Why Go To Church?

Introduction: Squirrels had overrun three churches in town. After much prayer, the elders of the first church determined that the squirrels were predestined to be there, who were they to interfere with God’s will? They reasoned. The elders of the second church deciding that they could not harm any of God’s creatures humanely trapped the squirrels and set them free outside of town. Three days later, the squirrels were back. It was only the third church that succeeded in keeping the squirrels away. They baptized all the squirrels and registered them as members of the church. Now they only see them on Christmas and Easter.

Background: As Paul is writing here in the 10th chapter of Hebrews he is discussing the concept of faith with his readers. He begins his writing by telling how the sacrificial requirements of the Law were insufficient, because it only rolled back sin for a year. And that Christ’s one time sacrifice was sufficient in that it permanently removed sin. Paul then writes that since we have faith in the sufficiency of Christ we need to grow in that faith, and the gathering together of believers is part of that growth process, so in this passage he tells us that we shouldn’t neglect going to church. Now I don’t stand here this morning to give a condescending condemnation to our congregation, but rather a message of encouragement concerning a vital link in the building process of our faith that we ought not miss out on, so…

Proposition: This morning we set out to answer that age old and often asked question, why go to Church?

Transition: As we set out to answer the question of church attendance, I first want to draw your attention to the passage that Kim read for us this morning, as we look at Paul’s…

I. PAUL’S WORD ON CHURCH ATTENDENCE

a. Paul begins by telling us that we need to “hold fast” to what we believe

- To hold to the confession of our hope, our confessed faith in Jesus Christ

- This isn’t always an easy thing to do, at times it’s a great trial

- We are warned that if we quit holding fast then we will loose that hope that we possess

- Paul encourages us to maintain our faith and stand firm behind what we believe and know to be true

- If we are faithful to God, God will be faithful to us

- We will not be disappointed if we hold fast to our confession without wavering, because the one making that promise can be totally relied upon.

b. Paul next tells us that we need to stimulate one another in love and deeds

- This is to be done to build up one another in the faith

- To love others as we ourselves have been loved by God (John 3:16)

- In doing this we need to take into consideration each others strengths and weaknesses

- This done to see where our brother or sister might need support from us

- Once a need is determined, then this is the time when the good deeds and love come into play

- These needs that Paul speaks of are general in nature and can range from the physical to the spiritual

- But now we are taken from the general to the specific

c. We are warned by Paul not to forsake our assembling together

- The word “forsake” in the Greek is evgkataleivponte~

- This means to leave a place or situation, or to carry on in a negligent manner

- Apparently some struggling believers are beginning to be absent from the regular weekly