All right, Ephesians chapter 1. There's only one thought that I want to take out of it.
I'm not basing the whole sermon, I'm just using this passage as my springboard, but
just the last few verses there, verses 22 to 23, talking about Christ and having done
the works of his sacrifice, have saved us, and then it says in verse 22, and have put
all things under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the church.
So Christ, what is he to the church? He's the head over all things, right? The head
over all things of this church. Who's the head of this church? Who's the head of the
church in Caloundra? It's not me, all right? It's not me. God's made me the bishop. God's
made me the overseer. I have the rule over you in the church, all right? But the head
of the church, the person that we come to worship, the person we come to honor, is our
Lord Jesus Christ. He is the head of the church, right? And I've got to make sure that whatever
we do in this congregation, whatever we do in this church, aligns with God and Jesus
Christ who is the head, right? And then it says, what is the church? It says in verse
23, which is his body. So this church, this congregation, as difficult as it is to understand,
but we are together when we congregate for his name, we are the body of Jesus Christ.
Now I don't fully understand that, right? We think of Jesus Christ coming bodily 2,000
years ago, you know, performing miracles, you know, God in the flesh, you know, amazing,
right? And then to think that Jesus looks at us as a church, as his body on this earth,
as his representation on this earth, while he's in heaven before he comes back to establish
his kingdom. So it's a great honor that we've been given and it gives me a lot of fear to
think about that actually, that Jesus Christ expects us to be his body on this earth while
he's in heaven waiting for his return. So when you think about what church is, you know,
the Bible says there, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all. So
church is a place as well that is to be filled with his fullness. When we come to church,
we come to experience the fullness of Jesus Christ, right? So all I'm trying to say, all
I'm trying to grab from this is that church is an important institution for believers, right?
Church is an important place to be. You know, we think about ourselves, we think about, you know,
obviously, you know, it's good to get along, but, you know, as we get to know each other more and
more, we're going to see each other's weaknesses, we're going to see each other's faults. And, you
know, we might think of church as it's just a social gathering, right? Just to praise God. But
now we see how important it is to God, we see that Jesus Christ died for the church, he gave
himself for it, we see that this is his place of his fullness. And he says, hey, where two or three
are gathered in his name, he will be there. So when we're gathered in Christ, Christ says, I'm
here, I'm here amongst you. And that's something I want you guys to keep in mind. You know, a lot of
you guys have been praying for a church, you're excited to have a church finally up here that you
can attend week in, week out, there's going to come a time where it just becomes the norm, it
just becomes the usual, it no longer becomes exciting. So I need you to remember what church
is. It's not come to church to please Kevin, so Kevin's happy that you're all here. No, it's
coming here for the Lord Jesus Christ. We come to serve him. Now the question might be asked, well,
what is church? You know, what is church? Turn to Hebrews chapter two, Hebrews chapter two for me.
And some people have this idea, you know, they overcomplicate what church is, all right, but
Hebrews chapter two verse 12 says, it says this, saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren,
in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. Hey, and the singing that we just did before
the sermon, hey, we're just singing praises to our God, right? It's a place where we come to
sing praises to him. But it says here that thy name unto my brethren in the midst of the church,
okay? Now that saying is taken from the Old Testament, if you can turn to Psalms 22, turn
to Psalm 22 verse 22, Psalm chapter 22, or it's not really chapter, it's Psalm 22, number 22,
verse 22. So this saying in the New Testament, talking about the church being in the midst of
the church, come from this Psalm, Psalm 22 verse 22, which says, I will declare thy name unto my
brethren in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. So it's basically quoting the Old
Testament, right? And instead of church in here, in the book of Psalms, it says in the midst of the
congregation, instead of the midst of the church, like it said in Hebrews, it says in the midst of
the congregation. So what is church? Church is the congregation of believers. God is a congregation
of those that are saved in Christ, okay? Some people have this crazy idea of what church is.
They think it's something brand new in the New Testament, and there is a newness to it in the
New Testament, but when the Old Testament Israelites gathered together for the name
of Christ, for the name of God, they were a church. In fact, the Bible calls them the church
in the wilderness when they came out of Egypt, okay? So don't get this idea of this, you know,
the word church. Some people really misunderstand it, and then they take it so far to call
churches now, like this church age, and they just misunderstand what it is. Church just means
congregation, right? And also, I'll just read it to you. Hebrews chapter 12 verse 23, it says here,
to the general assembly and church of the firstborn. So here we see the word assembly
and church used interchangeably, right? To the general assembly and church of the firstborn,
which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made
perfect. So all I want to point out to you guys is when you read your Bibles and you read the
word church, or you see the word congregation or the word assembly, they're just words that
are interchangeable. Church means congregation. Church means assembly. When we're assembled
together, assembly and congregation basically mean the same thing. To congregate, right? And
to assemble just means the same thing. When we come from different places, we come together,
we assemble together, we congregate together, and together we have church, right? And God's given me
as the bishop the rule over you in the church, not outside of the church. I can't come to your house
and tell you how to run your household. I can't tell you husbands how to treat your wives outside
of the church congregation. It's my job to preach the word of God, and then it's your job to decide
whether or not you're going to apply that outside of the church in your life. I can't come to your
workplace and tell you how to work your job, right? My rule, my oversee, my authority is in
the congregation when we're gathered together and not outside of that, okay? You know, one good
example is, and this is sort of outside of my notes, but one good example, I might one day work
for you. One of you guys might one day offer me a job outside of the work. I might work for you,
right? But in that situation, you're my boss. You've got the rule over me in the workplace,
right? But in the church, actually I had that exact scenario happen to me. I did work for
someone in the church in Punchbowl, and he was my boss, right? But if he was attending this church,
then, you know, I would be the rule over him in the congregation when we're gathered together.
But all that just basically to be a springboard, an introduction to lead us to reasons to attend
church. Why you should attend church. What are the reasons to be gathered together in
this congregation? The first reason, turn to Luke chapter 4. Luke chapter 4 verse 16.
Luke chapter 4 verse 16. So I've got, let's see, I've got seven reasons to be in church.
Seven reasons to attend church, and we'll see how we go. If we get through all seven reasons,
that'll be great. But number one, number one reason is because Jesus came to be an example
to us. Jesus came to be an example to us. Look at Luke chapter 4 verse 16. It says here,
and he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up, and as his custom was, he went into the
synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up for to read. So a couple of things here. Well I want you
to notice, first of all, you know, a synagogue is not a church. Let me just point that out.
And God in the Old Testament never asked Israelites to create synagogues, right. But what
a synagogue is, you might not, a lot of people think of the synagogue today, right. They think
of it as a place where Judaism is practiced and they meet. It's like their church. But a synagogue
in the Old Testament was very much what we would consider a community center, right. If you're
familiar with community centers, that's basically a public area where anybody can hire the place
to meet at the place for different reasons. You know, some people might have weddings
at the community center, or a reception, or a party, or just a meeting, you know. And that's
what the synagogue was used for. It was a public community center used for many purposes in the
Old Testament. And one of the reasons on the Sabbath day was to get together to read the
scriptures and basically to have church to learn, to sing, and to hear the word of God being
preached. Because back then, you know, people didn't have like scriptures at home like we have
today. So they would have to gather together with the scriptures that they did have and hear the
scriptures read in the synagogue. So that's what a synagogue is, right. Originally the Old Testament
wasn't a place of religious worship, though it was, but it wasn't the only reason for having
a synagogue. It was for a community reason. But the main thing I want to point out to you
is that for Jesus Christ it says it was his custom, right. It was something he was accustomed
to do. It was something he did often. When he came to Nazareth, he would go to church to hear
the word of God. That was the custom Jesus Christ has left us to follow. And so for you as well,
if we set Jesus as our example, you guys should also make it a custom, something that you do all
the time, something that you're known for, something that you're consistent at, is to be
at church. And obviously we have church on Sunday mornings, we have church on Thursdays evenings,
make it something you're accustomed to do. Don't let it be a decision. Don't get to a point in your
life where you're deciding, should we be at church today? Should I go? Don't let it be a decision.
It just should be something you do. It's just like work. You don't decide, should I go to work
today? If it's on, you need to be there. You need to be there. Same thing with church. If it's on,
you need to be there. So number one reason, Jesus set the example for us. And what you'll notice
when you read the New Testament, even when Jesus is not in Nazareth, wherever he's going preaching
on the Sabbath day, he's at the synagogue teaching. So he always makes it a point,
not just where he's locally, but when he's away from his local area, he's still at the synagogue
here in the Word of God. You'll notice that in the New Testament. Same thing for you guys.
If you're ever on holidays, you ever head out and you're not going to be at church on that Sunday,
hopefully you find a destination where there is a good church that you can attend to and make sure
that's your custom. You think about, hey we're going on holidays, but hey on Sunday where should
we go for church? Find a place that you can attend. Make it your custom as Jesus Christ
had. So number one, Jesus came to set an example for us. Number two, we're commanded to be at
church. Turn to Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 25. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 25.
Hebrews chapter 10 verse 25. The Bible reads,
not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting
one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching. So the command is to not forsake
the assembling, remember assemble is another way of saying church, not forsaking the assembling
of yourselves together. And so we're commanded not to forsake the church.
Now I just want you to notice a couple of things. We spoke about point number one where it was the
custom of Jesus to be in church, but then we see here in Hebrews chapter 10 verse 25, it is the
custom of some to not be in church. It says as the manner, don't forsake the assembling as the manner
of some is. So there are some believers who are known for skipping church, who are known for
having a good church they can attend to and still not attending that church.
And so the command is, hey, don't forsake church. Don't be like these other believers
that even though they have a church to attend to, it's their manner, it's their custom to not
attend that church, right? You see the difference between Jesus and these other believers, right?
You see how their manner is to forsake the church. And it says, and so much the more as you see the
they approaching. So the closer we get to the end of time, the closer we see the return of Christ
is imminent and we start looking at, hey, Jesus Christ could come back. Look at the world now.
Look how bad it's become. Look at the technology. The Antichrist can rise at any moment. We might
think of these things and so much the more as we see the they approaching, we should be in church.
And guys, if we're in the generation to see the tribulation, if we're the generation where we
suffer the persecution from the Antichrist, be in church. It says, as you see the they approaching,
God wants us to be gathered together. Hey, it might be a different scenario where we meet
publicly right now. It might be like some other, you know, some of the nations like China where
people have to meet secretly in homes and things like that. That might have to come to be, I don't
know. But the point is, hey, it doesn't matter the closer we get, the closer we seek the time
of Christ to come back. It says to gather so much the more, okay? So make sure you think about these
things because God wants us to be here. And the question might come, well, what does it mean to
forsake the assembly, right? We know that there are some people that would love to be here this
Thursday, but they can't be. Some members of the church that are normally here on Sundays, but they
can't be here this Thursday because they live over an hour away, right? Finishing work, getting home,
bringing the family, just not practical at all. And now are they forsaking the assembly? No.
You know, they're not forsaken. To forsake something is to abandon, to reject, or to leave
entirely, okay? So, you know, if there's a reason where you just can't be in church, you know, you're
just sick and you can't be there, or, you know, just something, you know, some emergency happens
and you just can't be in church, you know, don't feel like you're forsaking the assembly. Don't
think that I'm thinking you're forsaking the assembly, all right? I mean, there are legitimate
reasons. If you're not in church, I'm just going to assume there's a legitimate reason you're not here.
You know, but if I don't see you in church for like two weeks in a row, I'm probably going to
contact you, like, is everything okay? You know, why haven't you been in church? But,
you know, I just want you to understand, like, you know, there are times where legitimately you can't
be in church and if that happens, you're not forsaking the assembly. It's not like you're
trying to abandon the church or anything like that, okay? But obviously if someone leaves the
church completely that wants nothing to do with it, then obviously they've forsaken the assembly
of yourselves. So number one, Jesus came to set an example. Number two, we're commanded to be in
church. Number three is, while you're there still in Hebrews chapter 10, we read verse 24.
Sorry, read verse 25, look at verse 24. Reason number three is to be provoked to love and good
works. It says here in verse 24, and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to
good works, which leads to not forsaking the assembly, right? So we know that church is a place
where we ought to provoke one another to love and good works. And so what does it mean to be
provoked to love and good works? Well, when I think about love and it says there, like,
considering one another, that's to be considerate to one another. Church is a place where we can
gather as believers, right, and then consider one another. How can I serve my brethren? How can I
edify my brother or sister in the Lord? How can I grow in love for them? You know, if you're
someone that doesn't have a lot of love for the brethren in the church, then be in church.
Talk to the brethren, fellowship with one another, get to know one another, because the more you know
one another, the more you will learn to love one another, okay? Jesus Christ said in John chapter
13 verse 34 to 35, a new commandment I give unto you that ye love one another, as I have loved you,
that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have
loved one to another. Now, I just want you to think about this for a moment, right? How long
have we known each other, right? Most of you, I mean, I've spoken to you sort of on the internet
and things like that, but really, you've only really known me probably for the last month.
Like, you know me a little bit, but you've known me really for the last month. And then a few of
you have a fellowship together before the church started, but really, how long have you known each
other? Maybe a year, two years, you know, probably not more than two years, I think,
right? In many ways, we're strangers to one another. Like, we haven't known each other
our lives or anything like that, right? In many ways, we don't really know each other that well,
right? And so coming to church, fellowshiping together, praying together like with you on
Thursdays, that's going to open you up to love other people, okay? It's very easy to not love
the brethren, all right? And there's going to be times where you just, you think, you know,
that person, I just can't get along with that person. It gets under my skin. You know what?
And you're going to have this mindset, but I tell you what, the more you spend time together,
and look, there's going to be times in church where you're going to learn that that person's
going through some hardship. You know, the person that, the reason that person may have been a
little bit rude to you is because they're just going through some trials and they're just short
on temper a little bit, right? But when you learn that they're going through hardship, guess what's
going to happen to you? You're going to have compassion for them. You're going to become
considerate for that person. You're going to start to love that person, and you're not going to think
of them as that, oh, you know, I couldn't get along with them. Oh, now I realize why they're
like that. They're actually going through difficulties, and I should be praying for them.
I should be loving them, things like that. So that's a reason for church, but also for the work,
you know, to serve one another. That goes hand in hand with the love. When you love each other,
you can serve one another. That helps you grow in love, but also, you know, just to do the work
around the church, you know, just packing up, you know, setting up, doing those kind of things,
you know, the food, you know, helping the little children with their meals,
just the work that we can do for another, provoking one another to these things,
but also provoking each other to go soul winning, right? To go and knock the doors, go and preach
the gospel. You know, I had this discussion with a couple of men, I think it was, I don't know if
it was Wednesday this week or last week, but you guys said how difficult it was sort of, you know,
you tried the soul winning, you tried to go out, and you did. You did that really well for a while,
but then when you're not being sent by a church, we don't have a church that you can actually
get together and work together for and invite people to the church, that makes it difficult,
right? And it becomes something that's difficult to do week in, week out. And I, look, I'm, you
know, I'm really thankful that you guys have been doing soul winning. Really appreciate it. I don't
know if I'd be able to do it, right? We've had a church that was sending me out, but church is
a reason why we would provoke one another to go and knock doors. You know that together as a group,
we can do it week in, week out. We actually want to do it week in, week out, right? We want to be
with someone, you know, it's good to mix up the groups and learn from each other, and that will
encourage us to be provoked unto good works. So the third reason to be in church is to be provoked
to love and good works. Reason number four, you don't need to turn there, I'll just read there,
is Acts 20-28 says, take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over which the
holy ghosts have made you overseers, so talking to the bishop, talking to me, to feed the church
of God which you have purchased with his own blood. So the church of God, you guys, are people
that have been purchased by the blood of God, by the blood of Jesus Christ. God's made me the
overseer to feed the church of God. So the fourth reason to be in church is to be fed the word of
God, to be fed spiritually, right? To nourish our spiritual bodies, not just our physical bodies.
And it's just like food, you know, every day you need to eat, you know, most people have three
meals a day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, to nourish their physical bodies, right? And so when
we think about church, yes it's a place to come get a spiritual meal, yes you can come on Sundays
get a meal, yes you can come on Thursdays and get a spiritual meal, but is that going to be enough
to feed you spiritually? Like if you were just eating twice a week to nourish your physical body,
you know, you're going to lose weight, you're going to be malnourished,
and I don't know if you'll die, maybe you'll still live with two meals a week,
but yeah, it's not going to be enough to really sustain you and get you through the week.
Same thing with church, right? Yes, it's here to feed you, but you guys need to also take the
word of God, read it for yourself, feed yourself spiritually, so you can be well fed spiritually,
okay? But it's important to be in church to be fed the word of God as well. So make sure that
you feed yourself just like you feed yourself food. Now, you know what, there's going to be
times, like I really appreciate, I'm very encouraged by some of the feedback you guys
have given me about my sermons, and you know, you find them really really good, really practical,
things you've learnt, and I get happy, I get really encouraged by that feedback, you know,
because then I know, hey, you know, I'm doing the job, I'm feeding you guys, but you know,
there's going to be times, and especially as we get into church, and you've heard me preach for
a few months, you'll get used to me, and then I might even preach things that are repetitive,
and then you'll be like, you'll get to a point where you'll be like, well, you know, that sermon
wasn't that great after all, you know, that sermon wasn't that, you know, I already knew that, you
know, I've heard it before, you know, you know, Kevin preached, didn't really bring anything new
to the table this time, you know, there's going to be times where you're hearing preaching,
it's not going to be the most groundbreaking sermon, you know, that changes your life kind
of thing, and that's going to happen, that's fine, but I want you to think about something.
What did you eat for lunch last Wednesday? What did you eat for lunch? Maybe some of you know,
but I don't know, the reason I chose last Wednesday, I can't remember what I had for lunch,
so I'm thinking maybe none of you, none of you guys, I don't know, I can't remember what I had
for lunch last Wednesday, right, but did it nourish me, did it feed me, did it get me through the day,
yes, and have you ever had a meal where it's like, oh, the same thing again, you know, it's not my
favorite meal, I don't really want this, but you know, you ate it anyway, nourished you anyway,
right, and there are going to be times in church where you'll be like, what did Kevin preach about
last week again, I can't remember, just like you can't remember what you ate last Wednesday for
lunch, but it nourished you, it fed you, that's the thing you need to take away from it, right,
you need to remember, hey, even if you, I don't hear the most groundbreaking sermon, that's you
know, but I know it nourished me, that point in time I was fed the word of God, and spiritually
I was fed, so I want you guys to keep that in mind, please, you know, always make sure, hey,
church is the place to be fed the word of God, and regardless of the kind of sermon you hear,
it's going to feed you one way or another, it might not be the greatest sermon, it might not
be the greatest meal, hey, but it's feeding you, okay, so the fourth reason to be in church is to
be fed the word of God. Now let me just change direction a little bit before I get to my last
points, but in the Old Testament and the New Testament there's a place called the house of God,
or the house of the Lord, okay, now in the Old Testament the house of God or the house of the
Lord was the temple or the tabernacle, okay, I'll just read to you 1 Chronicles chapter 6,
1 Chronicles chapter 6 verse 48 to 49, it says, their brethren also the Levites were appointed
unto all manner of service of the tabernacle of the house of God, so the tabernacle where the
Levites were serving was known as the house of God, verse 49, but Aaron and his sons offered
upon the altar of the burnt offering and on the altar of incense and were appointed for all the
work of the most, sorry, of the place most holy and to make an atonement for Israel according to
all that Moses the servant of God had commanded, so it's the place of sacrifice, right, where the
burnt offerings were offered as well, so it's the tabernacle the house of God which became the
temple, okay, but turn with me to 1 Timothy chapter 3, 1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 15,
1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 15,
1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 15, so that was the house of God in the Old Testament and we know the
old, you know, the tabernacle, the temple system has been done away with in the New Testament,
right, we know that and the temple was destroyed in 70 AD as well, but in 1 Timothy chapter 3 verse
15 it says this, but if I tarry long that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself
in the house of God which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth,
so I just want to show you church is not the Old Testament temple, it's not the Old Testament
tabernacle, but it carries the same title as the house of God, so when we read in the Old
Testament about the house of God we can apply certain things that we read about there and apply
that to the house of God in the New Testament and the house of God is the church, okay, we're
gathered together right now, this right now is the house of God, not this building, this building is
not the house of God, when we think of a house we think of a building, but we are the house of God,
Bible says we are the temple, right, our bodies are the temple of God and he dwells in us,
so when we gather together God calls the New Testament house of God the church,
all right, now all that just to take you to the next few points, turn with me to Psalm 122,
Psalm 122,
the fifth reason to be in church, Psalm 122
verse 1, the Bible reads, I was glad when they said unto me let us go into the house of the Lord,
I was glad when they said unto me let us go into the house of the Lord, number five reasons to be
in church is to give you joy, so you can rejoice, so you can be glad, right, church when church is
on you ought to have gladness, you ought to rejoice, say hey I can't wait to be in church,
right, and right now my kids right now are like glad to be in church, yes to play with their
friends, probably more than hearing the preaching, that's probably what they're more glad about,
hey but fellowship is important part of the church, right, fellowship like we said provoking
one another to love and good works, hey children can do that together, but you need to be glad,
hey and I want you to think about this, are you glad when church is on, are you glad when hey
it's time for church, hey quickly we got to get there at 9am on Sunday morning, I know how hard
it is when we have a lot of children, right, are you glad on Thursday, you know you might be tired
after work, you know church seven o'clock already, it's Thursday already, hey I want you to be glad
and if you're not glad there's something wrong, there's something wrong with your spiritual life,
okay, there's something wrong with that part of your life, okay, so I just want you to consider
that but church the place where to rejoice and be glad, a place of joy, you know it's a place to
rejoice in worship, when we sing the songs to the Lord, we sing to him, hey I want you to sing with
a joyful heart, I want that to translate into your mouth, you might not be the best singer, hey but if
you've got a heart of joy that's going to reflect in your mouth and I want you to sing loud, not to
me, not for the congregation but sing loud to the Lord, God wants us to sing loud to him, hey to
rejoice in the fellowship, when we gather together we enjoy one each other's company, guys I want you
to take not just not not just wait, what can I get out of church, how can I rejoice in the company
of others, hey but for you to consider, hey what joy can I bring in the life of others, right,
so it's a place to bring joy in the life of others, I want you to come here rejoice,
not just to rejoice in the preaching but to rejoice in all aspects of the church,
the singing, the praying, the preaching, the fellowship, the soul winning, you know the food,
whatever it is, I want you to come with a heart of rejoicing, church ought to be a place to give you
joy, that's point number five. Point number six, turn with me to, you're already in Psalms, turn
to Psalm chapter 20, Psalm chapter 20, Psalm 20, the sixth point is that church, the sixth reason
to be a church is to have a sanctuary away from the world, a sanctuary away from the world,
Psalm 20 verses one to three, the Lord hear thee in the day of trouble, the name of the God of
Jacob defend thee, send the help from the sanctuary and strengthen thee out of Zion,
remember all thy offerings and accept thy burnt sacrifice, salaam, so I just want to show you that
in the Old Testament the sanctuary was the tabernacle, was the temple, the house of God
as we say, right, and the application that I want to take from this Psalm is that church ought to be
a place of sanctuary, what's a place of sanctuary? It's a place of refuge, a place of safety,
you know the definition of sanctuary is refuge or safety from pursuit, persecution or other danger,
now we don't live in a country where we're being persecuted for our Christian faith,
though it's coming, I think it's coming, but we do live in this world that hates the Lord,
that hates the word of God, right, we go out and we will fellowship, well not fellowship so much,
but we will have to be associated sometimes with non-believers, maybe in your workplace,
maybe you know friends and family that you have, you know you're going to be tainted with the
world's music, right, you might go to the shopping centre and hear the world's music, you might be in
work in an office hearing the world's music, you know it's hard for me, I know how hard it was for
me to work in an office, you know I'm trying to keep my my mind clean with the things of God and
keep it holy and clean and pure, but you know all day for the you know seven and a half hours
you just have the radio playing, you know and those words start you know the music starts to
get in your brain and you're trying to filter that out, you know, it's something you know you
might hear dirty jokes you know on the job and things like that, you might be just gathered
together with with unbelievers that just aren't helping you spiritually at all, and so church
ought to be a place where you can find sanctuary from the world, and that's why these churches
that pattern themselves after the world, that pattern themselves after a rock concert,
just mess this up because church ought to be a place that's different from the world,
okay we're trying to get away from that, we come to church on, the reason I wanted a midweek service
on a Thursday is because waiting for a whole week on Sunday is too long, and if you miss that
Sunday you won't have church for two weeks, you know I mean I wanted to have a midweek service
because you know you've worked Monday to to Thursday, you know you need to be refreshed,
you need to hear the word of God, you need to be gathered with believers,
you need to have a refuge from the world, just clean that garbage out,
come hear the word of God, you know worship the Lord God and just be renewed, recharged,
so you can go out again you know and face the world once again, so church ought to be a place
of sanctuary from the world, if we start to look like the world we're wrong, all right kick me out
of the pool but get someone else in here if we start to look like the world, I want us to be
different from the world, a place of refuge, and my last point, point number seven,
you don't need to turn there I'll just read it to you, Revelation chapter 2 verse 7,
he that hath an ear let him hear what the spirit saith unto the churches, and that's repeated
seven times in the book of Revelation, for the seven churches in the book of Revelation it says,
he that hath an ear let him hear what the spirit saith unto the churches,
so the seventh reason to be in church is to hear from the Holy Spirit,
and you might say Kevin don't I hear from the Holy Spirit every time I open his word and I'm
led by him, yes you do, you know no doubt about it the Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth
as you read his word as you study and meditate upon his word, but there's a work that the Holy
Spirit does in the church where he moves in the church and he speaks to us in the church
through his Holy Spirit, so if you miss church you're going to miss
hearing from the Holy Spirit on that day, and there's been many times where you know I might
have been talking to friends we talk about some doctrine and we might have questions and not sure
about something and then sure enough you go to church and the preacher preaches on that topic,
all right it's like God knew he needed to give you an answer to that, put it on the heart of
the preacher that's that day to preach on that topic, all right, but then there's been other
times where I've spoken to my friends they've missed church that Sunday or whatever and then
that topic's been preached on they weren't there to hear it, they didn't get to hear what the
Spirit was saying to the church that day, all right, so you need to be in church to hear the
preaching you know but this is the thing I want you to understand the Spirit doesn't only speak
to you for the preaching, all right, the Spirit doesn't only speak to you in the preaching though
he does that as well, okay, has there ever been times where you've read the Bible like you've
been hearing preaching I don't know if this happened this has happened many times to me
I've been in church sitting down listening to the preaching and then you know the preacher says
I'll turn to this book to this chapter to this verse and I've turned there and before they've
got into that chapter and expanded it I've read it and gone oh I know where he's going I know
where he's going with this, all right, but then when he gets to it he goes a totally different
direction I'm like I thought I thought this is where he was going but he takes that verse
it goes a totally different direction, all right, now let me ask you that let me question
what I saw before he went into that other direction what I saw and what I learned and
said well yeah that's applicable I see where he's going with that who gave me that knowledge at that
point was it the preacher it wasn't the preacher it was the Holy Ghost it's the Holy Spirit right
he was working in me showed me something even while I was listening to the preaching even
though that's not where the preacher was going but I read something and I took something out of
that that was a truth that wasn't from that preacher the Holy Ghost can speak to you not
just through the words of the preacher but as you follow in the scriptures he might show you
some other things some other things that you can apply for to do with that sermon okay so it's not
just a preacher that you're going to be hearing from the Holy Ghost it's from your own personal
reading while you're in church but also from the singing the songs that we sing I don't want you to
get to a point where you just you know you're so used to the songs you're singing them without
meaning I want you to focus on the words because the Bible tells us that singing is teaching
you can learn from the words of the doctrine in the songs so pay attention to the singing
there's been many times where I've been singing and there's been words and they've just spoken
to me it's like just the Holy Ghost just those words that we're singing just speak to me and
just move me and I don't know if that's happened to you but hey pay attention and look sometimes
some people get this idea you know I know when we get to church they're singing for about 20 minutes
and then the you know you might realize oh Kevin probably sings for about 20 minutes the preaching
doesn't start until 20 past you know we can get to church about 20 past you know don't don't have
that mindset you know be here for everything because the Holy Ghost will use the songs as
well to speak to you also in the prayer times of prayer you know the Holy Ghost can speak to you
in prayer you know just be just to be gathered amongst believers they might pray about things
that you weren't aware of and that might be the Holy Ghost just prompting you hey you need to
pray about these things as well you probably haven't considered that but the person you're
praying with has considered that hey you need to bring that to remembrance you need to pray about
those things as well and also hey the Holy Ghost can speak to you in fellowship when you fellowship
with one another speak to one another you know there's been times where you know I might have not
might have been a bit discouraged you know I've gone to church being a bit down you know not in
great spirits but I've been to church and there's a brother that you know just greets you hey
brother how are you great to see you great to see you today you know you're such a blessing to the
church and guess what that does to you this is lift your spirits right when you hear another
person just just encourage you and that's what church is a place of edifying a place of
encouragement we already read about you know being provoked to love and good works and sometimes the
Holy Ghost can speak to you through another believer and just encourage you give you what
you need hey they might even have an answer to some of the questions you might have they might
even know that that was something you were asking but in your conversations in your fellowship
you know another brother or sister might give you an answer that you've been searching for
and that's again the Holy Ghost speaking to the church being moved and moved through the church
so I just want you to think about these things that's all I have for you today
but make church a priority in your life make sure it's not a decision you make just make it your
custom just as Jesus Christ had his custom to be in the synagogue and to hear the word of God you
know and make sure you take it all in you know don't don't think you know oh I can just hear a
sermon online and that's church for me no there's so much more to church the Holy Spirit can speak
to you for so many other ways when we gather together as brethren so please please make
church a priority in your life let's pray