Series: The Lies We Believe

Title: I Don’t Have to Go to Church

Shocking stats of the day

• In 2014 65% of American churches have a weekly attendance of less than 100 people, including children.
• In 2017 While 1 in 4 Americans are done with church, half of all Americans (48%) are done with God. Known as post-Christian, they say that God plays no role whatsoever in their life.
• In 2018 we see that only 22% of Americans attend church on a weekly basis.

I must admit going to church does not make you a Christian, but regular church attendance is vital in helping to keepyou as a Christian.

To say that you love Jesus, and to not submit to his wordwould make you a liar.

John 14:23

²³ Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

It was Jesus who has establishedthe church not Paul or any other apostle.

Matthew 16:18

¹⁸ And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

What is the Church?

Ekklesia-    an assembly of Christians gathered for worship, who hope for eternal salvation through Jesus Christ and are united into one body.

A local church is a group of believerswho meet regularly to worshipGod through Jesus Christ, to be encouragedfrom the Word of God, and to rememberthe Lord's death burial and to celebrate His resurrection.

So, for a person to say they are all about Jesusbut notabout the local church, is to deny the very institutionthat Christ came to live and give his lifefor. Thereby walking contrary to the words of Jesusand the church that He has established. 

Ephesians 2:19-22

¹⁹ So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, 

Beforeyou knew Christ, you were an alienor strangerto the things of Christ. You were surrounded by worldly peopleand their ideologies and you were foreignto God’s expectations for your life. But now that Christ is living on the inside of you;

but you are fellow citizens(or of those who are consecratedto God)

with the saints(blameless, righteousness of God through Christ Jesus)

and membersof the householdof God,

(You belongto God, He is your Heavenly Father, and you are His Kid.  You are a part of His familynow which also implies togetherness and completeness. You are not to isolateyourself from the church thinking you can do it on your own.

 ²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, ²¹ in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. ²² In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

As believers we are all membersof the Church. Our foundation is built upon the teachingof the apostles which is ultimately built upon Christ himself. We are many membersbut one body.  Every member of the body plays an important role in being the church.

Christ built the church by setting up prophets and teachers and pastorsand those who wouldequip the churchfor the work of the ministry.

• Why is it important to go to church?

1. Corporate worship-

We gather to worship God because He is worthy.  That is the goal of corporate worship.  He is worthy of generationsof believers coming together to lift up His name. 

Psalms 95:1-3

¹Oh come, let ussing to the Lord;
    let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
² Letus come into his presence with thanksgiving;
    let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
³ For the Lord is a great God,
    and a great King above all gods.

Having corporate worship reminds you of your responsibilityto worship Him.  In case you don’t do it in your personal time.

Online church services, community groups etc.… serve their purposes, but they cannot replace corporate worship which can be experienced in a local church. 

Corporate worship causes us to remember the acts of our Lord and Savior and to convey those testimonies to our fellow believers.  As a result, it builds their faith so that they too could believe God for greater things.

2. Fellowship

A big part of why we gather is not necessary for what you can get,but what you can give.  You never know how your experiences could help someone else.

Hebrews 10:24-25

²⁴ And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, ²⁵ not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

The encouragement is to not neglect meeting together.  In other words, strive with your best effort to be in the house of Godas often as possible.  When you show up stir up one anothertolove and good works.

The KJV uses the word provoke,

Provoke- arouse, to excite, to callinto action,

Keeping each other accountable to loveothers and to do good works.

Colossians 3:16

¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

As you begin to worship God, your declaration of who He is and what He has done for you will begin to affect those around youwho are also gathered for corporate worship. 

A brother or sister in Christ could be going through a difficult timeand to hear you worship the Lord could be the very thing God uses to bring freedomin their lives.

Or to hear a word of encouragementfrom another brother or sister in Christ could be the very thing that keeps that personon the path of righteousness.

We were not made to isolate ourselvesfrom community.  We like sheepare made to be in community with one another.

3. The Word of God

2 Timothy 3:16-17

¹⁶All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Another great reason we come to church is to be taught the word of God. To allow His word to correct us and train usin righteousness.

We don’t know how to do righton our own, we must taught.  We are taught through the teaching of the Word of God.

There are times when the teaching of the word of God will make you feel good,and will you get all excited. Then there will be times when the Word of God may not feel so good, instead it may feel as though you have been cut with a knife.  It is because we fight againstour fleshly desires daily. 

But ultimately the only way we will be complete in this life is if we apply His wordinto our lives. We are exhortedfrom the Word of God when we come to church.

4. Equipping for Ministry

Ephesians 4:11-12

¹¹ And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, ¹² to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

One of the greatest reasons we come to church is to be equipped to be ministersof the gospel to hurting peoplearound us. They are our friends, family, relatives, co-workers, classmates, neighbors etc… they are people who are made in the image and likeness of God.  But if they die without knowing Christ, they will spend an eternity separated from God and anything good. 

Notice it is the job of the church leaders to equip the saints,but then it is the duty of the saintsto do the work of the ministry.  We have already established who the saints are, those who are the righteousness of God through Christ Jesus our Lord.

If you thought coming to church was only about you, then you are highly mistaken. We come for Christand to walk in obedience to what He has called us to do.  Which includes telling othersof our faith.

We don’t attend church for the sake of attending, we come to be changedon the insideso that we will be more like Christ. When we have the heart of Christ, we will then be burdened to be launchedback into our spheres of influence in order to do the work of the ministry.  As a result, the church is built up. 

Ephesians 2:10

¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

We are to be doing good worksin the earth which brings about glory to God.

         An excerpt from John Piper

         “Churches are dying today because they are not doing anything which the world should look at and say: "There is evidence that God is real and that he is glorious." Many churches have forgotten why they exist: namely, to do good deeds in the name of Jesus so that people will be moved to give God glory (Matthew 5:16). And when a church forgets that it exists for others and for God, it becomes in-grown and self-satisfied and can go on year after year like a social club with a religious veneer.”

This church was not created to become a social club,but a launching padwhich prepares people to do the great commission.  Let us not forget why we existand why we gather together. We exist for God and others. 

When we neglect our responsibilityto be a part of a local church, we miss out on

• being equipped,
• hearing the word of God
• fellowshipping with other believers
• Corporate worship

As a result, we do not grow,we do not become more Christ like, we become isolatedand lonely instead of reaping the benefits of being in community, we do not fulfill the purposesof God and we walk in disobedienceto what His word says.

So, to dispel the lie, you really must go to church.