And the title of the sermon this morning is, Make a Day of It, Make a Day of It.
And let's look at verse number 24 there, it says, This is the day which the Lord hath
made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Let's have a word of prayer, Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, so much for
this great congregation.
Lord, I pray that you would help us with this sermon to just, Lord, focus on just
the day that's at hand with us and that we would, Lord, that we would seek your face
and that we would make Sundays a special place for the house of God and pray that
you meet with us today, fill me with your spirit, in Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
Okay, so make a day of it.
It's kind of a different sermon here, but I'm definitely going to mention a lot
of verses that talks about a day or the day.
And this is a very famous verse in the Bible in Psalm chapter 118, and it's
actually made into a song.
I'm sure people in Sunday school might have sang this song and maybe know this
verse by heart because, you know, this is the day that the Lord hath
made, I will rejoice.
You know, you just kind of repeat it and it teaches you how to, oh, my
collar's all jacked up, my wife's trying to tell me about it, all right.
Anyway, I don't want it to be like all doggy or like this, the whole
sermon like happens to me sometimes.
But anyway, so, but that song, this, this is a song.
This is a Psalm.
So, and we're commanded to sing the Psalms.
I'm glad that we sang a Psalm in the morning service.
It was a great, it's a great Psalm, Psalm 150.
And this one is a great one for you to learn.
Also, this is the day which the Lord hath made.
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
So obviously we take our lives one day at a time, don't we?
And, you know, that's the way it should be.
We should focus on the day that we're in and how we can make it the best
day that we possibly can.
And I kind of want to focus just on our day in church on Sundays.
Now, obviously I believe we should be three to thrive.
I think that if you can make it to church on all three
services, that you should do that.
Obviously we have people that are living hours away and that's
not necessarily possible, especially with traffic and everything.
It's just not easy for that to happen.
But whether you're near our church or far away and you attend here,
there's no excuse not to make the first day of the week in God's house.
A priority to you and your family.
It should be a priority for you to be in the house of the Lord.
It's the day that the Lord hath made.
And obviously I'm not trying to preach some kind of Sabbath Sunday type of
sermon, but the first day of the week is the day that Jesus rose from the dead.
Why do we celebrate or at least have church on Sundays?
Well, it's the Lord's day.
That's what the Bible kind of teaches in the Sabbath is something that we don't
have to keep anymore in the 10 commandments and Jesus fulfilled the Sabbath.
And so traditionally we just, the church meets on Sunday.
It's the first day of the week.
So, you know, we're supposed to give God our first.
Everything in our lives should be God centered first.
And so that's another good reason why you should make Sunday
a focus of your week, the first day of the week, give that day to the Lord.
And then, you know, God's going to bless you for that.
And so in this sermon, I'm going to make a case for making Sunday an all
day event for you to serve the Lord.
Now, obviously I know that there's people are going to walk out of here
and like, eh, whatever, I'm not going to do that and that's fine, but I'm
still going to try to exhort you to do that.
So we intentionally tailor our Sunday services for maximum efficiency to cram
church services pretty closely together to worship the Lord, to have the Bible
read to us and for fellowship, for preaching and for soul winning.
We just cram it all in to a very short block of time.
And I try not to drag it out.
You know, intentionally I moved the church services from, I think it was like
five o'clock when we first started 11 and five, and then, you know, I just
wanted to help out the families that are coming from long distances.
And we've had families that have been here for many years that
still travel long distances.
And so I want to make things easier for everybody.
And maybe you're, you're, uh, the way you used to do things is you'd
go home and take a nap and some, some people maybe you do, but really our
schedule doesn't allow a lot of nap time, there's been times when I've
gone home and tried to take a nap or I'll just fall asleep in my office
every once in a while, if I'm really that tired and on the floor, I'll
use the chairs for cushions and stuff like that.
So when I was in England, I, I, I preached a sermon.
I was really tired.
I was just, it was really hard for us to get on the England clock.
It was just like, it's weird because you're supposed to be asleep at a
certain time when the older you get the, the worse it gets for you.
So try, my wife would just be awake till like three o'clock
in the morning or whatever.
And I was really tired on that Sunday morning.
I just, I slipped into the, uh, I think it was the dad, baby room.
And, uh, where nobody, nobody saw me go in there and I just kind of took
like a, a baby changing pad and took it out, you know, and I, I used that
on my hip and then there was like some kind of blow up toy in there.
And I just like laid my pillow on my head and I was done.
I slept, I didn't really sleep that well because it was pretty noisy
in there, but at least I got like maybe a 15, 20 minute nap.
It helped me.
So anyway, uh, we don't have a lot of time to do a lot of extra things
on a Sunday in between our church services.
You have time to eat basically is depending on how long my sermon is.
And then, uh, and then we go out soul winning and then we come back
to church and you know, we do it again.
So I've designed the services for your, for your benefit to, you know, get
the maximum efficiency for the day and then still leave you your morning
and your evening to get ready for church or to travel back where you're at.
Cause usually worst case scenario I preach till five 15, which
it does happen sometimes.
I try not to do that, but it does happen.
And so if you really need to get home quick and you live a couple
hours away, you're still talking five, six, seven, 30, or I mean, seven,
you know, seven, seven 30, eight o'clock.
And it's not like 11 or 12 at night.
And then it just kind of messes with your next day.
You're going to be tired anyway on a Monday, just because you
put forth some spiritual effort.
If you're here all day and you put forth some spiritual effort,
you're going to feel, you know, a little bit more tired than
most people would on a Monday.
Most people are sitting around right now, watching the kickoff,
watching football or doing whatever it is, it's the 88 degrees today.
And so I would, I wouldn't be surprised if everybody's going to be at the
river or the lake for the last hurrah or whatever it is, but we're different.
We go to church on Sundays.
And so, you know, we're going to be a little more spiritually tired, maybe
even physically fatigued because, you know, sometimes when nobody's
not answering the doors, you're just walking for a lot.
So, I mean, we do have an exercise program within our church
also, in unreceptive areas.
You're welcome.
So, but from about 10 30 to about five 30 is about seven hours.
And if you're here early and stay late for fellowship, it can run like
eight, nine hours and we like to fellowship here.
I mean, I was at church, I think the other night till like past
nine o'clock and, you know, we were fellowshiping and do another thing.
You know, preaching the Bible to someone that wasn't saved,
trying to get them saved.
And so we did, but anyway, but I intentionally switched those services
around to make it like real tight.
And then you'd still have somewhat a little bit of a day.
So, but not all churches are like that.
And I don't have a problem with anybody that's not like that.
I mean, some people do their evening service at six or six 30 or whatever.
But I realized a long time ago for the people that are traveling
afar, they're not going to stay for the second service.
If they can't get home till 11 o'clock at night or something.
And so I, it's, it's kind of a beneficial for both so you can
get ready for work and all that.
But you know, I, I'm, I'm preaching a sermon called make a day of it because
I want people to make a day of church on Sunday, make this your day that
you, that you give everything you have in the spiritual tank at the, and
then if you're there at the end of the day, you've, you've gone to
two church services, you've gone soul winning, you know, you've
fellowship with your brother and you've gotten it all done
on the first day of the week.
So you're giving God your first, your best, the first day.
Turn to Psalm 84 verse 10, Psalm 84 verse 10.
And this is not just a sermon about going to church.
It's I want to help people that maybe aren't as spiritual right now.
And I don't know who you are necessarily, but I want people to, to
get spiritual that aren't being spiritual, or maybe just think about
this sermon in the future and think, well, Hey, maybe, you know, maybe I
need to just be here on both services.
Maybe I do need to fit and cram soul winning in.
And look, we have different soul winning opportunities.
I'm not saying you have to do this or something.
I'm just saying it would probably be a good practice for you to put,
put it together this way.
Psalm 84, 10 says for a day in thy courts is better than a thousand.
So what's God, you know, what's David saying here?
He's saying, Hey, a day in God's house, a day in the courts of the Lord is
better than a thousand doing something else, doing something that means nothing.
Right?
I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to
dwell in the tents of wickedness.
There's a lot of other things you could be doing out there.
And, you know, obviously I think that if you, if you can be in church, the Bible
does teach that you should assemble together on a regular basis.
And I believe that it's a sin to not do so.
I think the Bible is very clear about that, but you know what?
I would still rather be, I would, I would, you know, if I could just be a
doorkeeper and, and instead of dwelling in the tents of wickedness, I would
do that in a heartbeat, I've always wanted to serve God since I got saved.
When I got plugged into a Baptist church, I wanted to do something.
And so I've always, I've never just gone to a church and done nothing.
That just isn't in me.
You know, I got to do something, even if it's just wiping the tables
down and cleaning up after a potluck.
We would, my family would do that every time we had a potluck on like
whatever it was, the fifth Sunday, or I don't know, but we just always have
served the Lord and, you know, it's beneficial to you, it doesn't matter
what it is you're doing, you're doing something for God.
So it might not be the bright and shiny thing that, you know, everybody
likes to do, but it's doing something for the Lord and it's better to be a
doorkeeper, you know, we have doorkeepers here and they do a great
job of being doorkeepers and I don't think it's a, it's a bad job to have.
You get to greet everybody and say hi, and you're kind of security or you're
just, it's not like it's a bad position, but anyway, I wonder sometimes
why Christians don't believe this and, you know, why they don't follow
this, that they would say that a day in thy courts is better than a
thousand, and instead of doing something wicked or doing something
that just isn't, you know, prosperous in any way, shape or form is
better than being in God's house.
I just don't get that, why Christians would have that attitude.
So, you know, we ought to make God's house a priority in our lives and
quit being all willy-nilly about whether we're going to church or not.
We're going to meet with the congregation, you know, it isn't meant to
be something that we do without effort, it's something that we do with effort.
You have to come here, church isn't at your house unless you actually
start a church in your house, biblically, of course, but, you know,
everybody here had to make an effort to, you know, put on their Sunday
best, get their children dressed, drive however far you drove to get here.
You know, God wants us to make an effort to do those things.
How do I know that?
Well, Moses made the children of Israel, you know, as an example, he
moved it out of the town square and moved it out so people would actually
have to make an effort to get there.
Look at Exodus chapter 33, verse seven, Exodus chapter 33, verse seven.
Look what the Bible says there in Exodus 33, verse seven, it says,
and Moses took the tabernacle and pitched it without the camp.
So there's this big camp of millions of people.
Moses took that tabernacle.
He pitched it without the camp.
And what's it say?
A far off from the camp.
So it wasn't just some easy, I'm just going to watch it
on YouTube type of situation.
They didn't have YouTube back then.
So Moses was doing this intentionally so that people would actually have
to make an effort to go and serve the Lord, not just make it so easy for them.
Now we do that for people that are sick, you know, or maybe we could
reach some, a new group of people, or we could just, you know, be
a blessing to other people.
That's why we do YouTube.
It's not to replace church.
You should be in God's house.
If you can be, and not just skip church, willy nilly.
So then it came to pass that everyone which sought the Lord went out onto
the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp, it's
away from your house, it's away from the place you live.
And Moses did that intentionally.
So people would actually, you know, they would have to put
an effort to go do something.
And there's nothing wrong with making an effort to get yourself into church.
Verse, uh, look at Psalm chapter 122, verse 1, Psalm chapter 122, excuse me, 122 verse number 1.
Now, this is the day which the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Hey, today is a day that the Lord hath made, and you know what?
We should rejoice in that day and be glad in it, you know?
Not like it's, you know, looking like a bunch of Episcopalians or, uh,
Presbyterians, all sad and droopy that you had to be at church and you're
afflicting yourself, you know, I can't believe I have to go to church.
And you're not excited about it.
Like, I just don't understand that when God's people don't get excited
about being in the house of the Lord.
Look at Psalm 122, verse 1, it says, I was glad when they said unto me,
let us go into the house of the Lord.
You should be glad to be here.
There's a lot of people out there doing a lot of different things and
they just don't know any better.
You know, they just don't know how great it is to be in God's house and
to be worshiping him and serving him.
But are you glad to be in God's house this morning?
That's my question for our congregation this morning.
Are you glad to be in God's house this morning?
Turn to Hebrews chapter 10, verse 24, Hebrews 10, 24.
This is an often used and very famous scripture about going to church.
And you know what going to church makes, takes effort.
It does, it takes effort.
It takes work for you to get there.
Look at Hebrews 10, 24 says, this is another reason why we should come to church.
It says, let us consider one another.
Are you thinking about someone else besides you this morning?
Have you considered the fact that you being here is an
encouragement to somebody else?
When they see a big family walk in the door and they're all
dolled up and they, you know, the girls are all dolled up in
dresses and skirts and the young men are wearing little ties or whatever.
And that took some effort for a big family to get all those children
ready and to drive from far away to get here or close even it's work.
It takes work.
And you know, it's a, it would be an encouragement for somebody else that
has a big family that maybe is new to the church or something like, Hey,
you know what, if they can do this, I can do this too.
So we need to consider one another to provoke onto love and good works.
So what are we supposed to be doing?
Considering one another.
And what is it when you're here?
It provokes other people onto love.
When you go soul winning, it, it provokes other people onto
love and to good works.
You know, when we love people, we're obviously loving even our
own people in the congregation.
And, you know, we're provoking someone, Hey, you know, let's go soul winning today.
And obviously you don't have to be a jerk about it or whatever.
Like, Oh, you're not going soul winning.
It's like, yeah, maybe they went soul winning earlier in the week.
So just, but you know, when everybody's going soul winning, it's, it's contagious.
It's like, uh, it helps people and provokes them to, to, you
know, to do good works.
And when you're here, it can, it's a consideration to other people.
You know, Jesus died saving others, didn't he?
And so we should have the same compassion on other people as well.
You know, we should save others.
We should help others.
We should be kind to others, you know, not just us and our family, but
everybody think about other people besides yourself.
So, and maybe your life's in disarray this morning and you know, nobody
knows your problems or anything like that, but you know what, when you're in
doubt, why don't you just focus out?
Focus outside of yourself sometimes and think about the fact that, you know,
there's other people out there to consider, and you know what, when you
go out and you have that attitude, it's going to help whatever attitude
you might have, it's going to help you to get better because when you
love other people, you know, it's easier for you to, uh, to get along in this
world, right?
It's, it's easier for you to come to church, provoke someone else to good
works, and it's, it's a good thing to do.
It's loving your neighbor, isn't it?
What, whether you're going soul wanting or whether you're just
here to encourage the brethren, be here at church on Sunday mornings.
If you can possibly do that, look what it says in verse 25, not
forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is.
See some people, they forsake the house of the Lord.
They don't want to come to the house of God and they forsake the
assembling for whatever reason they want to.
And you know, people make a lot of excuses that are stupid to not
come to church and I hear, I hear them all and I've heard them all.
And what it is just an excuse.
You might, why don't you just tell me if you don't want to come to church,
you know, why don't you just tell me I got milk in the fridge or
something like that, because one excuse is just as good as the other, right?
So it says not forsaking the assembly or, or, or, excuse me, the
assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is,
but exhorting one another.
What does that mean?
You're encouraging one another and so much the more as you see the day
approaching is Jesus closer to coming back today than he was yesterday.
Is he going to be, is he going to be closer to coming back next Sunday
and the Sunday after that and the Sunday after that?
Yeah.
He's good.
As we see the day drawing closer, there's a reason why we need more church and
not less church because the days are evil.
Because the times we're living in are going to get worse as the day draws nearer.
They're not going to get better.
It's not going to be this like Baptist utopia.
And then all of a sudden Jesus comes back.
So we need to make sure that we're not forsaking the
assembling of ourselves together.
And it is a command.
If you read down in verse 26, it's going to show you that, but I don't
have it in my notes, but go ahead and read it right now.
What's it say?
So some man want to read that verse for me real quick.
Sin willfully.
After that we have received knowledge of the truth.
There remain of no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking
for judgment and fiery indignation shall devour the adversaries.
It sounds like God thinks it's a sin, doesn't it?
That, you know, if we just willfully sin knowing that we're supposed to be in
God's house, it's a sin.
It's a sin.
So how are you going to make a day of it at Sure Foundation Baptist Church?
How to make a day of it?
Cause that's what the title of the sermon is.
Make a day of it.
So number one, we need a purpose in our heart to come to
church, come hell or high water.
Purpose in your heart.
A lot of new people fall out because it gets hard.
Well, guess what?
When you want to do something for God, the devil is going to attack you.
Just understand this.
It's going to happen.
And if you already have the, well, I'm going to go to church, except if this
happens or except for this happens or except for, you know, whatever it is,
it's going to happen, you know, it's going to take place.
God, the devil doesn't want you to get plugged in.
He doesn't want your family to learn.
He wants you to sit at home and watch YouTube videos or go off
and do something else besides just coming to the house of the Lord.
Purpose in your heart to come to church, come hell or high water.
All right.
Number two, plan for the whole day.
You're like, well, you know, I didn't really plan on staying all day.
Why not?
Why didn't you plan on staying all day?
Why don't you plan on staying all day and then write the already have your
mind made up of what you're going to do.
So plan for the whole day.
Number three, prepare your heart, your attitude, and be ready to receive
what God has for you in the Bible reading and in the preaching.
Don't just space off and go, well, you know, I got all
this stuff coming up this week.
Don't space off during the preaching.
Prepare your heart and say, you know what?
I'm going to listen to what the Bible said.
I'm going to follow along when brother CJ's reading the wrong
chapter or, no, I'm just kidding.
I'm going to follow along during the Bible reading.
And I'm going to get the context for my heart to apply it to the preaching.
And even if I preach it out of context, then at least
you know what the context was.
Okay.
But, you know, we should prepare our heart, prepare your attitude, say,
you know what, I'm going to the house of Lord.
I want to get something from him today.
Then Jacob, when he wrestled with the angel, he said, I'm not going
to let you go unless you bless me.
And so, you know, he wrestled with God and God blessed him because,
you know, he's like, I'm not getting out of here, you know?
And where was he at?
Where did he lay his pillow?
You know, he, he, he wants to lay his pillow on the house of God.
He rested on a rock.
That doesn't sound very comfortable to me.
It sounds kind of like the mother, the dad, baby room I fell asleep in.
It was very uncomfortable, but it wasn't a rock, you know, but we
need to prepare ourselves for God's message.
We need to prepare ourselves for the reading of God's word.
You get two chapters read to you, and then we actually got
a Psalm that we sing together.
So there's three chapters, you know, for the day already.
And then if we sing, you know, I kind of gave you that verse in
Psalms, you can learn that song yourself.
You know, this is the day that the Lord hath made.
I will rejoice and be glad in it.
This is the day that the Lord hath made, right?
So you'll never forget that song.
If you just sing it a few times, it'll be in there forever.
And so we should also apply ourselves to hide God's word in our heart.
You know, thy word in my heart that I might not sin against thee.
So we should be, you know, putting these things into use, not just sitting
there like a vegetable and not interacting with the service.
So, or sleeping through the service.
So number four, practice your singing out with all your
heart and soul to the Lord.
See, we're supposed to be filled with the spirit.
And God tells us to, in order to be filled with the spirit that we need
to, you know, sing Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, you know, speaking
to ourselves and Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making
melody in our heart to the Lord.
Who are we singing to?
We're singing to the Lord.
That's what you call worship.
God wants us to come into his sanctuary and to worship him.
And how do we do that?
Well, we sing to the Lord.
Are you singing to yourself?
Are you singing to your kids?
Are you singing low and quiet?
The Bible tells us that we should make a loud noise, right?
So, you know, our church, I feel like our church used to sing
out more than they do now.
I don't know what's happened, but I want our church to sing out.
If I'm going to, I'm going to start making y'all stand up and then
maybe you'll sing out a little more.
That diaphragm kind of just, you know, starts working a little bit better.
And if it's a song you don't know, we'll just wing it.
You know, I think that the second song, I don't think a lot of people
knew that song, but I've known that song for a long time.
I just haven't sang it in a long time, but you know, we should
be ready to worship God, right?
Prepare your heart.
Practice your singing out with all your heart and your soul to the Lord.
Practice, you know, if you're part of the orchestra, you know, practice.
And then that way you can sound the best you can and
give the Lord your best, right?
When you're practicing a new song, try.
Don't just go, I don't like this song because I don't know it.
That's what people do.
Well, this song sucks or whatever.
Hey, you're singing to the Lord.
It only sucks because you don't know it.
It hasn't become one of your top 10 hits yet, but you know, maybe if we all
sang it together and it sounded good, maybe people will like the song better.
But if you're going, you're like totally asleep when you're singing and
you're not even singing to the Lord, you're just going through the motions.
Let's not go through the motions.
Let's make a day out of it.
Let's make a day that the Lord has made and rejoice and be glad in it.
Instead of just being, you know, lumps on logs.
And number five, participate in prayer, participate in prayer, follow
along in your heart and say, amen.
And if you're a lady, just say amen in your heart.
If you're a man, say amen out loud.
Well, are you praying with that person that's praying?
I mean, you don't have to repeat after them.
I'm not saying that, but I'm saying maybe, you know, you're listening
to what that person's prayer is.
And you're like, Hey, I agree with that.
Or, you know, or you're like, yes, amen.
In your heart, you're, you're participating in the prayer.
We have prayer here every Thursday night.
Are you participating in the prayer wherever you're at?
You know, God can, you can pray wherever you're at.
You can pray with your eyes open if you want.
There's nothing in the Bible that says you have to close
your eyes when you're praying.
You know, if you do that, when you're driving in your car,
you're going to get an accident.
That's worse than texting and driving, right?
So participate in prayer, any place you're at, but participate here in God's house.
Don't just like go through the motions.
Like that, that becomes a vain repetition.
It becomes a vain, uh, it becomes a vain activity that you're doing when
you're just like, just going through the motions, God wants your heart into
what you're doing, so make a day of it, number six, pack a lunch and dinner.
Pack a lunch and dinner.
If you're going to make a day of it and you live far away, pack a lunch
and dinner, I know there's a lot of people in our church that do that, but
you know, maybe you haven't stayed longer because you're hungry or whatever.
You can't afford to eat out every week.
I understand that.
So then just prepare yourself and make yourself a lunch and a dinner that you
can scarf down in the car on the way home or here at the church building
or whatever you want, you know, to make a day of it, all these things are
important.
Number seven, preach the gospel.
We should preach the gospel.
You know, if you're going to make a day of it, get out there and go
soloing and obviously not every, you don't have to every time or whatever.
If you have your own time of the week that you do it, I understand that.
But make a day of it, make a day of going out and preaching the gospel.
Let's turn to Acts chapter 17, verse number 30, Acts chapter 17, verse number 30.
Acts 17, 30 says, and the times of this ignorance, God winked at, but now
commandeth all men everywhere to repent.
And that's not talking about repenting of your sins.
Okay.
It's talking about changing your mind and believing something different.
So God winked at those times, but he's commanding people to be saved.
So if he's commanding people to be saved, he also commands us to preach the gospel.
Okay.
So if it's a commandment to get saved, doesn't someone need to show them how to get
saved?
It says, because he hath appointed, what's it say?
A day.
He's appointed a day.
It's going to be one day in which he will judge the world and righteousness by
that man whom he hath ordained, it's talking about Christ, whereof he hath
given assurance unto all men and that he hath raised him from the dead.
And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, some people
are going to mock you today when you're out soloing.
Some people are going to shut the door in your face.
Some people are going to say all manner of evil against you.
I got a message this morning from somebody and they're, they're apologizing to me
for how they treated a couple of people soloing in Sumner yesterday.
I don't know who, he said the person had two daughters with them.
So I'm not sure what he meant by that, but he wanted, if you're in here.
Oh yeah.
There's brother Steve.
Was somebody mean to you yesterday, brother Steve?
So this guy said, I consider myself a man of God, but I didn't act like one
today.
And so he realizes, you know, that he treated you badly and he wanted to
apologize personally to you, but I didn't want to give out your phone number
without your permission.
So this is me relaying to you that he wanted to apologize.
So some are going to mock and others said, we will hear the again of this
matter.
So what was Paul doing?
Well, he was, he's, he knew that there was a day coming where people
are going to get judged and thrown into hell.
And so what's he out there doing?
He's trying to convince people to be saved.
He's trying to convince to all men that they need to repent and change
their mind about what they believe in, believe in Christ who raised from the
dead.
And you know, when someone says, I'll hear of the again, this matter, you
know, people will say this a lot.
Well, you know, it's a bad time, but could you come back?
And like, sometimes we're on a mission strip or something.
You can't, well, we can't really come back.
Are you sure you don't have more time?
But the point is, is that there's a day coming when mankind will be judged
and he's going to judge the quick and the dead, and he's going to judge
those people and throw them in hell.
So don't you think it's important if we're going to make a day of it, that
part of that day is trying to make sure that they don't get judged on a
day, on that day, on judgment day, turn to Proverbs chapter 27, verse
one, Proverbs chapter 27, verse number one.
And here's the other thing that's a sad reality is that this could be
your last day in church.
This could be your last day ever coming to this church or
any church for that matter.
Why?
Look at what it says in Proverbs 27, verse one, boast not thyself of
tomorrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
You might say, well, you know what?
Next week, I'm going to come to all the services, you know, next
month, I'm going to start coming to all the services.
I'm going to start making a day of Sunday.
And then he said, I'm going to do it next week, or I'm going to
convince myself, I'm going to do this next month or whatever it is
you're saying, but here's what the Bible says, boast not thyself
for tomorrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
You don't know what's going to happen the next day.
That's why we live our day one day at a time.
And that's why it should be a day, you know, try to live your
life the best you can each day.
And when I'm talking about coming to church on Sundays and making a day of it.
Well, Hey, you don't know when it's going to be your last day in church.
Someone could get, you know, you could get in a car accident.
You could get run over.
You know, I mean, if you haven't seen the roads lately, you know,
people drive like maniacs, some people I'm trying, I'm working on it.
Okay.
My foot's not saved, but who should deliver me from this body of flesh.
But anyway, I die daily.
But anyway, so look, we w what's my point.
Well, we don't know when it's going to be our last day in church.
We don't know when it's going to be our last day on this earth.
So Hey, why not make a day of it?
Why not be here when you can be be here on Sunday and look, here's my
caveat to this, if you're on vacation, someone's a death in the family, you
know, you're sick, I understand, you know, that's obviously understandable.
Don't say, well, you said make a day of it.
And like all your kids are sick or something, you know, make a different day
of it at that point, so turn to James chapter four, verse 13.
So we shouldn't boast or say that I'm going to do this tomorrow.
I'm going to make a day of it next week, but not today.
But you don't know when it's going to be your last day to be with your
friends, to fellowship with the brethren, to go soul wanting, to hear a sermon
preached, to have the Bible read in front of you, to worship the Lord in
spirit and truth through song.
James four 13 says, go to now ye that say, what does it say today?
Or tomorrow we will go into such a city and continue their year
and buy and sell and get gain.
These are the people that just like want to quit a great church basically.
And then just say, well, I'm going to go get gained and I'll,
I'll do whatever next.
Whereas you know not what shall be on the morrow or what is your life.
It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanish at the way.
Life is short folks.
Life is short.
And the next thing you know, you're going to be 50 years old.
And some people already pass that, you know, three score and 10 is what God has said.
That's kind of, you know, and not everybody even lives that long and not everybody lives over that.
Sometimes people just three score and 10, then you're, you know, but here's the point.
What's your life?
It's a vapor.
It's going to go quickly and you can say, well, I was going to get back to that.
I was going to get back to serving the Lord, but you know what?
You don't know what is on the morrow because it's like, your life is like a vapor.
I can remember things from when I'm really little.
And now I feel like, man, I wish I could go back and, and be as young as I was and in great
shape and serving the Lord before, you know, I got older.
So it says for that you ought to say, if the Lord will, we shall live and do this or that.
But now you rejoice in your boastings.
All such rejoicing is evil.
Therefore to him that knows to do good and do with it, not to him.
It is sin.
If you know, you're supposed to be doing something and you're not doing it, it's sin.
Just that's what, that's what the Bible says, right?
So it doesn't matter what it is.
If you know that you're supposed to be doing something that's right, then it's a sin.
If you know you're supposed to be in church on Sunday and you're just skipping it to do
whatever, to work or whatever, you know what?
God's going to bless your labors and your work.
If you give him one day first and then you get all your work done in the week, maybe
he's going to bless you beyond any measure that you realize he'd bless you.
But then he's like, well, hey, if he's not going to make me number one, then
maybe I won't make him number one either.
You see how that works?
God, you think God's just like, it's okay if he just give me your leftovers, your blind
lamb, your dirty socks, your dirty rags, whatever it is, you just think that God's
just going to be like, okay, well I'm going to bless that person beyond all recognition.
It's not, you know that that's not how God operates.
So today could be your next or your last day at church or next week.
So how do you want to remember your last day here?
That you came to the morning service and slept through part of it and didn't go
soul wanting and didn't really sing out like you should and kept to yourself
because you didn't really feel like being social that day or I'm introverted
today or whatever, you know, you didn't salute your friends, your brothers and
sisters in Christ, you bowed your head in prayer for looks, but you didn't focus
and pray with them and say amen in your heart or out loud.
You didn't pay attention in the Bible reading in the sermon.
You just brush it to the side.
Is that how you want your last day in church to be the last day you spent
in here like that or any part of that, like why not focus on just making
a day of it and you know what, number one, making a day of it for the Lord.
I don't think anybody in this room wants that to be their last experience in
this church or in any church for that matter.
So why don't we get the zeal in our hearts and the zeal back into this
church and make a day of it and I'm not saying nobody has zeal.
I'm not saying that, but I just, I want our church to be a zealous church.
I want us to sing out.
I want people to join the orchestra.
I want people to practice and make this as best as we can.
Think about the queen of Sheba.
She came and saw all these things that Solomon did and was like, I
have no more spirit left than me.
Why can't our church be like that?
When someone walks in the store, they're like, wow, all the way that they
did this, the rows of chairs, the baptismal, the pulpit, you know,
the songs, the music, they all sang out loud, I have no more spirit in me.
I'm joining this church.
This is the church for me.
We can make it like that, but you know what?
We have to put forth a little bit of effort.
So I want to see our church get more zealous and I think that we are zealous
in a lot of ways, but I think that we can be more zealous.
Do you think we're at maximum zeal right now?
I don't think we are.
I think we can do better.
I think I can do better.
I think you can do better.
I think we can all do better at being zealous in our hearts for the Lord.
And you know, every day that we are in his presence and the we're, you know,
every day we're at this church on a Sunday, we're in the presence of God almighty.
He's here with us.
He's the Holy spirit of God.
If you're saved is in us.
And when we combine together, we are the church, you know, and
we're in the presence of God.
So let's act like it.
Let's dress like it.
Let's look like it.
Let's sound like it.
Let's do like it.
So, you know, we're in the place that God calls after his name, right?
We're in that place.
We're in the house of the Lord, the pillar and ground of the truth.
And we ought to act like it.
We ought to make sure that we realize this is a special place.
It's not just some regular place.
This is the house of God.
So let's take ownership of the house of God, you know, where we can truly say, this is my church.
Because I think a lot of the times people will not get, they don't want to get too involved
because then someone has to count on them.
Well, why don't you make yourself someone that can be counted upon?
Do something at this church that people are like, Hey, you know, I miss so-and-so because they did a great job.
They do a great job doing this or that, or whatever it is, you know, you might ask the question,
Well, what can I get involved in?
Well, there's plenty of things that I'm sure I'm going to, you know, this list is not going to be an all inclusive list,
but what can you get involved in?
You can get involved in cleaning the church or just, Hey, even just cleaning up after yourself, after the service.
The queen of Sheba didn't go, you know, wow, this is so great.
But look, you know, with this family just left their whole mess laying here, that she came in and everything was, it was right and good.
And obviously where the ox is, you know, it's going to, it's going to get messy.
But it doesn't mean the ox can't be kept clean a little bit.
You know, someone has to muck the stalls, someone has to brush his hair or whatever.
So you brush your hair, right?
Hopefully if you have hair, but anyway, well, you can get involved that way.
You know, you can get involved in our music ministry.
You can get involved in the music of our church, take up an inner, an instrument and then, or just if you're, if you're not musically inclined,
just make a loud, joyful noise.
And if you're singing so loud and ugly that other people that can sing good sing higher than you, then it kind of drowns that out.
And it's still a joyful noise under the Lord.
What's the point?
Well, we want to get involved.
And when you're involved in the services, you're going to be, you know, your integral part of this church.
We should be singing out.
We should be singing new songs.
We should be learning new songs.
And you know, Pastor Jimenez copied our orchestras.
Like how could Verity Vancouver have a better song services than we do at our church?
And so what did he do?
He just not blew us out of the water is what he did.
But I'm glad that at some point our music ministry inspired a great man like Pastor Jimenez to, you know, make his services better.
Well, you know what?
We kind of have just kind of gotten stalemate a little bit.
We do have a couple of new people that are playing, but you know, we could make this bigger.
There's room over here too.
You know, we could make room.
We'll make room for an orchestra.
But you know, there's people here that are musically talented that just choose not to do it for whatever reason.
It's work.
You have to get here a little bit earlier or whatever, but you know, make a day of it.
You know, we post all the songs, all the songs are posted in the way, our organization has gotten a lot better.
The songs are in there for the most part when they're supposed to be.
And then like if it's a new song, they try to find like a video or whatever, so you can understand how the song and everything goes.
So that what?
So our music ministry can get better.
So take up an instrument or just sing out, but either way, let's make our music ministry better.
Let's grow by leaps and bounds.
And you know how you're gonna do that?
Making a day of it.
But if nobody can count on you to be in the chair that you're supposed to be in, like I'm in the orchestra, but then you just don't, you don't do it.
Like what's that?
Obviously, if you're going to miss a day, you're going to miss a day.
I get that.
But like, you know, I want people in the orchestra that are taking it seriously and that they want to make the music ministry of this church better.
Soul winning.
There's another thing that we can take ownership of.
You know, prep yourself out, prep your Bible, prep the Bibles that we have over there.
You know, you want to, you want to do something a little extra.
Well, why don't you just go and highlight our, our verses or maybe, you know, brother Alex, he wraps all the ones that he takes out or maybe other people's too, but he wraps them in like cellophane so that they don't get wet.
And then when he gives them away as a gift, they're not wet and messed up and their covers ripped off of them or whatever.
So, you know, that's just an extra thing that you can do is just prep our soul winning.
Well, you know, there's no invitations over there.
Well, why not?
Why, why haven't, hasn't someone put the invitations over there?
You know, you could straighten up the foyer.
You can put more videos over there.
You can take ownership of these things.
You can, you know, make soul winning kits for people to go out with and you know, you can take ownership and get involved.
Make a day of it.
You know, what day am I going to do that?
How about Sunday?
How about Sunday before the service or Sunday after the service, you just make that the thing that you do.
And then people will be like, well, Hey, and if you're missing, then it looks like hurricane Katrina hit over there.
Then people are gonna be like, Oh man, you know, the so-and-so's not here.
And you know, or maybe that inspires you to do it also to help.
How about giving the gospel to visitors?
You know, have we stopped doing that?
Have we stopped like going and saying, Hey, are you a hundred percent sure that you're, you died today to go to heaven?
Because we need to continue to do that.
That should be something like, Hey, if they hated our church, at least someone asked them whether they were a hundred percent sure that they were going to heaven or not when they died.
And you know, that, that's a, that could be a good thing.
That's hosp, or hospitality of guests.
When we have people make them feel welcome, make them feel part of our church.
Maybe they're just joining our church.
They're brand new.
You know, people are going to know whether you're being genuine or not with your love towards them, you know, and I'm not saying get weird, you know, just stalk them or something.
But you know, just put yourself out there as a friendly person because shouldn't we be friendly to other people that come to our church?
Absolutely.
How about being a good example to other people?
That could be another way that you, uh, make a day out of it here.
When you're a good example to other people here at this church, then it's going to rub off on other people.
Like, wow, those people really, I'm going to just take the straightened up their pew area where their whole family sits.
They straightened up theirs.
Well, maybe I should do the same thing.
See, good deeds can rub off on people, but you know, the better we are at running this place like a well oiled machine, the more into it you are because you're plugged in.
Isn't that what plugged in means?
You're plugged in.
That means you're part of the system, right?
The energy is going through you.
So, but if you're plugged in to do something, then, you know, it makes it easier for you to say, you know what?
I'm plugged in.
I've got to be here.
Pastor's counting on me.
The other church members are counting on me.
People are counting on me to exhort other people.
People are counting on me to maintain good works.
People are counting on me to be here.
You know, when you're not here, believe me, people miss you.
They do, and maybe they won't say anything, but they'll say like, you know, maybe later they'll say, well, have you heard anything about so-and-so?
They haven't been here or whatever.
And believe me, when people are not here, I do miss them.
You might not think I do, but I do.
I do know when people are gone and I miss them.
And so I, and if I, if I see that you're gone for a long time, I will come and try to round the sheep up.
You know, the shepherd, the good shepherd is supposed to go get the sheep.
I'm not the good shepherd.
I'm just a shepherd.
But I'm still, my job as a shepherd is to make sure that if a sheep goes astray, that I at least reach out and try to bring that sheep back to the fold.
Second Corinthians chapter six.
Let's turn over there.
Second Corinthians chapter six.
Second Corinthians six.
Look at verse number one.
The Bible says, and then as workers together with, we, excuse me, we then as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain, for he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I secured thee, behold, now is the accepted time, behold, now is the day of salvation.
See, I was just talking about these, all these scriptures I'm bringing up are talking about a day, the day, there's one day that you get saved.
And you know, it's important for us as workers together with him that we're not receiving that grace of God in vain and emptiness and nothingness.
It doesn't really matter because you're not really doing anything for him.
Hey, you know, somebody's day is going to be today.
And if we don't get anybody saved, at least we tried.
At least we went out.
At least we attempted to give someone the gospel.
So that day can be a day for someone that you will make happen.
But if you weren't there, maybe you weren't there to be, you know, maybe that's that person in that area that we were going to, you're the person that could make that personal connection with that person.
That's going to get saved, but you don't show up or we'll have people show up and then there's like three people in a group.
And if you would have been there, you would have been the other pair that was there and those doors didn't get knocked that were supposed to get knocked because you weren't there.
So, you know, let's think about these things and think about how we could get plugged in and do more.
Make a day of it because the day of his wrath is coming.
So his day is coming.
So let's turn to Joel chapter three, verse number nine.
Joel chapter three, verse number nine.
And not only the, so it's not just the final judgment, but there's a wrath that's coming upon this world and don't we need to get people saved before this happens?
So the more people we have out working and making a day of it, the better off people are going to be in the long run.
And maybe it's just a few are going to get saved, a couple people, but you know, that's still one more person that we're saving from God's wrath.
Joel chapter three, verse nine says,
Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about, put you in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, get you down, for the press is full, the fats overflow, for their wickedness is great.
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision, for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
There's coming a day when God's mercy is going to stop being extended like it is right now.
And it's called the end times. And this is what Joel's talking about. Look at verse 15.
It says, The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
The Lord also shall roar out of Zion and utter his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth shall shake, but the Lord will be the hope of his people and the strength of the children of Israel.
So why do I bring this up? Well, because, you know, the closer we get to that day, you know, the more reprobates are going to be being made.
The less people, you know, we need to get out there and help them make a decision.
Because it says, for the day of the Lord is near. Multitudes, multitudes in the day of decision.
So we want to help them make that decision to get saved before it's too late for them.
Before, you know, we all go up in the rapture and that's the end of our good works upon this earth as far as, like, being able to get people saved.
You know, make a day of it. Because there is a day that's coming and it's going to be a decision that's going to be heaven or hell for these people.
Turn to Ephesians 5 verse 14. Ephesians 5 verse 14.
You know, and I realize that some people are even just sleeping while I'm preaching this sermon.
Not, maybe not literally, maybe not physically, but spiritually they might be just like, yeah, yeah, yeah, I've heard all this before.
That's a dangerous place to be. Because that means that you're already backslidden.
Now, can you get un-backslidden? Of course you can. You can start moving forward.
But we need to wake up and realize just how important it is that this church is here.
Wake up and realize just how important it is that you're here.
It's important. Every person counts. We're not just some cog in the wheel. We matter.
Each person in this room is different. Each person in this room looks different, has a different soul, has a different spirit.
And God loves each and every individual in this room and wants other people to be saved just like you are.
Look at what it says in Ephesians 5.
If you're falling asleep spiritually, well, wake up!
Stop acting like a deadbeat Christian and Christ is going to give you that light to walk in again.
He's going to make your path clear. He's going to make that light shine before you and guard your steps and watch out for you.
See then that you walk circumspectly not as fools but as wise. Who's he talking to here? He's not talking to unsaved people.
He's talking to saved people. Walk circumspectly. Think about the things that are going on around you
and how the decisions that you make today can be very costly for tomorrow.
Not as fools but as wise. Redeeming the time.
What does that mean? Well, is time going to stop for you? No, you need to get back what you lost.
And how do you do that? Well, you have to make more of your day. You have to add something extra to your day in order to redeem that time, don't you?
And what's it say? Because the days are evil. Make a day of it.
We need to redeem that time because the days are evil.
The day that we live in is an evil day. Every day that you just waste doing something that doesn't matter,
you're just making the time that you can redeem less and less.
So wherefore be ye not unwise but understanding what the will of the Lord is. Turn to Hebrews chapter 3.
Hebrews chapter 3. I only have two other places to turn to in this sermon.
So we as Christians, we need to wake up before asleep. We need to start getting back into going the right direction instead of going backwards.
Hebrews chapter 3 verse 12 says, Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief and departing from the living God.
Now this is talking to saved people also, brethren.
But you can get to the point where you're kind of getting this heart of unbelief.
You're just, not that you're not saved, but you're departing from the living God.
You're departing from what God wants of your life. You're not understanding what the will of the Lord is, but you're going backwards.
Look what it says in verse 13. But exhort one another, what's it say? Daily.
While it is called today. Lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Because that's really what's going to draw us away.
Ultimately you're going to just be, you know, it's sin that draws us away.
It's going to draw you away from reading the Bible. It's going to draw you away from prayer.
You're going to think, well I'm just so bad right now, what's the point of reading the Bible?
There's a point! Get yourself out of the mirey clay that you're stuck in and just say,
you know what, even though I feel this way, I'm still going to read my Bible, I'm still going to pray today,
I'm still going to make a day of it on Sunday, I'm still going to go out soul winning.
That's what's going to change you around.
I'm still going to worship the Lord with all my might. I'm still going to do what God wants of me.
And you know what, even if I am just going through the motions, maybe going through the motions will help me get my heart right again.
And say, you know what, I'm going to make a day of it. While it's called today.
But we are made partakers, verse 14, of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto, until you feel like it,
until you're just sick of church, until you're just sick of me, until you're just sick of singing,
until you're just sick of soul winning, you're just sick of sitting here and listening to preaching.
No, it says steadfast unto the end, doesn't it?
While it is said today, if we will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
Excuse me. What's he saying? Hear his voice today. You're here today. Are you hearing his voice?
Are you hearing him? Because you should be. And it says, harden not your hearts.
That's what they did in the wilderness. That's why God let them die there.
They didn't go into the promised land because, why? Because in the day of the, they provoked God.
They upset God. They spit in his face. And they acted like what they were doing wasn't a big deal.
I've seen so many people quit church, you know, just countless people, and they always have their built-in excuse.
A lot of times they just like to use the pastor or other people in the church as their reason for leaving.
But really, it's their own wicked heart, it's their own hard heart,
that they just, you know, they want to make an excuse to just quit, and so they'll wait for the reason.
Whatever that reason is, they'll just wait. Hey, if you can't get on in this church, then go to a different church.
I'm not going to preach against you if you just go to a different church.
That's an accusation that's made of us that's not true.
Now if you're going out and you're causing trouble, that's a whole other story.
But, you know, everybody should find a place where they can serve the Lord,
and obviously it should be a Bible-believing church that's King James only, soul-winning, all that good stuff, right?
Because no one says you have to drive three hours to come to this church.
You come to this church, you know, if you're living afar away, because you like this church.
Because there's not another church around like it.
Psalm chapter 90, let's go there for our last Scriptures here, and then I'll be done.
Psalm chapter 90, this is actually a psalm written by Moses.
And Moses was a great man of God, and he had a lot of wisdom.
And God chose him to lead the children of Israel for a reason.
The same guy that took the tabernacle out into the wilderness, right?
The same guy that led millions of people and did his very best even though they had a lot of bad apples in the bunch.
Look at Psalm chapter 90 verse 9, it says,
For all our days are passed away in thy wrath, we spend our years as a tale that is told.
The days of our years are threescore and ten, and if by reason of strength it be fourscore years,
that's 80 years, yet is their strength, labor, and sorrow, for it is soon cut off and we fly away.
Who knoweth the power of thine anger? Even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath.
So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
Our days are numbered here, folks. We only have a certain amount of time.
Our life is like a vapor, you know, we don't know what tomorrow is going to bring.
So, teach us, Moses is saying, God, teach us to number our days.
So that we can apply our hearts unto wisdom. Return, O Lord.
How long? And let it repent thee concerning thy servants.
O, satisfy us early with thy mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us and the years wherein we have seen evil.
Let thy work appear unto thy servants and thy glory unto their children.
And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us and establish thou the work of our hands upon us,
yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.
What's Moses trying to teach us here? He's like, hey, your time is short here.
Why don't we make a day of it? Why don't we make every day?
Our days are passing, you know, God sometimes is spanking us or correcting us and nobody's perfect, I get that.
But can you make a day of it? Can you just come to church one day a week and just say,
you know what, I want to make a day of it.
I'm going to get myself plugged in. Maybe I haven't been as plugged in as I should have been.
You know what, I want to change that. I want to change my attitude towards other people.
I want to change the fact that I'm not doing something or plugged in to where I could be.
You know, maybe I need to bring my family here and be steadfast and not just quit over every little thing.
Or just, you know, because think about it, circumspect wisdom, if you think about it,
if you pull yourself out of a great church and you have a family, then most of the time people don't leave a church like this to go to a better one.
And if you are, you know, obviously that's great, but in most cases that's not the case.
They stop serving the Lord. They stop being on fire for God.
You know what, I want us to make sure that we understand that we should make a day of it.
And whatever day, you know, make three days out of it. However many days you want.
But you know, the first part of our week should be given to God.
That's what I believe. I think that's the best thing for us.
And then if you're out of town and you come, at least you got two out of the three.
You know, and then listen to online or whatever.
Why should we make a day of it? Because the time is short and we live our lives like a tale that is told.
And before we know it, we're over the hill. Right?
So let's make a day of it. Alright, let's pray.
Heavenly Father, we thank you Lord so much for the Scriptures, Lord, and how important it is that we just focus on a day of it.
That we take a day to day walk with you. That we die daily. That we take up our cross daily and follow after you, Lord.
I pray that you would just help us in this church to make sure that our hearts are right, Lord, before you.
And that, Lord, we are plugged in and that, Lord, you would be pleased with every single person in this church
as we serve Christ, as we serve you, Lord, as we make a day of it.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Amen.