# 5 - CHURCH Hebrews 10:24-25

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1 10 WORDS THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR FAMILY # 5 - CHURCH Hebrews 10:24-25 INTRODUCTION: As we continue our series of sermons on 10 Words That Will Change Your Family --- We are sharing some THEMES that are truly TRANSFORMING for those who have ears to hear. Our 1 st word was LOVE.our 2 nd was FORGIVENESS. Our 3 rd word was COMMITMENT and our 4 th was TRUTH. This morning we place before you this FAMILY-CHANGER CHURCH! From day one --- after PENTECOST God s people began to meet together, to WORSHIP their LORD to PRAISE Him for the salvation that was theirs, because of His SACRIFICE on the CROSS! No one had to PUSH them.no one had to PROD them. In the beginning of this new thing called the CHURCH the BODY of CHRIST. They had received NEW LIFE.eternal life --- through FAITH in Jesus Christ! --- and it was a NATURAL response; to MEET together. NOTICE how LUKE described this new PHENOMENA, following Peter s powerful gospel presentation: Acts 2:41-47 HCSB - So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about 3,000 people were added to them. 42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers. 43 Then fear came over everyone, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles. 44 Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. 45 They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as anyone had a need. 46 Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple complex, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with a joyful and humble attitude, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to them those who were being saved.

2 These new Christians were NOT meeting just on SUNDAY They were meeting EVERY day! v. 46 Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple complex, and broke bread from house to house. THIS, of course, was a UNIQUE special time in the life of the CHURCH. It was the BIRTH of the Body of Christ! --- We don t meet EVERY day of the week We meet on SUNDAYS for corporate WORSHIP and on WEDNESDAYS for Bible Study, Prayer, AWANAS and CHOIR. The THRUST of our message this morning is this: If you want to experience the BEST that God has for your FAMILY.You NEED to LOVE FORGIVE be COMMITTED and make CHURCH an important part of your family life! There was an interesting story the other day out of Israel. There was a woman in Tel Aviv who very thoughtfully decided to do something nice for her elderly mother. She bought her a new mattress for her bed. The old mattress was old and lumpy and in need of replacement. So as a surprise, the woman had her mother s old mattress carted off to the junk yard, and she replaced it with a brand new one. It was a big mistake and a very expensive one. As it turns out, the older woman had hidden her life s savings in that mattress. Stuffed inside that mattress had been over one million dollars. They haven t found it yet, and an Israeli Daily newspaper ran a picture of a woman desperately combing through a junkyard in southern Israel. But so far, they ve had no success. The simple point being that sometimes it is very easy for a new, younger, succeeding generation of people to toss away something that s very valuable like church attendance. QUESTION: How many here this morning grew up on a FARM or a RANCH? Throughout your life you have probably gone to the barn hundreds of times, but that did NOT make you a HORSE! ( and attending Church hundreds of times does not make you a CHRISTIAN!) Yet, the BIBLE places great emphasis on attending church! LISTEN to the following CHALLENGE, concerning the NEED to meet on a regular basis:

3 Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. The author of HEBREWS is saying: that these people are going to stick it our or BAIL-OUT!... And the author knows that the DECIDING-factor will be whether or not they are plugged into a church FAMILY! LISTEN TO ME! You WILL NOT make it over the long haul without being an ACTIVE part of a CHURCH family! The EMPHASIS here, in Hebrews 10:4-25, is NOT on what a believer gets from the assembly, but rather on what he can CONTRIBUTE to the assembly. What is it, that Proverbs 27:17 tells us? Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. Proverbs 27:17 1. We need to provoke one another! Now some of you do a GREAT job at provoking the rest of us!! This word provoking is also translated stimulating (NASB). We are to consider how to stimulate one another to love and good works. This word consider (v. 24) in the KJV, is translated concerned in the HOLMAN CHRISTIAN STANDARD BIBLE. It is a Greek word which speaks of attentive, continuous care. The exhortation is to take careful note of each other s spiritual welfare. I want you to THINK HARD about this: Just HOW CONCERNED are you about your FELLOW Christians? Are you CONCERNED enough to at the very least to get out of bed on Sunday morning, get dressed and SHOW UP at CHURCH? THIS is what should happen when you come to CHURCH on any given Lord s Day! In S.S.or in the WORSHIP hour we should be CONCERNED about stimulating --- challenging each other to love and good works.

4 You won t be SPIRITUALLY-stimulating anyone if you stay at home on a given Sunday.and you won t get SPIRITUALLY stimulated staying at HOME! You will not get CHALLENGED to love people and do good works by rolling over in bed! A pastor went to visit a man who had been absent from church for some time. When the pastor arrived at the house of his wayward parishioner he found him sitting by a fire of glowing coals. The man fully expected his pastor to rebuke him for his tardy attendance at services. But instead the pastor drew up a chair alongside the fireplace where the man was sitting just peering into the fire. W/ the tongs the pastor reached into the fire & took one of the red hot glowing coals and placed it by itself out on the hearth. W/I no time at all the coal began to lose its glow until in a few minutes it was black. The man looked up into the face of his pastor who hadn't said a word and he said "I'll be there next Sunday." One of the BEST ways to stay FAITHFUL in the things of God is to attend a CHRIST-honoring BIBLE-believing GOSPEL-preaching CHURCH, where you can LOVE and be loved where you can SERVE and be served! NOTICE: In v. 24, we re to provoke unto love and to good works. - v. 24 THIS is a SNAPSHOT of REAL Christianity! LOVE for God and others and a life of GOOD WORKS (ministering to the needs of others!) So, THIS is our responsibility when we gather at church--- to spur one another on to love and good works! LOOK AT v We need to assemble ( v. 25) with other believers! A little old lady was amazed at how nice the young man was next door. Every day he would help her gather things from her car or help her in her yard. One day, the old lady finally ask the young man, "Son, how did you become such a fine young man?"

5 The young man replied, "Well, when I was a boy, I had a drug problem." The old lady was shocked. "I can t believe that." The young man replied, "It s true. My parents drug me to church on Sunday morning, drug me to church on Sunday night and drug me to church on Wednesday night." NOTICE, here in v. 25, that the writer says: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is v. 25 v. 25 not forsaking. Not abandoning There were those who PROFESSED to be followers of Jesus Christ yet, they were forsaking their church meetings. So, this PROBLEM in our local churches is not a NEW phenomena.even in the EARLY CHURCH, there were those who said they were CHRISTIANS, yet they REFUSED to attend their church meetings. The apostle Paul wrote about one such individual, who used to co-labor with him in the ministry: 2 Timothy 4:10a For Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Some of the professing Christians were FORSAKING their local church. Some were spiritual deserters. They STOPPED attending public worship. They were staying HOME! LISTEN TO ME! THIS is one of the surest ways to become DISCOURAGED in your walk with God! You are playing Lone Ranger Christianity --- but, you don t have a TONTO to encourage you! The Religious News Service ran an article saying: Booming megachurches might grab headlines, but the bigger story of American congregations is one of accelerating decline, according to David T. Olson, director of the American Church Research Project. Based on data collected from more than 200,000 churches, he projects that by 2050, only 10 percent of Americans will be in church on any given Sunday.

6 The question we need to ASK ourselves is this: WHY do so many who CLAIM to be CHRISTIAN, refuse to attend church? 1. Many of those who forsake the assembly of the church are NOT really saved!.and, because of that, they find church meetings BORING of no use 2. Then there are those Christians who have stopped attending church because of the HUGE DEMAND that Jesus Christ makes upon their lives Luke 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. Some people want what they think is just enough Jesus to get me to Heaven kind of religion (but, NO demands on me, please!) But, when the Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of Heaven and Earth CALLS a man/woman.he DEMANDS that HE, alone, has your TOTAL ALLEGIANCE! Luke 14:26-27 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. 27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. 3. There are those who have QUIT attending CHURCH because they have a set-agenda and when they do not get their way, they leave. They are kind of like the young boy, who picked up his ball and went home, because he the other boys wouldn t play by HIS rules! 4. There are others who have dropped-out of attending church because they have been OFFENDED. Someone has said something RUDE to them! Another just can t believe that we allow so and so to attend our church! They quit coming and NO ONE came to see them! We, as a church, DO NEED to understand sometimes WE are the ones at fault and we need to do all we can to make things right with people.

7 5. There are those who would say: There are too many HYPOCRITES in that church! THINK ABOUT IT: If you let a HYPOCRITE stand BETWEEN you and God..GUESS who s CLOSER to God!? THINK ABOUT THIS: If you call yourself a CHRISTIAN, and don t attend church --- THAT makes YOU the HYPOCRITE! Charles Swindoll said the following, "You want to mess up the minds of your children? Here s how - guaranteed! Rear them in a legalistic, tight context of external religion, where performance is more important than reality. Fake your faith. Sneak around and pretend your spirituality. Train your children to do the same. Embrace a long list of do s and don ts publicly but hypocritically practice them privately... yet never own up to the fact that its hypocrisy. Act one way but live another. And you can count on it - emotional and spiritual damage will occur." PARENTS: When it comes to the issue of HYPOCRISY.Why don t you take the opportunity to TEACH your children what hypocrisy is --- the DANGER it is, to their relationship with Christ!? 6. You hear some say: I don t go because my parents MADE me go! I didn t have a choice! Did they make you go to school? Did they make you go to the Dentist? Of course they did! Because it was for your own GOOD! So it is with attending CHURCH! It s for your own good! And GOOD parents see that their children are in CHURCH! 7. BOTTOM-LINE there are so many reasons people have chosen to forsake the assembling with other believers, that we could preach an entire sermon on the subject!.the preacher preaches too long.they don t like the music always asking for MONEY! But, HERE S the point! --- The Word of God tells us, here in v to NOT FORSAKE the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is If you TRULY know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.WHY would you NOT want to worship with your fellow saints?

8 Love for other Christians is actually a PROOF that you are genuinely SAVED! 1 John 3:14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. How can those who are truly SAVED, neglect to meet with others, whom Christ PURCHASED with His own blood? Acts 20:28 HCSB Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock that the Holy Spirit has appointed you to as overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood. HERE, in essence, is what you would be telling the Lord Jesus Christ: Lord, I realize You died on the CROSS, and shed your precious BLOOD for these people.but, I d rather not associate with them!......sure, Lord, I DO love them, but I just don t want to be around them! Ephesians 2:19 says, in the Living Bible: You are members of God s very own family, citizens of God s country, and you belong to God s household with every other Christian. Ephesians 2:19 TLB Rick Warren wrote about this in his book, The Purpose-Driven Life: The moment you were spiritually born into God s family, you were given some astounding birthday gifts: the family name, the family likeness, family privileges, family intimate access, and the family inheritance. The Bible says, Since you are His child, everything He has belongs to you. Now, what would you think of a child or a family member who, every night at supper, came and filled up his or her own plate and went back to their room and ate in silence and alone while the rest of the family laughed and talked and ate at the dinner table? There s no such thing as a SOLITARY SAINT! Christianity is all about RELATIONSHIPS. The phrase one another occurs 50 times in the N.T. GOD S WORD is telling you and me: DO NOT FORSAKE YOUR CHURCH MEETINGS! NOTICE a 3 rd thing, here in Hebrews 10:25 - but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. 3. We need to exhort one another!

9 I agree with J. VERNON McGEE We need to study the Word of God together. God has something for a group that He will not give to any one individual If you have a Bible study at your church, be sure to go because there is a blessing for you there that you can t get when you study the Bible by yourself. Again, there are those who THINK: I get just as much, if not MORE, out of my PRIVATE study than I do when I go to Bible study at the church. Oh! How SELFISH of you! You only go to church/bible study to GET? Whatever happened to the idea of GIVING? Didn t the Lord say: It is more blessed to GIVE, than to receive? DAVID GUZIK - Many people go to church if they feel that they need it at the time. But our motivation for fellowship must be to obey God and to give to others. We can go to church looking to encourage someone who needs to hang in there against a tide of discouragement. PARENTS: Your children need to see you as a GIVER.not a TAKER! You need to TEACH them, by your EXAMPLE, that attending CHURCH is ESSENTIAL for healthy spiritual growth and formation! We need to do this.until.look AT v. 25 and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching! What is this referring to? The day approaching is the RETURN of Jesus Christ for His CHURCH! (His people!) CONCLUSION: You see, ONE DAY in the near future, Jesus Christ is going to BUST HEAVEN wide-open! and He is going to DESCEND.to gather-up His people! The apostle Paul words it like this to the CHURCH at Thessalonica: 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

10 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.