Rev. David Holwick H
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
March 2, 2003
Hebrews 10:22-25
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I. Don't go to church!
A. Harold Camping - God has abandoned churches.
Harold Camping, the host of a prominent Christian radio call-in
show, is in hot water again.
In December he told his listeners that Satan has taken over
"all" churches.
People of faith should do their worshipping elsewhere.
Many pastors all over the United States are outraged, with some
attributing drops in attendance (and giving) to Camping.
Camping's program reported donations of $12 million in 2000.
#22615
Does he have a valid point?
B. Typical church problems.
1) Boring - doesn't deal with issues that interest me.
2) Irrelevant - doesn't address real needs of life.
3) Not human enough - uncaring and insensitive.
4) Too human - filled with self-satisfied hypocrites.
C. We need church now more than ever.
1) Society is unraveling.
a) We need a place where we feel a bond with others.
2) Confusion over abundance of spiritual options.
a) We need a place where we can discover truth.
b) We need a place where we can encounter God.
II. The church is a divine institution.
A. God set it up.
1) In a mystical way, we are an extension of Jesus himself.
2) "Body of Christ" makes us an incarnation of Jesus in this
world.
3) The church is not a human invention but part of God's
eternal plan to produce redeemed believers.
B. God should be the focus.
1) Perhaps we are too human and "me"-oriented.
2) Worship is the real reason for church.
3) If we don't truly know God, we won't appreciate church.
C. God can look after the church.
1) Every church has problems but God still has solutions.
2) We can not only survive, but flourish. Hell won't win.
III. God's goals for a church.
A. Authentic worship.
1) More than talking about God or singing to him.
When Mahatma Gandhi was a young lawyer in South Africa, he
read the Bible and was impressed by the teachings of Jesus.
He was a Hindu himself, but thought that he might consider
Christianity seriously.
So he went to a church for several weeks and looked around him
for the promises of God.
But all he found was boredom and complaining and a lack of joy.
And he decided right then that Christianity couldn't be the
true religion.
What a tragedy! The promises of God made boring in Church!
People secure in God's love, but dull and distant and drab!
We need to find in the Church those promises made visible!
#2891
2) Experiencing God's power.
a) Miracles and healings in the Early Church.
b) God's power is still available, and evident among us.
1> (examples from our church...)
B. Sound instruction.
1) Understanding the world's condition.
a) Ideas still matter.
b) "Prison Fellowship" being sued by ACLU because of a
prison ministry that uses Bible to change inmates.
2) Grasping God's answers.
a) Studying the Bible together in Sunday School and our
home studies.
3) Fuller understanding of our riches in Christ.
C. Effective service.
1) Meeting human needs in a practical way.
a) Local, personal opportunities.
2) Cooperating on bigger projects.
a) Dover Soup kitchen, local food pantries, Haiti houses...
b) As book of Hebrews says, we should spur one another on
toward love and good deeds.
D. Intimate fellowship.
1) "Cyber-Church" e-mail that made the circuits in 2001:
Tired of Traditional Church?
We're starting a new kind of church and would like you to
be a charter member.
CyberChurchOnline will open its virtual doors in 30 days.
A church with no doors, no walls and no limits!!
We are not bound by a denomination, religious rules or
tradition.
Are you tired of the same old boring church services Sunday
after Sunday?
Do you even go to church at all?
Well, we're here to offer you something very different!
As Jesus did 2,000 years ago, we're here to break religious
tradition!
We're tired of the judgmental attitude that is so prevalent
in the church today.
We're not here to judge each other but serve each other!
You'll have access to 24/7 instant chat time with live
counselors.
They'll pray with you, talk with you, and help you through
needs and problems in your life.
We'll make it our mission to pray for you, your family and
your needs each and every day!
Our chat counselors operate out of a physical church [not
virtual??] in San Antonio, Texas.
You'll be able to see live video cam images of our
counselors and facilities anytime of the day.
You'll be able to attend our services in the same way!
You'll have a pastor that is real and that is sick and tired
of the fake money hungry televangelists we see every day.
Our church is FREE and this isn't about money, it's about
helping people!
We'll send you daily devotions and you'll have full access
to our website to receive up-to-the-minute changing
information and spiritual guidance.
[Apparently it didn't fly - there is no evidence of such
a church today.]
#17625
a) Can such a church meet your deepest needs? Maybe...
Plenty of Christians are blessed by television
ministries like Charles Stanley, Billy Graham...
b) But it seems like they are selling a fantasy - they
offer spiritual intimacy but never want to meet you.
2) Enjoying one another.
a) Take part in special events in our church's life.
3) The ties that bind.
a) There is no substitute for intimacy gained over time.
IV. You need church more than you realize.
A. Many drop out due to hurts and slights.
1) One pastor did a study and found many dropouts had been
leaders in churches.
2) Squabbles and disappointments did them in.
B. Our individualism can hurt us.
Evangelist D. L. Moody once visited on a leading citizen in
Chicago to persuade him to accept Christ as his Savior.
The man objected that he could be just as good a Christian
outside the church as in it.
They were seated in the man's living room, and since it was
winter there was a fire in his fireplace.
Moody said nothing, but stepped to the fireplace, took the
tongs, picked a blazing coal from the fire and set it off
by itself.
In silence the two watched it smolder and go out.
"I see [your point]," said the man.
#5531
C. To discover fulfillment, try commitment.
1) Hebrews - "don't give up meeting together."
2) Make God and his promises a priority in your life.
3) Know him, and enjoy him forever!
The following quote was handed to me after the first service. It was
in the text for one of the adult Sunday School classes. It is yet
another example of how the Spirit pulls things together for us!
I don't think a man can say he loves God very much if he doesn't
attend church regularly.
The Bible instructs us to worship God in His house on a regular
basis.
Do you remember how you used to "hang out" at your wife's place
when you were still dating?
They couldn't have kept you away with mortar fire!
That's what love does!
Jesus established the church.
He loved the church and gave Himself up for her.
While the people of God, not a building, are the church, the
institutionalized church is the historic vehicle for the people
of God to come together.
The physical church, a facility, has been part of spiritual life
since ancient times.
Before buildings (temples or synagogues), there were tents.
King David's last act was a building fund drive for a new temple
for God.
Join a church where Christ is honored and the Bible is held in
high regard.
#22629
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
# 2891 "Gandhi's Disappointment," by Rev. Wayne Brouwer, in Janbonus92
sermon, Dynamic Preaching (www.sermons.com), January 1992.
# 5531 "The Isolated Ember," in The Interpreter's Bible, adapted by
Rev. Brett Blair's Illustrations by Email, June 5, 2000,
www.sermonillustrations.com
#17625 "Cyber-church," anonymous e-mail, 2001.
#22615 "Christian Radio Host - Don't Go To Church," in "News of the
Weird" by Chuck Shepherd, adapted from original article in
St. Petersburg Times (and Associated Press), January 25, 2003.
#22629 "We Need Church," in "The Man in the Mirror" by Patrick Morley,
page 185.
These and 23,000 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,
absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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