Together We Grow

Do you ever wonder What’s the Point in Going to Church today?

1001 other things to do:

Weekly shopping

Meeting family and friends

Sports and recreation

Catching up on energy ready for another week

Sometimes, we’re just too lazy

A decline in church attendance

COVID-19 accelerated this.

Look back, you can see it.

Friends and family who chose not to attend once they became independent and could make their own choices.

Look around congregation and you will see gaps where people have not returned after lockdown.

Why do people stay away from church?

Many Christians think that solitude and personal devotion are enough. “My relationship with God is between me and him, and no one else”. I don’t need a community to be a Christian.

Why commit to turning up at a building when you can stay at home in your pyjamas and watch a much more gifted preacher and worship team than your church has?

The detriment that serving in ministry can have on family life. Church can be a demanding place. Not going often allows a much-needed recalibration.

Sometimes, church is difficult:

There can be a clash between traditionalism and the old way of doing things, and the need to be always moving forward.

Living together can be difficult. Relationships can be superficial if we don’t commit to deepening them in some way. People rub you up the wrong way. Community exposes people’s weaknesses as well as their strengths. We can hurt each other.

But I want to suggest to you that gathering for worship is an essential witness to Christ and a valuable time for spiritual nourishment

We need each other!

The Bible does not envisage the Christian life ever being lived alone, but together in community.

It encourages us to strengthen, heal, and support each other.

It gives us almost 60 “one another” commands.

When Jesus teaches us how to pray, he begins, Our Father.

The early church gives us the example of growing strong by holding all things in common and meeting regularly for fellowship, encouragement, prayer, and study.

Christians throughout the ages have followed down on this truth from St. Cyprian, St. Augustine, Luther, Calvin, and all the confessions and creeds you can think of.

Salvation Army Soldier’s Covenant: “I will be actively involved, as I am able, in the life, work, worship and witness of the corps”.

You cannot follow Jesus alone. John Mark Comer, American pastor, Practising the Way.

Not shouldn’t, but cannot!

You can’t be a disciple of Jesus without some form of Christian community … If, this Sunday, every person who said: ‘I’m a practising Christian’ went to church – committed to weekly being part of that, not just on Sunday, but in every iteration of the word, the UK would be a different place overnight. Phil Knox, Evangelism & Missiology Specialist, Evangelical Alliance.

Here’s what the writer of Hebrews has to say:

Hebrews 10:19-25

Hebrews 10:19–25 NLT

19 And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. 20 By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. 21 And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, 22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. 24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

MESSAGE NOTES

We need each other because the devil finds it much easier to pick off an individual Christian

The writer encouraged his readers to continue meeting together to help them keep the hope they had in Christ, to motivate each other to good Christian living, and to encourage each other in the face of persecution, ostracism, false teaching, and arrogance.

We may not face many of these things today in Maidenhead or other parts of the western world, but we do face the devil.

He will lie to us.

He will blind our minds to the truth.

He will disguise himself as something good.

He will strangle our efforts to be fruitful on our frontlines.

He causes disease and sickness.

He will thwart our ministry and service.

He will accuse us before God.

And something many of us struggle with daily: he will tempt us to sin.

This is where meeting together can help

We cannot wield the shield of faith alone.

We need our brothers and sisters to fight alongside us.

To withdraw from the strength we have together is like a soldier who lags behind the rest of his platoon.

They become an easy target.

It invites disaster.

When we meet together we have the opportunity to remind each other what whole-life missional discipleship looks like

What we practice together as a corps family whenever we meet is what we live out every day in our lives.

When we gather together, we can help each other to:

Hold on to hope together

Hebrews 10:23 NLT

Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.

God has given us so much to hope for

Our salvation.

We have been made right with God.

We can enter into a direct relationship with him because our sins have been forgiven.

He holds before us the glorious hope that one day we will be Promoted to Glory and will finally enter into his eternal presence.

We need to encourage each other to hold tightly to this hope because we live in the time of “now and not yet”

Christ has already inaugurated this new age through his death and resurrection.

But we still await that day when God finally defeats all his enemies.

We need each other to encourage us to live faithfully in this in between time.

I don’t suppose any of us would board a ship without an anchor

There are situations that can happen at sea where a ship can no longer depend on the captain, the crew, the engines, the compass, or the rudder, but only on the anchor.

When all else fails, there is hope in the anchor.

Our anchor is not in the sea, but in heaven.

Heaven - the hope we look forward to - is anchored in God’s presence.

As the storms pick up and we sail through life’s troubles, we need each other to help us hang on to our confession of hope without wavering.

We have an anchor that keeps the soul Steadfast and sure while the billows roll; Fastened to the rock which cannot move, Grounded firm and deep in the Saviour?s love. Priscilla Jane Owens (1829-1907)

We can encourage each other to hang on to this anchor of hope by reminding each other that the God who promises us is faithful.

There may be times when we feel like giving up or quitting our faith.

That’s when we can be encouraged by someone in our corps family to remember God’s faithfulness.

How can we help each other to hold fast to our hope?

By practising transparency with God and with each other.

Expressing when we feel happy, and when we’re struggling.

Don’t wear a mask; be honest with God and with each other.

By meditating on the Word of God.

Not just listening to the sermon, but thinking and reflecting deeply on it.

By reminding each other of verses of Scripture that match the conversations we’re having.

By claiming the many promises God makes to us, and singing his praise when he fulfils them.

By practising the habit of giving God priority.

By making our Sunday Celebration your first priority, rather than something you do if you have nothing else to do.

By sharing your resources generously.

By encouraging each other to ensure God comes first in your day.

All these things will help us hold on to hope together.

Spur one another to good works

Hebrews 10:24 NLT

Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.

Are you a good stirrer?

I’ve known some real stirrers in my corps families over the years!

People who love to stir things up the wrong way.

People who stir things up by constantly criticising or being cynical or gossiping.

I’ve been stirred up by people who irritate or anger me, and I am sure I have done the same to others too.

How different corps family life would be if those who are good at stirring things up joined all of us in stirring up people to love!

How can we stir each other up to love?

By praying for each other.

I am always encouraged by the way in which so many of us specifically pray for each other by name through the WhatsApp prayer group, recognising it’s not simply people posting a prayer emoji or a short message and then moving on with their day, but a sign that many of us are stopping and spending a few minutes in our day to pray for the person on our list.

I also recognise that others in our corps family do this by following the list in our newsletter too.

By setting a good example

Again, every week, I see service and ministry in our corps family - in our building, and away from our building - that acts as a good example to spur us all on to love and good deeds.

Helping the vulnerable and those in need in our community.

Welcoming people through the door.

Listening to people.

Serving people in the Hub.

A commitment to music and worship.

Loving and caring for people.

Keeping in contact with them.

Keeping the corps organised.

And so many other great examples.

By studying and internalising God’s Word

By engaging with the Bible, whether it’s during the sermon on a Sunday, in personal devotions, or in Bible study, knowing that it’s where we find the foundational material to know what love and good deeds look like.

By encouraging each other with our words

There is amazing power in a word of encouragement.

I can’t tell you of the energy that some encouragement gives me, and I am grateful to those of you who express it on a regular basis.

You can change someone’s life with a kind word.

That’s why it is our duty as a Christian to be an encourager, not a criticiser.

So, I encourage you: let’s keep meeting together

Hebrews 10:25 NLT

And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

Our Sunday Celebration and other worship meetings are a time to encourage each other and keep us accountable

The Bible, church history, and true Christian experience all teach us that God is best known, worshipped, and followed when believers meet together regularly for fellowship around his Word and our worship of him.

We must not, cannot forsake this important aspect of Christian life.

Every Christian needs the encouragement of every other Christian.

So, we gather together to share our faith.

We gather together to strengthen one another in the Lord.

We gather to encourage each other to draw near to God.

We gather to encourage each other to hold on to our hope.

We gather together to encourage each other to love one another.

We gather together to warn those who are falling away from the faith or growing lazy.

We will face spiritual struggles - some of us are suffering those spiritual struggles today - but difficulties should never be an excuse for missing our Sunday worship.

We should be so encouraging of one another that when difficulties arise, we each feel the only place we can be on a Sunday morning to cope with those difficulties, is with other members of our corps family.

That presents a challenge to each of us, of course.

We must ask ourselves: in what ways am I really trying to encourage other members of my corps family when I am here?

Do my words, do my actions, do my thoughts, does my life make it easier for others to love and serve God?

If not, what changes do I need to make?

Through these words in Hebrews 10 today, God is calling on each of us to share concern for the people of God.

And we develop deep spiritual friendships with each other to enhance our sense of family and to more deeply support each other to live each day as a witness to Christ on our frontlines

Some of us grow these deep relationships informally.

But a Growth Group can help too.

A Growth Group is a great way of developing meaningful fellowship, whether it’s a Bible study, an accountability group, or times over tea or coffee where you talk about life and faith.

We began this series by reminding ourselves that for all of us, this building is not where we spend most of our time during the week

We each have a frontline where we can make all the difference in the world.

Where you are this time tomorrow - wherever you are, whatever you do, and whoever you are - you will encounter people who do not know Jesus and you will have the opportunity to join with God in the work he is doing in their lives.

But that’s not to suggest that our life together is not important.

If we are to grow as God’s disciples on these frontlines, then we need each other.

So don’t try to go it alone.

Participate in our corps family.

Encourage each other and keep each other accountable.

Don’t try to squeeze meeting together into your week.

Make worshipping together a top priority.

Don’t tell yourself there’s a good reason to miss our Sunday Celebration.

As we conclude our series on Frontline Sundays, and as we prepare for the work God continues to have for us on our frontlines, let’s commit to growing together.

Prayer and Commissioning

ALL:

We thank you, Heavenly Father, for the gift of this community.

We commend one another to you on our different frontlines.

Wherever we are, whatever we do, whoever we are, may the Holy Spirit guide us in all things so that we may do God's will in the world, in the service of Jesus Christ and with great joy.

Amen.

LEADER:

As followers of Jesus Christ, will you embrace your frontlines as places of possibility and potential in the purposes of God? Will you believe that God is already at work in these places and will you give yourself unreservedly to his purposes in you and through you, wherever you are?

ALL:

With the help of God, we will.

LEADER:

Will you trust God with the big things and the small things that you do day by day, and seek to make all that you do on your frontlines a part of your worship of him? Will you learn to rely on him, his power, his love, and his grace, whatever you do?

ALL:

With the help of God, we will.

LEADER:

As sons and daughters of your heavenly Father, will you believe that your value, your worth, your significance, and your life on the frontline flow first from this identity? Will you embrace the joy and freedom of being a child of God, whoever you are?

ALL:

With the help of God, we will.

LEADER:

As the body of Christ, will you commit to encouraging and helping one another flourish in Christ and be fruitful on your frontlines? Will you learn to be the people of God gathered and scattered, helping one another to make all the difference in the world?

ALL:

With the help of God, we will.

LEADER:

I affirm your call to follow Christ in all of life, including life on your frontline. I commission you to this life and work, and pledge to you my prayers, encouragement, and support.

May the Holy Spirit guide and strengthen you; that in this and in all things you will know Christ and seek to make him known, to the glory of God the Father.

ALL:

We rejoice in being followers of Jesus, sent from this church into God's world for his purposes.

LEADER:

May the blessing of God go with you.