EXCUSES, EXCUSES, WHAT'S YOURS?

EXCUSES, EXCUSES,EXCUSES, WHAT’S YOURS?

To make it possible foe everyone to attend church next Sunday. We are going to have a special “No Excuse Sunday.”

Cots will be placed in the foyer for those who say. “Sunday is my only day to sleep in.”

There will be a special section with lounge chairs for those who feel that our pews are too hard.

Eye drops will be provided for those with tired eyes from watching TV late Saturday night.

We will have steel helmets for those who who say, “The roof will cave in if I ever came to church.”

Blankets will be furnished for those who think the church is too cold, and fans to the ones who think it’s too hot.

Scorecards we be available for those who wish to list hypocrites present.

Relatives and friends will be in attendance for those who can’t go to church and cook dinner, too.

We will distribute “Stamp Out Stewardship” buttons for those that feel the church is always asking for money.

One section of the church will be devoted to trees and grass for those who like to seek God in nature.

Doctors and nurses will be in attendance for those who plan to be sick on Sunday.

The sanctuary will be decorated with both Christmas poinsettias and Easter lilies for those who never have seen the church without them.

We will provide hearing aids for those who can’t hear the preacher and cotton balls for those who think he’s too loud!

Hebrews 10:22-25

Hebrews 10:22–25 KJV 1900

22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) 24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

A husband and his wife woke up Sunday morning and the wife dressed for church. It was just about time for the service when she noticed her husband hadn’t moved a finger toward getting dressed.

Perplexed, she asked, “Why aren’t you getting ready?”

He said, “Cause I don’t want to go.”

She asked, “Do you have any reasons why?

He said, “Yes, I have Three good ones.”

First the congregation is cold.

Second, no one likes me.

And third, I just don’t want to go.

The wife replied, wisely, “Well honey, I have three reasons why you should go.”

First, the congregation is warm.

Second, there are a few people who like you.

And third, you’re the pastor!

So, get out of bed and get dressed!

I. There Are Many Excuses Why People Don’t Attend Church Regularly.

Listen to some of the ones that I have heard.

The weather has just been so, bad and today is just beautiful, we are just going to stay home and do some yard work that needs to be done.

Oh, I work all week, and I just don’t feel like dressing up to go to church.

We slept late this morning and there wasn’t enough time to get us and the kids ready.

Service times don’t fit my busy schedule.

The building is kept so cold.

Every time I go to church there asking for money.

I don’t like organized religion.

The people I sat next to didn’t talk to me and they didn’t seem very friendly.

Churches are just full of hypocrites.

I was forced to go to church as a child, and I just need a break.

Why Is It So Difficult For Some People To Commit Themselves To The Life of Christ and His Church?

The cost of commitment is still a BIG PROBLEM in the church.

Yes we are willing to commit,

But on terms,

a lot is not expected out of us.

Every reason imaginable is given why people are not willing to commit themselves to the life that Christ has called us to live.

One reason we often hear is that we are busy.

Or so we think we are.

We are busy with our family

We are busy with our friends

We busy with our work

We are busy with sports

We are busy with Cleaning, cooking, sleeping

In other words we are just to busy, to be bothered by God.

We are just too busy to bother with the ministry of the church.

The Big Question we need to ask ourselves is, “Is God ever too busy for me, especially when I am in need of His help?”

The issue that the church faces today is the same one that Jesus faces, people are ready to commit, but on there own terms.

Being a faithful follower of Jesus Christ comes with a price.

The cost of discipleship may be a cost that many are not ready to pay.

It requires us to give, our whole self and not just part of who we are.

We have been conditioned that we should receive something in return for our faithfulness.

We feel that it is our right

We have been told that we don’t get something for nothing.

So, why should God get our total self, loyalty, our money, our lives?

A 73 year old Arkansas man needed to visit his ailing brother, who lived on the other side of the state. There was no one who could drive the man to his brothers house.

He didn’t feel capable of driving, he couldn’t read the road signs, when he drove faster than 20 MPH. So, the man did what he could. He rode his riding lawn mower 240 miles across the state of Arkansas to be with his brother.

Now that’s COMMITMENT

Talking about commitment.

Why should we give our whole self to God?

What has He done for me?

I can answer that with one single word.

GRACE

III. THANK GOD FOR GRACE!

God has given us something that can not be earned.

Something that we can run down to Walmart and buy.

He has given us a very special gift.

And He is the only one who can give us this priceless gift of grace.

A gift that goes way beyond measure or any monetary value.

God gave us this gift at the very moment that we opened our life uo to the Lord Jesus Christ.

I’m so glad that the blessings of God and His Mercy are not dependent on my faithfulness to Him and His church.

He doesn’t treat me the same way that I treat Him.

He accepts me as I am, unconditionally.

Even if others don’t accept me.

God is always ready to forgive me of my sins and faults.

God’s grace is worth are daily devotion,

Our weekly attendance

Our financial contribution

Our blood, sweet, tears to the work of Friendship Baptist Church.

There is not an excuse that Jesus hasn’t heard.