What Kind of Church - A Church that Knows How to Celebrate

Introduction

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Celebration has long been a part of the lives of God’s people.

When God created woman, you can hear the excitement of Adam in Genesis 2:23 “23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”

We serve a good God and James was right when he said in James 1:17 “17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”

Throughout the Biblical record we see different examples of people celebrating.

Jacob - Genesis 45:27-28

Genesis 45:27–28 KJV (WS)

27 And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived: 28 And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.

Hannah - 1 Samuel 2:1

1 Samuel 2:1 KJV (WS)

1 And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the Lord, mine horn is exalted in the Lord: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation.

David - 2 Samuel 6:14-15

2 Samuel 6:14–15 KJV (WS)

14 And David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod. 15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.

Ezra - Ezra 7:27

Ezra 7:27 KJV (WS)

27 Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers, which hath put such a thing as this in the king's heart, to beautify the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem:

Mary - Luke 1:46

Luke 1:46 KJV (WS)

46 And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,

God’s people celebrate what he does for them.

Our relationship with God is supposed to be personal.

This means that it is not solely based on the testimonies of others.

There needs to be an element of individual experience and interaction with the God we claim to serve.

Us, we, and ours, are all good words for our faith.

But there should also be a healthy balance of Me, I, and mine in our faith as well.

This applies to prayer, Bible learning, and sacrifice.

But it should also apply to celebration.

Take, for example, church attendance.

Acts 20:7 “7 And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.”

1 Corinthians 16:2 “2 Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.”

The practice of church attendance is heavily focused on the community aspect of our faith.

But there must also be an individual motivation for church attendance.

Notice how Luke and Paul both point out that the early churches met on Sunday.

Why did they meet on Sunday?

That is the day that Jesus rose from the dead.

Intellectually we know that each Sunday is supposed to be a celebration of Jesus’ resurrection.

How many times do we neglect to truly celebrate the resurrection unless prompted externally such as during easter season.

Is Jesus’ death and resurrection a personal matter for you?

In other words do you believe he died and rose again for you, specifically?

Then, should you not make Sunday assembly with his church a matter of personal celebration?

Here’s what that might look like for you.

The preaching isn’t a home run or super relevant to your specific situation.

The singing just isn’t doing it for you.

Your friends that you normally socialize with are out of town.

The kids were a nightmare to get to church.

And yet, you remind yourself that these things can’t prevent you from celebrating Jesus for what he has done for you.

The death burial and resurrection is a gift from God that has been offered to all people.

There are other demonstrations of his mercy, love, and grace that we should celebrate in our lives.

If we would stop and examine our lives through His eyes, we would see that we have many reasons to personally celebrate.

If we each don’t inventory God’s blessings in our own lives, then we struggle with the second aspect of celebration.

God’s people celebrate what he does for others.

Rejoice when others rejoice.

2x Paul tells his readers to learn how to do this.

Romans 12:15 “15 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.”

1 Corinthians 12:26 “26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.”

There is really no way to do this if we don’t first learn how to celebrate the gifts God has given us.

If we are discontent with the way God has treated us, then how can we ever celebrate God’s blessings on others.

You need to first learn to celebrate God’s gifts in your life.

1 Timothy 6:8 “8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.”

When you are celebrating what God has done for you, you will find it easier and natural to celebrate what God is doing for others.

This is important for a church community.

We must be able to celebrate God’s blessings in other people’s lives.

Sometimes celebrating with someone is easier than weeping with someone.

We can go sorrow with someone else because we are grateful that what happened to them didn’t happen to us.

We don’t like to rejoice with someone else because too often we wish that what happened to them would happen to us.

This isn’t healthy.

A healthy church celebrates with each other.

Rejoice over a lost soul that is saved.

The salvation of a lost soul should be a moment of celebration for every believer.

We know it’s a cue to celebrate in heaven.

Luke 15:10 KJV (WS)

10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.

Why do we treat as just routine down here.

You can barely get an amen when you announce that 4 kids got saved at Good news club.

I think a lot of times we are skeptical, especially of children.

We want to see evidence before we get too excited.

This just isn’t the pattern of the Bible.

We might as well get some practice in for celebrating the things of God.

God’s people will celebrate in heaven forever.

John gives us a glimpse in Revelation 19:5–9 “5 And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. 6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. 7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.”