Sermon (October 6) - "It's a Privilege to Be Here!"

     

     We have been spending these past few weeks focusing on some very basic components of what it means to be fully committed to Jesus Christ in our daily living. During this time we are looking at six key areas and we’ve already looked at the importance of prayer and bible reading.

     Today, we focus on the very important topic of worship. The title of this sermon says it all. “It’s a Privilege to Be Here!” It IS a privilege to be here. There’s just something very special about gathering every week as the people of God to offer our worship and praise.

     It doesn’t matter if you worship in a small rural church with 40 or so people or if you worship in a great big cathedral with lots of high church rituals or if you worship in a multi-purpose auditorium that has loud guitars and high end technology or if you worship in a large county seat church like the one we are in today. What matters is that we make worship with the Body of Christ one of the very top priorities in our commitment to Jesus Christ.

     This past June at our West Ohio Annual Conference session at Lakeside, Ohio, Dr. Elaine Robinson, Academic Dean and Associate Pastor of St. Paul School of Theology at Oklahoma City University told us that she often visits local churches. And one of the questions she likes to ask church members at each of the churches she visits is, “Why do you go to church.”

     And she said that people usually give her these types of answers… “I come to church to see my friends” or “It’s how I get spiritually fed,” or “I love to hear our choir and the great music.”

     And Dr. Robinson said that while all of those are nice answers, rarely does she hear someone say what should be the most important reason to attend church. The reason we should be attending church is to worship God! Somehow, we have made going to church about us and we forget that it’s really all about God and offering our worship to God.

     Even if the sermon isn’t all that great, or our friends are out of town, or the music is so-so, the most important thing about being in this place every week is that we have the incredible opportunity to worship the one who is our Creator and our Redeemer.

     Jesus himself made worship a top priority in his life and ministry.  Jesus followed the Jewish Shema which says to worship the Lord your God with all of your heart, mind, soul, and strength.  Jesus was known to worship regularly in the local synagogue and he traveled to the Temple in Jerusalem on feast days throughout the year. Worship was very important to Jesus.

     In fact, one of the rare times that we read about Jesus being angry was around this topic of worship. This was from our scripture reading this morning when Jesus entered the Temple and drove out the money changers. Jesus was upset that God’s own people were trivializing worship. Instead of God being at the center of worship, they were making other things more important.

     I’d like to offer three reasons why weekly worship is one of the things we can do to help us be fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. There’s a reason why it makes it in the top six things along with prayer and reading the bible.

    The first reason why weekly worship should be a top priority is because it provides us with a sense of community.

     Worship in church reminds us that God did not create us only to be autonomous individuals. God created us to be in relationship with one another, and it’s important to gather as a community to focus our minds and hearts on God.

     As crucial as individual devotional practices are, they are no substitute for worshiping as a community. Just as worship is enhanced by our individual devotional practices, those practices are enhanced by our corporate worship.

     Sometimes people will point out to me that they can grow in their faith without going to worship. And they say how they pray and read their bible on their own. And that’s all important to do those things privately, but then I ask, “But what do you make of the scripture that we read this morning from the Book of Hebrews?” 

     You’re home alone reading through your bible and then you read a scripture like this which says, “Do not neglect to meet together as is the habit of some, but encourage one another.”  The bible itself talks about the importance of corporate worship, about meeting together, about encouraging one another.  How do we do that? We worship together.

     Each week, we gather together, we worship, and then we are sent out with a benediction, a blessing to be the people of God out in the community and in our world.  Worship is a drawing in and a sending out. It is what forms us into a community of faith, a family of God.

      Often times, when I send a personal welcome note to first time worship guests, I’ll write, “Thank you for helping us to worship God together this past Sunday.” There’s something very special when God’s people make a commitment to gather each week to worship God.

     Have you seen that popular sign message that you often see in front of church buildings. It will have the letters, “CH” at one end and “CH” at the other end. And then it has the question, “What’s missing in church?”

     UR! 

     I read about a tavern near a college campus. It was a favorite hangout for many of the students. As Parents’ Weekend approached, they posted a sign that said, “Bring your parents to lunch. We’ll pretend we don’t you know.”

     One of the local churches just across the street from this tavern countered with a signboard that read, “Bring your parents to church. We’ll pretend we do know you.”

     The good news is that we don’t need to pretend that we know each other because whenever we gather in this place for worship, we know who we are. We know that we are a community, called to be the people of God.

     Today is World Communion Sunday. It’s a Sunday each year when churches all around the world celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Communion as a way to remind us that we are part of a much larger community of people who are seeking to be followers of Jesus Christ.  Regardless of our country or language, together, we form the church of Jesus Christ.

     Weekly worship reminds us that we are a community of God’s people.

     The second reason why weekly worship is to be a top priority is because it is about celebration. We gather in worship to lift up and celebrate all that God is doing in the life of our congregation. God is at work in our church and weekly worship provides us that time each week to celebrate what God is doing in and through us.

     We sing opening hymns and songs of praise. We offer our prayers of joy and thankfulness for what God has done and is doing.  Worshiping together helps us to celebrate.

     And thirdly, weekly worship helps us to connect.  Whenever we gather for worship, we connect with God. We remind ourselves that God truly is the Lord of us all. Just as we need one another, we need God’s active presence in our lives, and whenever we gather, we remember that Jesus is the One who has brought us together. Worship helps us to connect with Christ in a very real way.

     Weekly worship helps us to be a community. It helps us to celebrate. And it helps us to connect with Christ.

     I invite us to turn to the commitment slip that can be found in your bulletin today. If you need a bulletin, raise your hand, so you can have one. We’d like each person to have a bulletin this morning. If you take out the commitment slip, notice that it is about worship attendance and you can see the various commitments that are listed there. I’m going to read these possible responses. You can choose more than one of these responses.

·        Today, I’m not ready to make a commitment.

·        I will attend worship three to six times a year.

·        I will attend worship once a month.

·        I will attend worship twice a month.

·        I will attend worship three times a month.

·        I will attend worship four times a month.

·        As my health permits, I will never miss worship.

·        Worship will be a priority in my life, growing to include the following:

     I will be passionate about worship as a true priority of my life. Bad weather, sports, or holidays will not keep me from attending worship. I will prepare the day before, so that I can arrive at worship without last-minute rushing. I will warmly greet those who sit around me. I will surround my friends and family with worship. Through worship I will seek to find strength, power, and direction to face the week.

     I want to give us a couple of minutes to be in quiet and choose one or more of these options that best describe where you are in your prayer life. I’m going to fill out my commitment slip and sign it and I invite you to do so as well. Just take a minute or two. I’ll give you enough time. When you choose your commitment options, indicate the corresponding commitment numbers on the right part of the slip where you can include your name.

     When you’ve completed your slip, you can tear off your copy to take home with you and we are invited to place the smaller half in one of the covenant baskets nearest you. There are baskets down front here and there are baskets up in the balcony.

     I want you to know that we will give these commitment slips our utmost care. We’ll have somebody who is very trustworthy collect the commitments just so that we can be aware of the commitments that are being made today.

     I think we’re ready. May God bless you during this sacred time of commitment.