Last week's lesson below this week: (check for the voice message on Sermons on our home page)

23 Feb: 

Finding the Purpose of Sunday Morning Assemblies.

James 1:1,2 “James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad, greetings.”   1 Peter 1:1 “Peter, and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout the [region] ….”    1 Cor 1:1,2 “Paul, called as an apostle of Jesus Christ to the church of God which is at Corinth . . .”   Gal 1:1,2 “Paul, an apostle . . . to the churches of Galatia”.    Acts 2:42 “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

As you can see in this last passage the people were very committed to joining together with the apostles in order to gain the knowledge and teachings they needed as they began their new walk in the name of Christ. As you look at the start at each “Apostolic” letter, the apostle is addressing his letter to the group of people who he assumed would be meeting together and able to hear the reading of his message. Why is he assuming that they were coming together – because that is the way the early church encouraged one another. It is the way that they worshipped the Lord – as a family or body of Christ. It is also the way they learned, matured in their walk and grew in their faith. Their coming together is assumed and commanded by the writer of Hebrews when we are told to encourage one another in love and good deeds.

I want to challenge you to prioritize Sunday worship. YOUR attitude about being a part of the assembly will most certainly impact/influence others in their attitude regarding the same. This is particularly true when raising our children. The familiar maxim rings true: habits are better caught than taught. It’s easy to teach your kids the importance of belonging to a church and when your personal example shows them the joy you have sharing in the Lord’s Supper with your fellowship enhanced by singing, and praying they not only hear your words, but they see your life. You are practicing what you preach and illustrating what your true priorities are – and not only to your children but also to your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.  

Any given child may have a 0.03 percent chance of playing professional sports but a 100 percent chance of standing before Jesus one day. Rom 14:10 tells us that we will all stand before God’s judgement seat. Therefore, it is extremely critical that we are living our priorities as well as teaching them. What we do reveals what we love, and what we love shows what we worship. As Paul wrote, “While bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come“ (1 Tim. 4:8).

In a similar way, letting family and friends know how important attending the worship service is to us on Sunday morning may open the door to conversations that otherwise might not have otherwise arisen. Questions about why church participation is so important and what we do there may even spark enough curiosity to prompt someone to come check out a service or two themselves. In setting a strong example to those who may be watching us, we need to be careful each and every time we put sports, activities, and ”the least little thing” stop us from being with our Church family and the Lord. Others need to see that we walk the walk and not just talk the talk. They need to see we are living out our declaration to love God and it is not just idle talk. It is true not just when it is convenient but is true every Sunday morning.

The Hebrew writer warned that we must “consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds” and not [forsake] our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:24, 25).

Our coming together to worship as ONE family is important for a variety of reasons. One of the first reasons is to give and receive encouragement. The idea that you can be counted on to be there each and every time the opportunity arises is an encouragement to the other person in and of itself. The opposite can also be true. When we miss our times to be together, we are telling the other person how unimportant worship and fellowship is for you and thereby risk discouraging the other person as well and potentially causing them to begin discounting the importance of the assembly as well.

Another reason why the assembly is important is because of what we do in the assembly. In 1 Corinthians 14:24,25 Paul addresses how visitors could very well be impressed enough by our activities in worship that they are willing to repent and come to the Lord.  Wouldn’t it be terrible if you had one opportunity to influence someone to Christ and you were not there to do so. Every person is unique, special and God trained for specific opportunities -  how terrible it would be to miss out.  

In addition to being on site to contribute our influence with others is that we are there to collectively participate as a family in the Lord’s Supper (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 11:33). If taking the Lord’s Supper incorrectly ( 1 Cor 11:29,30) can make one sick spiritually, how much worse would it be if we missed the practice altogether or began to minimized the importance of its practice entirely? How will not taking the Lord’s Supper at all affect our spiritual growth?

Additional activities done in the assembly includes the practice of singing (1 Cor 14:26) which was done “to one another” (Eph 5:19). There is also the opportunity  to pray together in the assembly (Acts 4:23-31). Teaching and preaching are also done (Acts 20:7). All of these are activities in which we have the benefit of participating in when we assemble with the other saints. When we choose not to do so we weaken not only ourselves but also our fellow brothers and sisters.

Our weekends and particularly our Sundays have become a day for travel, leisure, and sport rather than a day for rest and worship. In more than one study regular attendance has been revised down from four times a month to three, and now to between once or twice per month. Thanks to affluence, too many other engaging activities vie for our attention. 

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matt. 16:24–25).   “ I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”  Gal 2:20

If it is Christ living in us then the question as to whether or not I am going to church is a forgone conclusion. How often do we slip past a Sunday without joining the assembly because we are just not willing to push ourselves and do what the Lord wants because it is simply inconvenient or difficult?

At the beginning of Paul’s outburst of praise in Ephesians he starts off with “Paul, to the saints which are at Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus.” Who is Paul writing to? Not JUST to the Christians at Ephesus but to the “faithful”. This whole letter is written to the faithful believers on the assumption that they would be there when the letter was being read to the whole family.  It is assumed that they will be there so they can ‘HEAR’ the message he has written and sent to them. Those negligent in attendance are going to be negligent in receiving God’s message.

Then in verse 3:  Eph 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places”. 

The phrase “in Christ” highlights that believers have received blessing because they’re united to Christ through faith.  “In Christ” comes with the understanding that being in Christ is being in His body which is the church.

In 1 Cor 12 Paul addresses the importance of the body of Christ (the Church) having different members or parts: “But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.”   It is unimaginable that God would ever want His members to be absent from the rest of the body. In a similar way it is difficult to understand how one can think that Christ is ok with members of His Bride, the church, being absent when the rest of the Bride is coming together.  

The earliest Christians at the end of chapter 2 in Acts has set us a very challenging example on how the Spirit acts in our lives if He is living within us: Acts 2:42ff “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship. Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. … Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people.”

 

Considering the way the Spirit was alive in these early Christians it is inconceivable that they needed to be “told” to assemble with the other brethren. I do not see in these verses anything except a love for God and for one another. They were unknowingly exemplifying the words of our Lord: ‘They will know you are My disciples if you have love one for another.’

So I hope this has encouraged you and inspired you to look forward to each and every Sunday that we come together and give praises to God!!!

 

 

 

16 Feb:  Seek God and His Righteousness – Mtt 6:33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness …”

How does this happen?

1) First we need to know that if we search - He Will Let Us Find Him:  Deut 4:29. “But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul.”   Jer 23:23 “Am I a God who is near,” declares the Lord, “and not a God far off?”  2 Chron 15: “. . . . . And if you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake him, He will forsake you.”

We need to know, we need to believe, that if we desire to know God and be with Him in our lives, we can succeed. To re-establish our relationship Him  we need simply to turn from our “Prodigal Son” ways and return to Him. We must actively make an effort to return to the Lord in all our ways. To do so will be to find the Lord again and return to His love and blessings! That is the whole point of the ‘Prodigal Son’ parable.

In addition to this parable, consider the story of King Asa:   2 Chron 14:1-4 “So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David, and his son Asa became king in his place. The land was undisturbed for ten years during his days. Asa did good and right in the sight of the LORD his God, for he removed the foreign altars and high places, tore down the sacred pillars, cut down the Asherim, and commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers and to observe the law and the commandment. 

We see in these verses that Asa did what was right: He removed idol worship and commanded Judah to obey the law and the commandments. In different lives doing what is right will be different due to different situations and circumstances. For Asa and Israel, it was removing idols and the worship of false Gods. It was re-instituting obedience to God’s instructions. We must do the same thing – remove those things which distract us from worshipping God, both privately and publicly. We then must make sure that we are studying the Word of God and determining the best way to implement His teachings in our daily lives, our daily social interactions.

2) We need to know how to seek God and His blessings:    2 Chron 15:1-3 “Now the Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded, and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: the LORD is with you when you are with Him. And if you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. For many days Israel was without the true God and without a teaching priest and without law.”

Israel was without God’s laws because they had no priest teaching them what God expected.  In our lives, we do not need a mediator between us and God. We have the word available to us if we but want it.      1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. . .” We do not need a priest acting on our behalf. 1 Tim 2:5 “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”.  Eph 2:4, 6 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us . . . raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus”.   1 Cor 12:27 “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”   Christ is our mediator in sits in the presence of God Himself and we are united with Christ, also sitting in the presence of God. It is up to us to seek out God and find what He has given us. We, personally, can seek out and find God.

The Hebrew words translated as “seek” (daras) and “find” means that our seeking must be ongoing and as a result our finding, and being with Him, will be ongoing. Both words describe a continuing relationship.

And in our relationship will come our blessings:  2 Chron 15:15, 19 “All Judah rejoiced concerning the oath, for they had sworn with their whole heart and has sought Him earnestly, and He let them find Him. So the Lord gave them rest on every side. . . . And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.”

Guess what happens after the 35^th year – a king sends his army up against Asa who then turns to the King of Aram for help. This results in punishment for Asa and the people of Judah because Asa turned to a foreign king for help instead of turning to the Lord.  From that time onward Asa must deal with conflicts and problems.  Our seeking the Lord must be an ongoing process throughout all the days of our lives. What did Paul write in Rom 5:3ff – he tells us that tribulations develop perseverance and then character and then hope which sustains us in our lives. Heb 4:16 “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” This is why the Lord tells us: Mtt 6:33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

What was “all these things” to be added to us – the things necessary in life: food, drink, clothing. These are the things that the Gentiles worry about. We, are to worry about and concern ourselves about knowing and pleasing God.

 

Conclusion:     

To seek God’s righteousness means to seek a life lived according to His word. To seek God and a righteous life means to seek a knowledge of what God desires of us and to live accordingly.  The message of the Old and New Testaments is that we are to place God first in our lives in everything. We are to love Him with all our heart/soul/mind   Matthew 22:37     and be His friend  John 15:14 “You are My friends if you do what I command you.”

From this foundation John records the words of the Lord:  “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” John 17:3