty tough. And the interesting thing about this passage of Scripture for me is to look down through it and realize how many of those things we have to do in community and how few of them we can do alone.

Some of the loan not the same.

But here's the news that needs to come away from all of this church is the church gathered in the church scattered can't be the church gathered so it's good to me in church and one of things that I been so thankful for is a pastor here. Obviously we live in a great place for outdoor church, but we haven't missed a Sunday we had church every week since all the craziness began in our culture, and frankly, the church is what was look forward to every week kept us going is kept us moving his kept saying she kept us free of stress and anxiety. Why go to church more about tomorrow as we move toward the end of the month. And speaking of the end of the month. I only have today and really one more day to tell you about our special gift incident colors of creation calendar 2021 actually begins in November of this year. It's beautiful. It's intriguing something you want to have in your in your office, your dinner kitchen so make sure you sit down to day center gift and when you do ask for the 2021 calendar colors of creation. Thank you for being a part of this. For more information on this initial message from Jeremiah. Please be sure to visit our website. We offered to bring ways to help you stay connected have monthly magazine Turning Points out that he email device. Sign up today Jeremiah/Freddie Jeremiah/leg ask you about, 14, 20, 21 calendar as of creation, taking as my studies of the English standard and new international missions as well as in standard you can join the study.

Jeremiah visit David Jeremiah Wright, the Gary join us tomorrow as a message of encouragement point Jeremiah taking time to listen to