Sunday Sermons
Purposeful Worship
Purposeful Worship
As I read the Bible I find that when it comes to attending worship services, there were individuals who failed in this area (Hebrews 10:25), and yet there were a number of individuals who took great pleasure in worshipping God with others and were thrilled to be allowed to pour out their hearts to God alongside others:
- “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord’” (Psalm 122:1).
- “O Lord, I love the habitation of Thy house, and the place where Thy glory dwells” (Psalm 26:8).
- “Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise” (Psalm 100:4).
- “Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart, in the company of the upright and in the assembly” (Psalm 111:1).
In the New Testament I find that both Jesus (Luke 4:16) and Paul (Acts 9:26) eagerly sought out times to worship God in the company of other believers. So what is the difference between the person who is not excited about coming to worship God, or the person who thinks that they are not getting anything out of it, and the above Scriptures in which godly individuals really got something out of it!
Remember The Purpose
It is easy to talk about attending worship without really considering the purpose and reason why God gave the command to assemble (Hebrews 10:24). People in the world often look at our attending services as an intrusion into their schedule or as a hardship. There is a more enlightened view:
- A Refreshing Atmosphere
Many passages emphasize that the world that surrounds the Christian is an ungodly world (Acts 2:40; Philippians 2:15; 1 John 2:15-17). The opportunity to come together with other believers is a refreshing break. This allows you and I to be in the company of people who have their heads on straight— who believe the truth (Jude 3). I can have incredibly meaningful and relevant conversations with such people. I don’t have to worry about hearing profanity, so I can relax in the company of such godly individuals. How encouraging! (Hebrews 10:24; 1 Thessalonians 5:14; Colossians 4:11).
- An Opportunity to Learn
When Christians gathered in the First Century there was preaching and teaching (Acts 20:7; 1 Thessalonians 5:27; 1 Timothy 4:13). And seeing that God’s word covers all the bases in life (2 Timothy 3:16-17), then in any given assembly you and I will learn something valuable —more than likely, something that we can use this very day. I can’t tell you how many times someone has said to me, or I have said to someone else, “You must have been reading my mind”, or , “You must have been following me around this week, because that lesson is exactly what I needed."
- An Opportunity to Remember Our Blessings
Often someone in the world will register the complaint that they don’t like coming to worship because they are "preached at" and "made to feel guilty." Yet consider the opening passages. Godly individuals enjoyed public worship in which there was preaching, and yet they didn’t have the attitude that worship made them feel guilty. Why is that? May I suggest to you that this principle really applies in every other area of life. For example, if you haven’t done your homework, the next day at school will not be enjoyable. You will feel guilty. If you haven’t prepared for a presentation that you are supposed to give at work, then the next day you will feel guilty. Any time one does not do what they should do, they will feel guilty and they will equally feel that others are preaching at them. So, if one isn’t living right during the week—then they should feel guilty—it is a feeling designed to motivate us to be all we can be! On the other hand, people who are serving God faithfully in their lives do not feel guilty when they worship. Neither do they feel that someone is preaching “at them”. Rather, when someone is living right, what is done in the assembly reminds us of how much God loves us, and how blessed we are. When I observe the Lord’s Supper on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7), I am reminded: Life is good! On a weekly basis I am reminded that a loving God made the universe and us. He loves me. He wants me to be with Him in heaven. He gave His Son for me. He is looking out for me, and wants me to love Him back. He has given me everything I need in order to live my life—and enjoy it.
- An Opportunity to Say Thank You
In the Old Testament there was a definite emphasis on coming before God “with thanksgiving” (Psalm 42:4; 95:2; 100:4). How much more for us today who live after Jesus came and died for us. “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me” (1 Corinthians 11:24). Assembling with God’s people is another chance to express our gratitude to God. Expressing our gratitude is good for us, and feeling grateful is indeed a good feeling.
- An Opportunity to Build Up Someone Else
“And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together” (Hebrews 10:24-25). This means that worshipping gives me the chance to make a difference in the lives of other people.
Thoughts on Hebrews 10:25
- Public Worship is a Big Deal to God
This is seen from the fact that failing to assemble with other worshippers is linked with sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth (10:25-26). The willful sin in the context is forsaking the assembly. In addition, one cannot keep the commands in Hebrews 10:22-24 without attending. I cannot stimulate others to love and good works, and I cannot continue my commitment to God, and I cannot draw near to Him if I am missing the times in which publically we are to draw near together. God created us to be a family and healthy families spend time together.
- The Word “Forsake”
The word here “forsake” cannot be narrowly defined as “completely abandoning”, It is not the idea that if "I attend once a year—I have not completely abandoned the assembly." Clearly, the person who never attends again has obviously forsaken the assembly, yet the Christian who can attend, and simply does not, has also violated this verse. Someone noted that there is more to being absent than meets the eye, including: failing to encourage my brethren (10:24), failing to sing (Colossians 3:16), failing to remember what Jesus did for me (1 Corinthians 11:23-24), failing to give as I have been prospered (1 Corinthians 16:1-2), failing to cooperate with those who are trying to help me grow (Ephesians 4:11-13), a failure to take advantage of needful learning opportunities (Acts 2:42) and many other things.
- How Does It Look When Others Do It?
For the person who says, “But do I have to attend every service?” Ask yourself this question: How would you view the elders or deacons of this or any other congregation if they only attended on Sunday morning, or were very hit and miss in their attendance? Would you consider them Christians who are full of faith? Would you consider them wise? Would you think that they had a close relationship with God? Would you be confident about them making it to heaven? In addition, imagine yourself being non-Christian and showing up at the Sunday morning bible class, the Sunday night service or the mid-week service? If they attended, would you want to be there? Would you want them to hear good singing? Would you want them to sit in on a Bible class filled with a room full of active participants? Would you want them to see excited and involved people? Let's commit ourselves to providing our visitors this kind of encouraging environment as an introduction to a place they can thrive spiritually, and let's do all we can to do the same.
Mark Dunagan | mdunagan@frontier.net
Beaverton Church of Christ | 503-644-9017
www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net
