Newe Year's Eve

People say they want to follow Chirst but don’t want to attend church, so I want to address tonight, Why do we need to go to church?

You need church to help you center your life around God through worship

We were put here to worship God. We were created for God and not the other way.

Matthew 22:37–38 NLT

37 Jesus replied, “ ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.

Nothing else can be the center of our lives.

You don’t have to wear certain clothes or anything to worship…

John 4:23 NLT

23 But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way.

God wants us to worship together in church and in groups...

Acts 2:46 NLT

46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—

What is your next step? Commit to worshipping in the temple courts (River Church)

Psalm 27:4 NLT

4 The one thing I ask of the Lord— the thing I seek most— is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in his Temple.

Ps

You need church to help you connect with other believers through fellowship

We don’t worship the Lord alone. We were created for relationships. That’s why we do a lot of “Fellowship” activities … to connect.

We are a family...

1 Peter 1:3 The Living Bible

3 All honor to God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; for it is his boundless mercy that has given us the privilege of being born again so that we are now members of God’s own family. Now we live in the hope of eternal life because Christ rose again from the dead.

God’s family is the church.

1 Timothy 3:15 NCV

15 Then, even if I am delayed, you will know how to live in the family of God. That family is the church of the living God, the support and foundation of the truth.

1 Tim

Look at how they fellowshipped in the NT days…

Acts 2:41–42 NLT

41 Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all. 42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.

Acts 2:41-42

They not only fellowshipped, but they went to the temples and small groups...

Acts 2:46 The Living Bible

46 They worshiped together regularly at the Temple each day, met in small groups in homes for Communion, and shared their meals with great joy and thankfulness,

Acts 2:

This year join a small group when we get them going… you may want to host one…

You need church to help you cultivate spiritual maturity through discipleship

We need to grow up - all of us. You might be a young Christian, but God wants you to grow up…

Some of you guys need to step up...

Hebrews 5:12 NLT

12 You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food.

Hebrews 5:11 NLT

11 There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen.

Heb 5:

Some of you need to say, I am willing to host or lead a small group and let the pastors train me to do that…

Take advantage of any extra opportunities we offer: Growth Trac, Shape classes, etc.

You need church to prepare you to contribute something back through ministry.

Ministry is something all Christians are to do.

Ephesians 4:11–12 NLT

11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.

Eph 4:11

Hebrews 5:16

He gifts you to do his work...

1 Peter 4:10 NLT

10 God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.

1 Pet 4:10

You need church to help you communicate God’s love through evangelism

2 CO 5:17-

You need your church family to help you spread the Good News that Jesus offers forgiveness, love, acceptance, power… to people you know.

2 Corinthians 5:17–21 NLT

17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

Take advantage of classes and messages that will help in this area.

Heb 5:16