Why Are We Here?

Doxology:

This is my Bible. It is God’s Holy Word. It is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path, and I will hide its words within my heart, that I might not sin against God. Amen!

Scripture Reference: 1 Cor 3:9-16

Context

Last week, we looked at the thought of “What Is This Place?”

Today, we are going to continue that thought, with “Why Are We Here?”

What is the significance of coming here every week, even multiple times every week?

If God lives in us, and we are truly the House, or temple, of God, do we need to come to this place? Is it necessary? If so, to what end?

We are using 1 Cor 3:9-16 as our base text.

Are you ready? OK!!! Let’s go to work!

1 Corinthians 3:9–16 NKJV

9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. 16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

Content

So why are we here?

What is the significance of this place and why is it important for us to come here, to meet here so often?

Just so that you all know, I am very excited for this message, or maybe even a series of messages, because it is going to do two things:

It is going to teach us all what we should expect to take place within any local congregation.

It is also going to teach all of us who are in leadership what all we must accomplish in order to be faithful to God’s expectations of us.

In other words, if we allow it to, the Word of God is going to open our eyes on what we are doing well, as well as what we need to improve on.

Apostle Paul points us to this right here in the text:

1 Corinthians 3:10 NKJV

10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it.

We talked briefly on this last week, but notice that the first thing that must occur is that the foundation must be laid. The foundation is none other than Jesus Christ.

Now Paul says that he has already laid that foundation and that we must build upon that. We will get that, but first, we must be sure that we are constantly reaffirming that foundation. We must be sure to consistently share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

See, the first and main goal of any local assembly of the church is to reach the lost within the community… Period. If we do everything else that we are going to look at and get this wrong, then we have missed the most important thing.

This means that evangelism, which is the sharing of our faith with those outside the family of God, has to be central to everything we do.

Matthew 28:19 NKJV

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

The church is called to be evangelistic at heart… to share the Gospel… to invite others to come to Jesus.

You might say, “Well I agree with that, but what does that have to do with being here?”

Because every week, we are going to be presenting the Gospel on some level and in some way.

We are called to share the Gospel, but before we can do that, we first have to learn it.

At the beginning of this year, we started with a series of messages called “The Gospel of C.H.R.I.S.T.”

We looked at the Gospel in great detail, but can I tell you that we still just scratched the surface of the fullness of the Gospel. The Gospel is everything and everything is the Gospel. The entire Word of God ties into the Gospel of Jesus Christ, because the entire Word of God is about Jesus.

I heard a story this week about a man who had visited a Buddhist temple. He was outside the temple with a Buddhist monk and a Muslim teacher. Apparently many people had come on this particular day to visit the temple, and so there they were standing outside talking.

The Muslim said, “I believe that at the core, all of the different religions of the world believe roughly the same thing. We may use different names, or teach it a little differently, but at the end of the day, it’s all the same.”

The Buddhist agreed with this statement and they exchanged in conversation for a few minutes. Finally, they turned to this third guy, who was an American pastor there on a mission trip and said, “What do you think?”

He said, “It sounds to me like you all believe that God is kind of… up on a mountain. There are many different paths to take to reach the top of the mountain, to God, and it doesn’t really matter which one you take, as long as you take one and make your way to the top to meet the Lord.”

The Muslim spoke up and said, “Exactly! See you get it too!”

The American Pastor spoke up again, and said, “What if I told you that we don’t make our way up the mountain, but rather that God makes His way down to us?”

They spoke up and said, “Well that would be even better!”

The American Pastor said, “Exactly! Let me introduce you to Jesus!”

See, this guy had learned the Gospel so well, that he was able to jump in from any angle and lead others to Jesus with the truth of the Gospel. That is what we are all called to do. We are study the Gospel so well, that we are able to jump into any conversation, regardless of the entry point, and lead others to the truth of the Gospel.

Now hear me out. I don’t want you to think that the Gospel is difficult to understand. It is very basic and simple at its core.

As I have quoted before, a man once said, “The Gospel is so shallow that babes can swim in it, but it is also so deep that theologians can drown in it.”

The Gospel is very simple to articulate, but the more we know it, the better equipped we are to share it.

I do not know when it started or who started it, but one of the most straightforward ways, and easiest ways, to share the Gospel, is to use the Roman’s Road. This has been around for years. I encourage you to practice it, to memorize the verses, to know it so well that you can recite it without complication.

At its core, the Roman’s Road consists of only 5 verses… that’s it! Every single person in here can memorize five verses.

Now over the years, I have added to it a little bit when I share it, so that now it is 11 verses. Still… 11 verses is nothing.

It goes like this:

Slide 1

Romans 1:20 NKJV

20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,

Slide 2

Romans 3:23 NKJV

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Slide 3

Romans 6:23 NKJV

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Slide 4

Slide 5

Romans 5:8 NKJV

8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Slide 6

Romans 10:9–10 NKJV

9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Slide 7

Romans 10:13 NKJV

13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Slide 8

Romans 5:1 NKJV

1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Slide 9

Romans 8:1 NKJV

1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

Slide 10

Romans 8:38–39 NKJV

38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Listen… that’s it! That is the core of the Gospel!

Can we go deeper, of course. but do you think someone who is far from God needs to… probably not. Some may, but chances are, most everyone you share the Gospel with, will either accept it or deny it based on the simplicity of what it is: I once was lost but now am found; was blind but now I see.

That is the heart of it all. There is a Holy God in Heaven who loves us unconditionally. He has proven that love to us by sending Jesus, His only Son, to die in our place. This sacrifice paid the price for the atonement of our sin and the reconciliation of mankind back to God. All who acknowledge this, believe this, and confess this will be saved.

It is that message that must be at the heart of all we do. Every program, every event, every class must be geared towards either inviting people to come to Jesus, or investing in those who have. That is why we are here. To proclaim the name of Jesus!

In my heart, I believe that you as Christians want that. You want to see your family members saved, your neighbors saved, your co-workers saved, your children saved, your parents saved. You want to know about your Lord. You want to go deeper into your faith.

So I am going to ask all of my teachers, all of my ministry team leaders, anyone who does a class or hosts meetings here in this place. Moving forward, please make sure that whatever it is you are doing, make it about Jesus. Mention His name. Share your faith. Give Him praise. And please, always provide an opportunity to respond… always.

Sunday School teachers, at the end of your class, have a moment to where anyone can respond. Work it in. Make it a priority. Give your people a chance to respond to the lesson right then, right there. Provide the open door. If they walk through or not is up to them, but offer it.

Commitment