(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Alright, first of all I'd like to thank Pastor Anderson and Brother Ressel and the congregation here for allowing me to preach to you today. And you're there in Acts chapter 20 and I want you to look down, if you would, at verse 28. That's our verse for today. It says, And the title of my sermon this morning is the importance of going to church, the importance of going to church. See, going to church is very important. In fact, church is so important that Jesus Christ purchased the church with his own blood. It also says in Ephesians chapter 5, in verse 25, it says husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. So see, Jesus Christ died so that we can go to church. And so church is very important. And there's a de-emphasizing of church today in America. You know, a lot of people don't go to church or they don't think that church is very important, but church is extremely important. And we're going to talk about that today. So turn, if you would, to Exodus chapter 12. Exodus chapter 12. So the first thing I'd like to talk about is what exactly is church? There's lots of misconceptions about church. And church in the Bible is synonymous with the word congregation. In the Old Testament, the word congregation was used. In the New Testament, it's called church. In Psalm 22, it says, In the midst of the congregation, will I praise thee? And in Hebrew chapter 2, that's quoted as, In the midst of the church, will I sing praise unto thee? So church is a congregation. That's the simplest way to put it. But it's not just a congregation of just anybody. Lots of people congregate for lots of different reasons. Maybe people get together because they love Trump or whatever. But a presidential rally is not the same thing as a church. So let's talk about what differentiates a church. So Exodus chapter 12, the whole chapter is where the children of Israel are practicing the Passover for the very first time, which is a strong picture of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. But this is the very first time that the word congregation is used in the entire Bible. And it says in verse 3, it says, speak ye, this is God, it says, speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel. So notice this is the very first time that God, He addresses the congregation. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month, they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house. And so in this chapter, of course, it pictures Jesus Christ. Notice the Passover, everybody takes a lamb, and then they, they slaughtered the lamb and they put the blood on the doorpost. This is the very first time that God is addressing the congregation. So that what that should tell us is that church in the New Testament is made up of people who have taken of the lamb slain from the foundation of the world, who have taken the Lamb of God, people who are saved people are believers, right? And so this is an Old Testament appearance of Jesus Christ. And this shows us that church is for saved people. And of course, we have visitors show up sometimes and we have people who come here and they get saved, but by and large, you know, church is for saved people. So church is a congregation of believers, right? So let's talk about what church is not, you know, because like, like I said, there's lots of misconceptions about church out there. You know, a lot of people think, or at least they might not come out and say this, but they think it in their heart that church is a building, but you know, church is not, you know, walls that in a roof, you know, but a lot of people that's where their heart is. They spent hundreds of thousands of dollars or maybe even millions of dollars on some big cathedral or some big church building and everything, but that's not what church is. Church is the congregation. And I think that if people understood that church means congregation, then a lot of these misconceptions would not be there. You know, another thing that people say is, oh, church is just, you know, church is inside of you or church is you and God just communing together or whatever, but that's not church either. You know, that's just you praying to God and things. There's not a congregation inside of you. You know what I mean? And church is not, you know, listening to sermons online. You know, a lot of people think, oh, I don't have to go to church because I can listen to sermons online, but it's not the same. You know, church is whenever you're congregated together. And this is the probably the most popular one that I know of this popular misconception that church is made up of millions of people all around the world. Just anybody who believes in Christ, we're all the body of Christ collectively. And in fact, somebody who was telling me that yesterday, we were in globe for our soul winning weekend trip. And this guy was telling me, I asked him what church he goes to and he says, well, you know, we're all made up of the body of Christ and he wouldn't tell me what church he goes to. And so that's a common misconception. But the problem with that is that church is the congregation. And so we're not all congregated together, all the believers around the world on Sunday or anything like that. So the simplest way to say it is simply this, that church is a congregation of believers. So turn if you would to Acts chapter 12, right? So now we're going to get into the meat of the sermon and I'm going to give you several reasons why you should go to church. There are so many reasons in the Bible to go to church and I'm sure that I'm only going to scratch the surface even in the sermon, but I'm going to give you several reasons why. The first reason that I could come up with that you should go to church is because whenever you need help, you know, whenever you're in a time of trouble, there is help in time of need whenever you go to church, right? In Matthew 21 and verse 18, it says, and said unto them, it is written, my house shall be called the house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves. And Jesus Christ said that in Matthew 21, he said in Mark 11, he said in Luke 19, and he's quoting Isaiah 56 whenever he says that. And so whenever we come to church, this is a house of prayer. And so, you know, if you have time, if you have times of trouble or things like that, then you can ask the people in church to pray for you. And that's a great way that you can receive help. It also says in James chapter five and verse 14, it says, is any sick among you? Let them call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick and the Lord shall raise them up. And if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. And so we should be praying at church. You know, that's why we pray before the service and everything. And so that's how you can receive help if you're sick or if you're going through hard times, you can have the people at church pray for you because prayer is not just an exercise, you know, prayer actually changes things. Prayer is very, very important. And I'll give you a story in the Bible about how prayer changed a situation, right? So in Acts chapter 12, where you're at, look down, if you would, at verse one. Now the Bible says, now about that time, Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. And he killed James, the brother of John with the sword. And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. Then were the days of unleavened bread. And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him, intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people. Now look at verse five, it says, Peter therefore was kept in prison, but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. And so not only was prayer made for him, you know, from his family members or from his friends, no, prayer was made of the church unto him, unto God for him. And so you need to be in church in order to receive help in time of need, you know, because we're all going to go through hard times in our lives. And we all need help sometimes. And you know, if you know the end of this story in Acts chapter 12, then you know that after they pray for him, you know, an angel comes and breaks Peter out of prison. And Peter thinks that it's a dream or something, but then, you know, he is outside of prison and the angel disappears. And would that have happened if the whole church wasn't praying for him? I don't know. But you know, that's what the Bible emphasizes right here is the fact that the whole church was praying for him. You know, they cease not to pray for him. And not only through prayer, but that we can receive assistance at church, but we can also receive financial assistance. You know, if you can't make your bills or whatever, or you know, maybe you're moving from one house to another, you can ask the people at church to help you. Or if your car breaks down, you know, I've been without a car since I've been here at church. And I've had a lot of people help me, you know, get to church and everything. And I can't count how many times I've helped other people get to church. And so that, so church is a great place to receive help, but not only to receive help, but also to give help as well. You know, in the Bible, it says it is more blessed to give than to receive. And so not only to receive help, but also to give help as well. It says in Galatians chapter six and verse two, it says, bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. So we all need to be looking out for each other, helping each other. And we know that from the Bible, it's more blessed to give than to receive, but also just modern science will tell us that as well. You know, a lot of people say, oh, you know, most Americans struggle with depression or bad thoughts or whatever. And it's because, you know, they're very introverted. They only care about themselves. And the best method to cure that is to think about other people, help other people, right? And so that's just another reason why the Bible is correct and it's always correct. So, and God has given us this perfect avenue to give, to help, to help other people. And that is the church, right? So turn if you would to first Corinthians chapter three, first Corinthians chapter three. Another reason that I'll give you for going to church is for the fellowship. Now this is one of my favorite reasons to go to church. And it says in Galatians chapter two and verse six, it says, and when James Cephas and John who seemed to be pillars perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas, the right hands of fellowship that we should go into the heathen and they unto the circumcision. So Paul is emphasizing here that, um, the people at that church, they, they extended their hands of fellowship under them. Right? And that was very important to him. It says in Acts chapter two, it says, then they, then they that gladly received his word were baptized and the same day there were added unto them about 3000 souls. And they continued steadfastly and the apostles doctrine, but not only that, it says and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers. And so see, fellowship is very important. Fellowship is, uh, emphasized in the Bible. It also says in, uh, first Timothy chapter one and verse 15, it says, this thou knowest that all day, which are in Asia be turned away from me of whom are five jealous and homogenies. And so Paul's lonely here, you know, he doesn't have any fellowship right now, but he says this, the Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus for he oft refresh me. I was not ashamed of my chain. So there was this one guy, you know, most people had forsaken Paul, but there was this one guy onness, uh, onness, onness, sephorus, that's hard to say, uh, but, but he refreshed Paul, you know, and I'm sure that you have people like that at church where you come and then you see your, your good friend. And then you say, boy, you know, I can't, I'm, I'm looking forward to seeing, uh, so-and-so because he refreshes me, you know, and Onesiphorus was like that to Paul where he refreshed him. And so it's very important to come to church for the good fellowship because people are counting on you to be here and you know, people are discouraged whenever you're not here. And not only that, you know, uh, the, the reason that church discipline works as well, because, you know, sometimes we have a situation where we have to, you know, uh, separate somebody from the church because they're in, you know, fornication or they're a drunkard or whatever. And the, and the, uh, good reason, a good reason for them to come back is for the fellowship. That's why we say, whenever we kick somebody out, you know, don't, don't have any fellowship with them. Don't call them or whatever, because they can get all the preaching that they want online, but preaching is not church, you know, and they're going to miss that fellowship if they don't have that. And, um, not only that, you know, if someone comes to church for a little while, but they don't get plugged into the church, they don't have good fellowship. You know, they come in right as the service starting or then they leave right after the service is done. And then they're likely not going to be here for a very long time because, you know, fellowship is a big part of the church and that keeps you grounded in church is your friends and your, and your good fellowship that you have. So that's very important. Now, another reason, uh, to come to church is for edification, right? That word edify comes from the same root word as the word edifice, which means building, right? And church is not, well, church is not a building as in four walls, but church is a building as in the congregation. It says that in first Corinthians chapter three, it says in verse nine for we, now this is Paul. He's talking about preachers. He's talking about anybody who's preaching to that church. So Paul, Apollos, he says, for we are laborers together with God, ye, referring to the church, are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. So see, whenever a preacher gets up and then he preaches and then you say, boy, that's an edifying sermon. That means that he has built you guys up. He has built you individually and he's built up the church as God's building. It says also in first Timothy chapter three, it says, but if I carry long that thou mayest know how the audits to behave thyself and the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. And so you get edified a church because this is where the truth is being preached. You know, this is the pillar and ground of the truth. You know, the truth is the Bible. The truth is the, the, the church and, and the truth is Jesus Christ, you know? Yeah. And you know, there's a lot of these, you know, so-called truth seekers out there, you know, who listen to people online or whatever, and then they're all about conspiracy theories and things like that. And I'm not totally against that, but you know, that's not the real truth. You know, the real truth is preached at church, you know what I mean? And you know, there are people out there like Alex Jones or Joe Rogan, and then they, they talk about, you know, the truth movement or finding the truth or whatever, but I guarantee that those people aren't telling you, Hey, go to church, you know, Hey, get your Bible, you know, Hey, get saved. They're not telling you those things. So they're not preaching the real truth. The real truth is found in the word of God. So turn, if you would, to John chapter 20, John chapter 20. And a lot of people will say this that they're edified by the, you know, online sermons and things like that. And yeah, definitely, you know, the online sermons definitely help. I don't, I don't even recommend that you just listen to three sermons a week whenever you come to church, but also be listening to sermons outside of church as well. That's very important. But here's the thing. And, and this next point, you're not going to understand this unless you've been in church for any length of time. But the reason to go to church is because there's something special about going to church. There's just something special about being at church and just being with the people of God and listening to a sermon while you're actually there. Right? So it says in first Corinthians chapter five and verse four, it says in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, now that's the church and my spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so when we're gathered together, we have his spirit and we have the power of our Lord Jesus Christ. Right? Now, this is funny. I want to tell this funny story between me and brother Russell, because I accidentally insulted him a little bit one time, but yeah, what happened was he preached this sermon here in Tucson called America's Only Prayer. It's about how, you know, America is going down a bad trail or whatever. And he posted it to YouTube and it didn't get a lot of views. I think it only had two or three people that listened to the whole sermon. And I was one of those two or three people because I try to listen to all the sermons that are preached here. But a few weeks later, he went up to Tempe and then he preached the exact same sermon. He said, yeah, I just preached a sermon, but nobody listened to it online. So I'm going to re-preach it. Right? And so he preached it twice. Once whenever I listened to it online and I listened to it in person and then afterward I went up to him and I said, hey, I was one of the two or three people that actually listened to your sermon. He said, oh, that's great. Which one did you like better? I said, oh, I like the one that you preach in Tempe way better, you know? And he said, well, I, I mean, I guess I got to preach all my sermons twice now. So I wasn't trying to insult him or anything, but it's the truth. You know, there's just something different about being there, you know, being in the auditorium with the preaching, you know? And it says in Revelation chapter one and verse 12, it says, and I turned to see the voice that spake with me and being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks. Now this represents seven churches, right? And it says in verse 13, it says in the, in the midst of the seventh candlesticks, one like unto the son of man, now that's Jesus Christ, clothes with a garment down to the foot and girt about the paths with a golden girdle. So notice in the middle of the churches, Jesus Christ is there, right? Now let's take a look at another story where Jesus is there at church. Now you're there in John chapter 20. Look down if you would at verse number 19, verse number 19. John 20 and verse 19, the Bible says, then the same day at evening. Now I want you to understand what's going on here. They're at evening time. So it's dark outside being the first day of the week. Now that's Sunday. So this Sunday evening when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled. So notice they're assembled it's Sunday and it's at nighttime. What is this? This is the Sunday evening service, right? This is what we're going to have in a few hours. For fear of the Jews came Jesus and stood in the midst and sayeth unto them, peace be unto you. Now that is a powerful church service right there. You know, Jesus Christ appeared in the flesh in the middle of the church, in the middle of the church service. Now let's see what happens to him or what happens because he preaches a great sermon. It says in verse 20, it says, and when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them again, peace be unto you as my father has sent me, even so sent I you. He's, he's preaching the great commission right here. This is, this is a very important sermon. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and sayeth unto them, receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whosoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them and whosoever sins ye retain, they are retained. And so this was a very powerful Sunday night church service. And I'm sure that many people wanted to be there, but only the, you know, but they missed it, you know, and let's take a look at someone who missed it. And the next verse in verse 24, it says, but Thomas, right. And we all know Thomas doubting Thomas, one of the 12 called Didymus was, was not with them. When Jesus came, he's probably there for the morning service, but he wasn't there for the evening service. He missed it. And other disciples, therefore said unto him, we have seen the Lord, but look at what he says, but he said unto them, except I shall see in his hands, the print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails and thrust my hand into his side. I will not believe. So notice, you know, it wasn't the same whenever he heard it later because his friends came up to him and told him all about the sermon, but it wasn't the same, you know, because there's something special about being at church and you never know when that, you know, life changing sermon is going to be, you know, you want to be there and, you know, and unfortunately, because he missed this one church service, cause I'm sure he's a great guy, but for the past 2000 years, he's been known as, you know, doubting Thomas. Right. And that is not a good title to have. I'm sure that he, if he could change things that he would not want that title, right. But here's the thing about that is that even today we have, you know, unflattering titles. Um, for example, you know, you don't want to be known as like a, for example, a Sunday morning glory, you know, or just coming for the Sunday morning service. And of course, I'm not picking on anybody cause I hardly know any of you, but, but you know, it's not, it's not, uh, that's not a flattering title. That's not a title that you want, you know, being a doubting Thomas or a Sunday morning glory or, or, um, um, you know, an Easter and Christmas type of Christian or whatever, that's not what you want to be known as. You want to be known as a faithful Christian. You know, you want to be somebody who brother rest. So he comes down here and he says, if nobody else shows up, I know at least, you know, brother Fabian will be there or sister so-and-so or brother so-and-so, you know, he wants, uh, you know, you want to be known as a faithful Christian, right? And here's a good title that was given to people who went to, who were faithful to church. It says in Acts chapter 11 and verse 26, it says, and when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch and it came to pass that a whole year, that's 365 days, they assembled themselves with the church and taught much people and listen to this. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. And so these people who were gathered together with the church were called Christians. They were gathered together with the church for a whole year. And so they were called first Christians in Antioch. And of course we throw around that word Christian a lot nowadays. I think, you know, 80 something percent of Americans claim to be Christians, you know, so not everybody who was saved was there, was there, but then everybody who was at church was called Christians. Right. So not only, yeah, so let's see here. I'll give you another positive example. Um, so it says in verse, in Acts 20 and verse 17, it says, and from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church. And when they were come to him, he said unto them, ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia. So notice Paul, he didn't, he didn't waste any time for the very first day that he came into Asia, he was going to church with them. That reminds me of our church up in Tempe, you know, pastor Anderson, he came into town and then less than a week later, he started the church and he started out on December 25th, 2005. So on, on Christmas morning, you know, he didn't waste any time. And this is just like Paul, Paul didn't waste any time. You know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I've been with you at church at all seasons, so see, Paul was always there. He was a faithful Christian. He was found faithful and going to church. Paul's there at all seasons. So that's a great reason why you should go to church, because you never know when that life changing sermon is going to be. You never know when that's going to happen. So turn, if you would to Romans chapter 10, Romans chapter 10, another good reason to go to church is to sing praises unto the Lord, you know, the Bible commands us to sing praises to God. And sometimes you can know you can get busy in your day-to-day life and you can forget to sing on a daily basis, but going to church ensures that you're singing unto the Lord. It says in Hebrews 2 12, we looked at this verse earlier to saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren in the midst of the church, while I sing praise unto thee, it also says in Colossians 3 16, it says, let us it says, let the word of Christ dwell in you, richly and all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another. So it's not just yourself. It's one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. So you're speaking to each other in Psalms hymns and spiritual songs. So that's a church, right? Now in Romans chapter 10, this leads me to my next point. And that is simply this. This is one of the most important things that we do at church. And you go to church to be sent out to preach the gospel. You know, this is, this is the local new Testament church, and we send people out to go preach the gospel and preach a, so it says in Romans chapter 10 and verse 13, it says, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him and whom they have not believed and how shall they believe in him and whom they have not heard and how shall they hear without a preacher and listen to this and how shall they preach except they be sent as it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things. And so preaching the gospel without being sent, you know, it doesn't work. And obviously whenever I say it doesn't work, of course, you're going to get people saved no matter what, but I just mean that it's not going to work for the longterm, you know, if you try to go out and preach in the gospel, but you have no church, you're not going to be in it for 30 years, 40 years, 50 years. That's why it's so important to be at church, you know, and unfortunately we don't have enough churches in the world today. That's why we want to start more churches so that more people can go out and preach the gospel and we can get the gospel out. Amen. Yeah. Preaching the gospel to every creature. And so that's another really important reason to go to church. And I'll give you a couple of other reasons. It says in Revelation chapter one, where we looked at a few minutes ago, it calls the church a candlestick, right? It's talked about the seven candlesticks and then talked about the seven churches and the thing about the candlestick is that you can raise it up very high and you can let the candle shine its light to the whole room, right? But what if you just have a candle and no candlestick, then you're not going to, it's not going to illuminate as much. That's why you need to go to church to the, to the, your local independent fundamental Baptist candlestick, you know what I mean? Yeah. So that you can shine the light even more. It says in Matthew chapter five and verse 14, it says, ye are the light of the world, a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid, neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father, which is in heaven. And so if you're not in church, then you're, you're not going to shine your light very far. So you need to be in church so that you can be sent out and preach the gospel to every creature. Now, I also want to talk about how you should go to church and I know I just keep going and going and going, but there's just so many reasons why you should go to church and I guarantee I'm not going to cover all of it either. But another reason is because there is a special place in church just for you. And what I'm talking about is the fact that the church is a body. And I'm sure that we've all heard this preaching before, but in Romans chapter 12, it says in verse four, it says, for as we have many members in one body and all members have not the same office, so we being many are one body in Christ and every one members of another, of one another. And so you need to be here because we need all our body parts. You know, we need the eye and we need the hand and we need the foot. And so we need everybody here in order to accomplish the work of the Lord. And, you know, if you're not here, then the work of the Lord is still going to keep going. You know, if, if someone, you know, can't make it today, then we're not going to cancel the church service, even if brother Russell can't make it here, we're not going to cancel the church service and the church is going to continue the work of the Lord is going to continue, but I mean, what's better, you know, working with one foot or one hand, no, we want all our body parts, you know what I mean? So we need everybody here. That's another great reason to go to church is because there's a special place just for you. It says in Colossians 2 19, it says, and not, and not holding the head from which all the body by joints and bands, having nourish, nourishment, ministered, and knit together increase it with the increase of God. And so you're going to increase as a Christian with the increase of God. You're going to, you're going to grow spiritually whenever you're here at church, you know, whenever you're hearing the sermons and you're being edified, you're going to be built up. And so these are a lot of great reasons to go to church. It is in your best interest to go to church, you know, and finally, the last reason I'll give you to go to church. And I almost didn't go over this one, but I want to talk about it. And that is simply this, that it is a commandment to go to church. You know, it says in Hebrews chapter 10, we all know this verse in 25, it says, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another and so much more as you see the day approaching, it also says in first Thessalonians 5 20, it says, despise, not prophesize. And, you know, that's what you're saying in your heart. Whenever you don't come to church, you're despising the preaching. You're despising the prophesying. And so here's the thing. The reason I didn't want to go over that too much is because personally, I'm not worried about the commandment to go to church because I want to go to church, you know, I'm not worried about the commandment to go to church because I love to go to church. And you know, if you want to do the minimum and just do one service a week, then you know, and you're not in sin or whatever, then you know, you do that, but I'm not worried about just not being in sin. I wanted to do as much for God as I possibly can. You know, I'm not looking to do the minimum for God. I want to do the maximum for God. I don't want to just get by in the Christian life. I want to excel in the Christian life. And so the reason I preach this sermon is to instill that same thing into all of you is because I don't want you to say, Oh man, I have to go to church. I want you to say, I want to go to church. And I don't want the people who, you know, come, uh, don't come to church. I want the people who don't come to church to come to church. And I want the people who only come for Sunday morning to come for Sunday night. And I want the people who only come for Sunday to come for Wednesday. And I want the people who are three here, three to thrive, to be here every time that the doors are open. You know, I want each and every one of you to make a decision that you're going to, you know, start loving church and coming to it more. And I want, and I want everyone here to have the same attitude that David had in Psalm 122 in verse one, where he said, I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord. So let's all have that same attitude. Okay. All right. So let's pray.