Never Miss Church

Background

If we have not had the pleasure of meeting my name is John Colunga and I have the privilige of serving as lead pastor here at New Day Pasadena

I also have the privilige of bringing this weeks sermon

So if you have your Bibles, please turn to Romans 14:13-15:7

If you forgot your Bible please use the one in front of you and if you dont have a Bible at all, please take home the one in front of you as a free gift to you

We are currently in a Sermon Series called The New Day Way

This series was preached at the beginning of the year as to how we as a church are to grow closer to Jesus Christ and how we can help to fulfill our vision for this year

And as a reminder - this is our vision - That we pursue healthy growth through unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, tender heartedness, humility; and will seek and pursue peace within the church and the world

And so when we first went through this series, we noted how that in order for this happen collectively, it has to happen individaully first

We should be seeking to be more like Christ individually in our walk with Him, and then come together as a church, displaying his attributes with one another as we continue to meet together and serve together

And as we have reviewed the past two sermons about starting your day with God and sharing Jesus every week

It is my hope and prayer that you understand that we are talking about matters of the heart

To want to be with God in daily worship, prayer, and devotion, and to want to share Jesus with others stem from where you are spiritually and wether or not your heart is aligned with Christ

And in reality, when we tell others that they should read their Bibles and make disciples as commanded by Jesus, like there really isnt much argument there

But for some reason, when we say that we should strive never miss church, it hits a nerve

And it usually hits a nerve that makes a person want to instantly shout “legalism!”

You are being legalistic!

And it seems like this word is being used more and more without it being properly defined

Legalism - is any changing of the law of God from its original context

There are different forms of legalism

The first having to do with what we just talked about

Whe a person is focused soley on the do’s and dont’s and do not focus on Christ - they are trapped in legalism

Their hearts are more concerned about action rather than Christ

The law is given to man to obey, yes - but it is intended so that man would become more like God - Not so that man would be trapped and enslaved to commands

We also see a form of legalsim where the intent is to please oneself rather than pleasing God

The Pharisees loved to try to hype themselves up or outdo each other in keeping the law

They would boast in their obedience of following the law

And they would follow the law so ridgidly

In context, if they had cars and speed limit - the one who could consistently maintain the speedlimit would be the best because they obeyed and followed it the longest - and they would be highly looked too as one who has influence

The third and most common form of legalism that we run into today is when man adds to Gods law and treats the human addition to the law as if it came from God

And what makes this even harder is when a person uses it as part of their sanctification journey

When we come to Christ - we start this journey wit the Lord where we are to be continuously growing and learning and striving to be more like him

And sometimes in that journey - you may have a desire to stop or refrain or choose to not engage in something that God gives liberty too

For instance - You may choose not to drink alcohol

I would say sure that is a good practice and pretty much a sure way that you will never fall into drunkeness

But we both must also see that God never speaks out against not even taking a sip

So we must first come to agree that you are limiting yourself - not God

And since it isnt from God, then that means that others have the liberty to drink

And so it is ok for you not to drink and it is ok for someone else to take a drink

But when a person tries to act as if the action IS from God - then that person, acting as if God has said they cannot drink, and is engaging in legalism

And it gets even worse when a person then takes that addition and tries to bind another persons conscience to it

So now, not only do you beleive that God has restricted it for you - but you would then try to disciple others that in their sanctification process, they should come to a place where they refrain from alcohol completely IF they are a true Christian

This is legalism at its worst and it happens not just with alcohol but with meals, makeup, playing cards, smoking, etc.

Loving in Legalism

But scripture also teaches us what to do when a brother or sister in Christ is bound to this and their conscience is grieved to see you engage in your liberties

You do not flaunt your liberty - you do not use your liberty to tempt the other brother or sister - you dont double down in front of them to the point to where they are grieved

Rather, because it is a liberty - you exercise your liberty to refrain in a loving way

If you do partake in front of them do you think you will be promoting unity or division?

You are going to cause a discussion that can get heated

So we are to show restraint in front of that brother or sister to keep the unity and you can partake at a different time with those who are like minded

And so we are going to read this exact passage - but because we are applying this to specifially never miss church -

We will Read Romans 14:13-15:7 but we will start our exposition in chapter 15

If you are able to stand, I ask that you please do so for the reading of God’s word. I’ll read it as you follow along,

13 Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. 15 For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. 16 So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. 19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. 20 Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. 21 It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. 22 The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. 23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” 4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

This is the Word of the Lord, you may now be seated

Context

Romans

And what we Find in the Book of Romans is Paul giving the most detailed and the most comprehensive explanation of the gospel (Chapters 1-11)

In Chapter 12, Paul starts to give application for the believer and I want you to notice how the application isn’t given form a place of seclusion

Any time a person is called to seclusion - it is so that they can be with the Lord

Jesus often withdrew and got up early in the morning to go out and pray and be with the Lord

But then he always comes back to his disciples and engages with people

And so in chapter 12 - Paul starts by telling us to live a life worthy of sacrifice to God

And immediately after, in verse 3 - he starts to give instruction of how to live with one another as the body of Christ

In verse 9 - he talks about the marks of true Christians - Notice that the marks of a true Christian has nothing to do with eating, or drinking, or dress, or playing cards, or smoking, or make up

Rather it has everything to do with showing love - honor - blessing - mercy - patience - prayer - harmony - humility - giving -

He tells the church in chapter 13 to submit to the authorites and to love

In chapter 14 he tells the church not to judge one another

Rather - how we are to bear and love a brother or sister

Chapter 15:1-3 - Bear as Jesus Did

The first three verses are a continuation of chapter 14 but in this chapter it is relating our loving and pursuing of peace to that of Jesus

We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.”

The “we who are strong” is referring to the christians that have maturity - they are not new to the faith

They understand these teachings as to why they are free in christ and not bound to legalism

And these mature Christians have an obligation to to bear with those who are weak

And they do not bear to boast about who they are

Rather they bear to love their neighbor and ultimatley, because that is what Christ had done for you

That Jesus took on the disapproval and disappointment from us

It might be easy to look down on a brother or sister in Christ who has a bound conscience

But lets remember first that we have all failed God’s clear and expressed laws

We have disappointed God with our own sin and Jesus came to free us from that

Jesus lived the perfect life that we are incapable of living

Jesus willingly went to the cross for us to die for our sin

And when he arose on the third day from the grave he ultimately conquered sin and death

And because of His work we are free

Jesus ultimately sacrificed his life so that if we are to believe in Him we can be saved and made right with God

So if Jesus was willing to sacrifice for us who have fallen short of God’s moral law

Then we can sacrifice for those who fall short of understanding what is clean and unclean

For the Church

Let us first remember that Christ has died for his church

And as we so often mention that his church is comprised of everyone whose hearts who have been regenerated by Him

Anyone who has professed faith in Jesus Christ due to the Holy Spirits work is part of the universal church of God

And so we that not only is the church many, but that the church is connected through Christ

But because we all live in different parts of the world - because we live in communities

We find a local church that we can be part of and go to to be with other believers to build up the body of Christ

We believe that in God’s providence - New Day Pasadena is a church that is comprised of people

The sign outside does not make this a church

The building does not make us a church

It is the local people of God who come together to glorify God and do his work in the community

And so, when we start to say things like Never Miss Church - we are saying first, that because you are part of the family of God - you are not called to live the life of a believer alone - but that you are called to be with other believers

History of Gathering

This is nothing new - and in verse 4 we have instruction to look at what was formerly written

4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

What we know is that the people of God before Jesus had to have endurance as they waited for the Messaiah

And now, the believers after Jesus have to have endurance as we we await the second comming of Jesus

And so what we do is look at all of scripture, the NT and the OT and we look at how it works together to communicate exactly how we can have perseverance until or death or until Christ’s second comming

And I submit to you today that church - the gathering of God’s people is one of the crucial elements to persevering

From the very beginning we see that in creation - on the seventh day God rested

And so God instituted the Sabbath as a day where the principle of that day is rest

Along with instituting the Sabbath rest - he also came with commands to gather in other feasts and festivals gathering for the Lord

In Leviticus 23 we find that God first establishes that the people are to rest in him but then he gives clear commands of gatherings

These feasts were gatherings of God’s people with a specific focus of God that points to Christ

So the Isrealites gathered and feated and obeyed the statutes of the feast

Now there is a difference between the temple of the Lord where the Lord dwelled and the synagogue

After the temple was established - synagogues started for local communities

While the temple was restricted - the synagogue was used as a place of assymbly

Further, in Jewish culture when the young boys would come of age they would be sent to the temple to learn from and about the torah

By the first century of Jesus - Synagogues were in most communities and were frequntly used by the Jewish people

And when we fast forward to Jesus’ day, we find a minimum of 10 instances where he was ministering in the synagogue where people were gathered

There is an argument that Jesus never explicitely said for believers to gather and to think we need to gather is legalistic

But what we find in scripture is that Jesus never had to actually say it because it was already expected

If the Jewish people were God’s people - they were expected to gather in the synagogues and Jesus never said they had to stop

He actually went to the temples to minister to the people who were there

And for those who were not Jewish or did not go to the temple

Jesus gathered crowds together where he was teaching them God’s word

The gathering is glaringly implicet and his teachings all point to doing life together and how to interact with one another

When Jesus speaks and teaches he explicitely say I am the vine you are the branches

We need to understand that there is one tree of life that is Jesus and we are bound together through him

And so through his life, teachings, and his death and resurrection for the church -

He never abolishes the gatherings -

Rather, before he ascends into heaven - he tells us that we are to add to the church of God!

So Jesus’ life is a testament for gathering and give a command to go, add to the church of God, and disciple the church of God

The Lords Day

And then there are some who say that we are not explicitely commanded to meet on Sunday

Jesus who is Lord of the sabbath and the fulfillment of all things gave the great commission and he ascended into heaven

We read the great comission last week and again - in that command there is a command for gathering and of teaching and of baptizing

And what we do find in scripture that the first day of the week became the normal and important gathering time where elements of the previous feast were present

And it starts with Jesus’ resurrection

Matthew 28:1 “Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.”

Acts 20:7 “On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight.”

1 Corinthians 16:1-2 “Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.”

Jesus arose on the first day of the week (It became the Lords Day)

Revelation 1:10 “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet”

So we meet on Sunday, The Lords Day, the first day of the week to worship together and include elements of worship like baptism and communion

In Leviticus 23 it specifically talks about the day of atonement and the passover

And as we talked about last week - both are now observed through the Lords Supper which we do once a month

And we do this on the first day of the week

Extreme legalism of Sunday

Now there are some who do say that you are in sin if you miss church on Sunday

There are a number of ways they try to justify this position but let me explain why we do not view it this way

First - we need to submit that the principle of the sabbath was not to be a burden - but to be of joy and a delight

Isaiah 58:13-14 ““If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.””

And while we do not observe the Sabbath as it was originally instituted - We do observe the principle of the Sabbath to find rest and delight in God

And so the question asked is - can someone find rest in God on a Sunday and not necissarily be present with physical believers? We believe the answer is yes

There can be a joy and a rest in Christ since it is only Christ that we need to sustain

That believers can find rest in Jesus apart from the gathering

I would also submit that it is possible that you and your wife had a fight in the morning and came to church mad and didnt posture your heart right towards worship and just stood up during the songs and then folded your arms for the sermon and then stormed out at the end

And I would submit that even though you were physically present - you were not resting in Christ and have completely missed the point

There was no joy or delight in the lord as you came

So the keeping of the Lords Day is not dependant on your attendance - it is dependent on your heart posture

So this is the second things we need to submit - that since we are free in Christ our heart posture should be loving towards him and and our fellow believers

Verses 5-7

5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

In conjunction with resting in Christ - we are to be connected and gather as an assembly

Together as a body connected with Christ - we gather rejoice and delight and rest in Christ together

Together we glorify God with one voice

Let me tell you - sometimes you may come to church with the wrong heart posture

But because you came - because the spirit is present - when you hear your fellow brothers and sisters in christ making a joyful noise to the Lord

It can be used as an encouragement for you to get your heart postured right

Maybe you are hurting or grieving and you want to cry out to God but in your circumstance just cant get it out

Your brothers and sisters are right here along side you to lift it up for you

And that is the endurance and encouragement we need from one another

That is received only because it comes from God

We may not believe the same in all things - but we can come together as brothers and sisters in Christ, not to judge one another, but to love one another and continuously build each other up for the body of Christ

Application

When we come accross brothers and sisters who may have legalistic tendencies - respond with love, sacrifice, and building up

What happens when you may come accross someone who has bound themselves to church?

That when they miss church they feel like the worst of sinners?

What happens when you come accross someone who has bound themselves to alcohol?

They dont just choose not to drink - but that they believe it is a sin just to have a sip!

And the response to both these should be a response of love, sacrifice, and building up

We do not judge or treat them as if they are less than

rather we love them

We do not shove our liberty in their face or tempt them to sumble

rather we do not partake of our liberty so that they may not stumble

We do not just say you believe what you believe and I beleive what I beleive

rather you continue to engage them with the word of God to disciple and to teach

We are not going to hell or sinning by missing a Sunday

We are free’d in Christ - We rest in Christ

So when you are sick, when you are out of town, when something comes up that you cannot avoid

The question is: How will you rest in Jesus Christ and position your heart to delight in him?

And in your circumstance - as you are delighting in him, are you longing to return to be back with your brothers and sisters

You see, if you delight in principle number one then you will delight in priciple number two

There is liberty for you as long as you are keeping the main thing the main thing and that is Jesus

We will be a church that lives in harmony with one another

And so I ask the first question, do you always have harmony with your family?

If you do not have perfect harmony with your own flesh and blood,

First, you are not alone - and second the church is no different

Because the body of Christ is made up of imperfect people -

There will be times of conflict, miscommunication, hurt feelings, difference in theology

And what are we going to do in those times of conflict?

I’ll first submit to you that there are times when the harmonious thing to do is to leave

Church hurt is a real thing, abuse happens, when the gospel is distorted or twisted - there are times to leave

I personally believe that there are times when God will call a person away to do his work elsewhere

But by and large - there has been a shift where even the slightest disatisfaction causes a person to run

They didnt let me bring my coffee in the sanctuary

That email rubbed me the wrong way

Or someone didnt agree with me

Are we willing to break away that easily just because there is a church on every street corner?

We want to be a community that perseveres with Christ and with one another

That is willing to go through the family hurt to keep the love, sacrifice, and building up for one another

Announcements

Connect Card - Please fill out, we want to connect with you

We want to be Kingdom Minded what is your response? - giving, serving, response to Christ

We will have a mens Coffee, Kolache, and Prayer meet on Saturday August 12th at 8:45am

And on that same day Saturaday, August 12th at 10am we will have a school drive outreach event

We will encourage the community to drop off school supplies - all of the school supplies will go to Golden Acres Elementary Teachers/Students

And at the same time of collecting School Supplies, we will be giving out snow cones/popcicles and invite cards

We will have a church work day on Saturday August 19th from 9am-1pm

New Service Time Change on August 20th - 9:15am for Sunday School and 10:30am for worship

‌New Day Reading Plan - Mon-Fri - 1 Corinthians 13 - 2 Corinthians 1

1 Chronicles 16:10-11 “Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice! Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!” Do this Now and Forevermore - Amen