Greg Laurie - The Hope of the Church (02/24/2018)
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Pastor Greg Laurie shares his personal journey from disliking church as a boy to discovering its beauty during the Jesus Movement, emphasizing that the hope of the church lies in Jesus building it on the confession that He is the Christ. From Matthew 16:13-19, he teaches the church is called out from the world, called together to God and each other, and will prevail against hell's gates, existing to glorify God, edify believers, and evangelize the world.
My Early Memories of Church and Coming to Christ
Today we are in Matthew chapter 16 and as I said the title is "The Hope of the Church". Matthew 16.
The first recollection I have of going to church was as a little boy with my grandparents. I didn't like it at all. I thought it was boring and my grandmother kept shushing me. And I remember that I drew cartoons on the church bulletin as the preacher droned on.
When I was in military school for a few years we went to Mandatory Chapel. I didn't really enjoy that either. But we had to go. And I remember they would give us money to put in the offering. They gave us ten cents. And the reason I remember is one Sunday I kept the ten cents and I didn't give it to God. And I spent it at the canteen instead. That was where they would have candy and supplies and such. And we had our own money. But now I had twice as much twenty cents to buy my grape licorice that I always bought. Because I thought it was a better investment of my ten cents to buy ten pieces of licorice than to buy a candy bar. They lasted longer. But I do remember feeling very guilty about stealing God's money from him.
But I really didn't have a lot to do with the church during my childhood. It was not something I was a part of.
How Many Were Raised in Church?
How many of you were raised in the church? Raise up your hand. You were raised going to church. Okay. How many of you were not raised going to church? Raise up your hand. Okay. Interesting. How many of you came to Christ at a church service? Raise your hand. You came to Christ. How many of you came to Christ at one of our church services? Raise up. Okay. Interesting. How many of you are really sick of raising your hand? Raise up your... Okay.
So I wasn't raised in the church. I wasn't familiar with the church. And you know I came to Christ at age 17 on my high school campus. And there was a very persistent guy that sort of made himself my friend named Mark. He came up to me. Hey Greg I saw you became a Christian. And I want to take you to church now. I said, well I really don't want to go to church. That's okay. He says, no, no. You are going to church with me. And where do you live? And I am going to pick you up. He was like persistent in a very friendly way. And so I said, alright, fine.
My First Experience at Calvary Chapel During the Jesus Movement
So he picks me up and he takes me to church. I think it was a Monday night or a Wednesday night. This is Calvary Chapel in the throes of the Jesus movement. So the place is overflowing with young people. There is like an electricity in the air. And I walk in and I kind of froze. Like I don't want to go in that place. And the reason was there was just too much happiness in there. There was too much smiling and hugging and loving.
And you have to understand I was raised in a really dysfunctional home. The words, I love you, were never spoken in my home. Paul Eaton dropped his cell phone. Paul Eaton got his cell phone. Okay. I see everything up here. But, you know, I didn't hear I love you a lot in church. Or excuse me, at home I should say. And we didn't hug in our family. So I saw a lot of hugging. And I thought, don't want to be hugged at all. And so I kind of approached, you know, cautiously.
And some random girl comes up to me. God bless you brother. And hugs me. And I'm like, ugh. You know. But when I saw the place was full I was relieved. Because I thought, no I don't have to go in. I said, well Mark there is no room in there. He goes, yeah I wish we could get in. Well sure enough someone in the front row sees me. Recognizes me from the high school Bible study. Waves me over. Oh. And so I walked through. And people are looking at me. I am very self conscious. I take a seat in the front row.
A Front Row Seat to Genuine Revival
But what I didn't realize at the time was I had a front row seat to a genuine revival. So I am sitting there. Now understand back during the Jesus movement days when songs would be sung people would put their arms around each other and they would sway back and forth like this. So everyone puts their arms around me. I have arms going around me. I am like, I don't want arms around me. And I am in the middle of this all of a sudden. And they are singing, Love, love, love, love. Christians. And then when they are done everybody pointed up.
Now that is because back in those days the big symbol was the one way sign. One way to Jesus. So everybody points up. I don't know what is happening. So first I am doing this. Everyone points up. I am like, what? What? Look at the ceiling. What? And then the preacher comes out. It is Pastor Chuck Smith. A middle age bald man. That is the last thing I wanted. I thought, oh it is like a teacher. It is like the principal. It is like going to be so boring. And I sort of started to withdraw back a little bit.
And then as he opened up the Word of God and it made sense to me. And it was relevant to me. My heart began to change. And then I went from being uncomfortable in church to where you couldn't get me out of the church. I went to every service possible and wanted to be a part of everything and learn as much as I could learn. And then two years later I am up here in Riverside planting a church myself.
From Reluctant Attendee to Planting a Church
Now I did not know I was planting a church. I thought I was just teaching a Bible study for young people at a local Episcopalian church. But it began to grow and pretty soon people are calling me pastor. They would say pastor. I would be like, where? Where? You mean me? Oh I can't be your pastor. No. But I tried to find someone to take it over and I couldn't. And I realized that the Lord was calling me to be a pastor.
Well, fast forward 40 years and now I am the old bald guy. Ironic, isn't it? But let me say this. I am as committed to the mission of the church as I was on the day that I first discovered how wonderful church can be. And I believe that the hope for America is the church.
You see now Greg, wait. I thought you said the hope for America is a revival. Isn't it really God? Yeah. The hope is God working through His church. What is revival? It is Christians getting back to what they should have always been in the first place. It is Christians coming back to life.
Remember what we learned in 2 Chronicles 7:14. If a nation wants to be healed, here is what God says. If my people which are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land. We want to see our land healed. God says it starts with my people. Christians need to live up to their name. Christ followers. Being Christ-like. And if the church would be what it was meant to be, it would change our country.
The Church: Called Out and Called Together
But let's localize it. If this church would be what it ought to be, could it change the Inland Empire? Or Orange County? Or Southern California? Well let's localize it even more. If you could be what you ought to be as a follower of Jesus and a part of the church, what difference would it make in this church?
Well where does this phrase church even come from? Now you might be surprised that the first one to ever use the word was not the Apostle Paul. It was Jesus himself. And that brings us to our text. Turn to Matthew 16. And we are going to read verse 13 to 19. Let's read together.
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, underline that. We will come back to it. He asked his disciples saying, Who do men say that I, the Son of man, am? So they said, Well some say you are John the Baptist. Others say Elijah. Some think you are Jeremiah, one of the prophets. He said, But who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Jesus said, Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to you that you are Peter. And on this rock I will build my church. And the gates of Hades, or hell, shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom. And whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
Let's pray now. Father as we explore what the church is. As we see how much you love it. Help us to gain an understanding of our place in the church. And how you want to work through it. We commit this time of Bible study to you now. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Jesus Builds His Church on the Rock of Confession
Jesus says, Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Listen, when Jesus walked this earth, He only started one organization, if you will. And that of course is the church. By saying the gates of hell will not prevail against it, the Lord is saying, Listen, this church is here to stay. Against all odds it will prevail. It not only has a beginning, but it is an ongoing process.
What does the word church mean? It comes from the Greek word ekklesia. And ekklesia is made up of two other words. One of those words is out from, and the other word is called. So you put them together, and the meaning of ekklesia, or the word church is called out from. Called out from what? Called out from this world. From this culture.
Jesus is saying, My followers should be separate from this culture. We are not only called out from, we are called together to. We are called to God, and we are called to each other.
How many of you have been to one of our Harvest Crusades at Angel Stadium? Raise your hand up. You know, it is an amazing thing when thousands of Christians gather in that place. Isn't it? But I have been to Angel Stadium for other events, and I will tell you, it is not the same as our events. Other staging may be more impressive. I went to a U2 concert there. They had the most amazing stage I have ever seen in my life. And it was a good rock concert, but it wasn't what we do. I went to a Paul McCartney concert there, and that wasn't a crusade or a church service either, though some people seem to think it was. And Paul is saying, Let it be. All the hippies got all worked up and were swaying back and forth in their tie-dye shirts and stuff. So it is like, Okay, whatever. I went to an Angels game there once, and I saw a couple guys get in a fight who were drunk. So that wasn't quite a crusade.
But when God's people gather together in Angels stadium, a stadium turns into a sanctuary. Why? Because the church is not a building. It is people. And Jesus said, When two or more are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them. That is what the church is.
The Significance of Caesarea Philippi
So let's consider now the statement of Christ. And let's start with where He said it. Jesus made this statement at a place called Caesarea Philippi. Now we could miss that altogether in its significance. But Caesarea Philippi was a place of paganism and false belief. In fact Caesarea Philippi was named after the Greek god Pan. If you go there today you will still see what is left of a site that was dedicated to false gods and idols.
So here in a place of false worship Jesus asks His disciples to make a stand. In this place of paganism Christ asks a probing question. Who do men say that I am? You know it is impressive to make your stand for Christ here in the church. But I think it is even more impressive when you make your stand for Christ out in the culture. When you make your stand for Christ not just on Sunday morning at church but Monday morning at work. Or Monday morning in the classroom. Or at the work site. Or in your neighborhood. Standing up for Jesus then.
The Gates of Hell Shall Not Prevail
Who do men say that I am? The Lord is effectively saying, Ok guys as you get out and about. As you rub shoulders with people. What are they saying? What is the word on the street? Well some say you are John the Baptist. Others say you are Jeremiah. Others think you are one of the prophets. Ok. Who do you say that I am? And Simon Peter inspired by the Holy Spirit says, I think you are the Christ. The Son of the living God.
And Jesus said, Flesh and blood did not reveal that to you Peter. Can you imagine how Peter felt at that moment? Don't forget these disciples they competed one with another. They would argue about who would get the best seat. Who was going to be top dog in the kingdom of heaven. And Jesus just said this to Peter. Can you see him? I wonder if he just kind of looked over sideways at James and John. Didn't say that to you sons of thunder. Said it to me. Hear that Andrew? Said it about your big brother. Said it to me.
But here is what Jesus is saying. He is not saying the church is built on Simon Peter. No. He is saying the church is built on what Peter said. What did Peter say? You are the Christ. The Son of the living God. The foundation of the church is Christ Himself. And He is going to build this church. And the gates of hell are not going to prevail against it.
This reminds us that the church is going to face hostility and opposition. Because gates don't attack. They are part of a fortress. But as we seek to advance the kingdom. And pull men and women effectively out of hell. The devil is going to say you back off. But Jesus says no. He is not going to win. Listen. We may lose a battle here and there. But we are going to win the war. I read the last page of the Bible. We win in the end. So we cannot be discouraged. We cannot be deterred. We press forward.
Jesus Loves the Church—We Must Too
Jesus loves the church. I bring this up because there are people out there today who say they are Christians. And we will say, Well you know I love the Lord. I just don't love the church. Sorry. That is impossible. First John 5:1 says, Everyone who believes that Jesus is born of God will love the Father. And if you love the Father you will love His child as well.
When I become friends with someone, and I have a lot of friends that I have known for 25-30 years, I become friends with their kids too. If I love them my love extends to their family. And their kids become like nieces and nephews in a way to me. And so in the same way when we love God we will also love His children. And if you don't love His children one has to question how much you really love God.
It is popular today to diss the church. But understand this. When you diss the church you are speaking critically of someone that Jesus loves. I don't know about you but the best way to offend me is insult my wife. You know you might walk up and say, Greg I disagree with this and I disagree with that. And I have had people do that. I am like, okay well let's talk about that. You come up and insult my wife. You talk smack about my wife. I might smack you. It is a different matter. Because that is my wife. This is my girl. You don't talk about her that way. I take that personally. Okay.
Who is the church? We are the bride of Christ. And we belong to Him. He loves us. In fact using that analogy over in Ephesians 5 we read, Husbands ought to love their wives with the same love Christ showed the church. He gave up His life for her. No one ever hates His body but cares for it as Christ cares for His body which is the church. And we are His body.
The Church's Purpose: Glorify, Edify, Evangelize
Some people claim to be Christians but they don't attend church. But if you are really a Christian you should long to be with God's people. You might say, well I haven't found a church I like yet. But listen. Here is what the Bible says. Hebrews 10, Then let's consider one another to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another and so much more as you see the day of the Lord approaching.
That verse does not say don't forsake the assembling of yourselves together unless of course Sunday is your only day off. Or you have a triathlon you want to run in. Or it is a great beach day. Then you are excused because you don't really need fellowship as much as other Christians do. No. If you love God you will love His people.
And let me turn that around and say if you don't love being around the people of God are you really a Christian? The Bible asks the question, how is it that you can say you love God who you can't see when you don't love your brothers and sisters who you can see? I think your desire for fellowship is in a way like a barometer of your love for God. The more you love God the more you will love to be in the church, a part of the church, loving the church, the less you love God the less you will want to be around other Christians.
You say, yeah, but I don't know. I am so over the church. And the church is so critical and judgmental and it is so full of hypocrites. To those who say the church is full of hypocrites I say, well then come on. There is always room for one more. I am not excusing hypocrisy. The church has its flaws because it is made up of people like me. And people like you. However, Jesus started the church. He loves the church. And He died for the church.
Backsliding Often Begins with Neglecting Church
Now let me say something that might seem a little bit provocative. But I believe it is true. A lack of fellowship with other believers to me is a sure sign of a person that is starting to backslide. You say, now Greg you are wrong on that. Oh wait. Hold on. What is backsliding? See in the Christian life we are either moving forward or we are moving backwards. It is constant growth. It is progression or regression. There is no standing still.
So suddenly you are withdrawing from church. And you are backing up from your study of the Word of God. And your prayer life is pretty much non-existent. You are starting to backslide if you want to admit it or not. You may not be an overt sin yet. But you are already setting the stage for it. Backsliding always begins with relaxing your grip on that which you need before you take hold of that which will destroy you.
And so when you say, well I am just too busy for church. Or I don't have time. Or there are other things. That to me is an indication something is wrong with you spiritually. And think about this. You are setting an example for your children and your grandchildren. How important is this to you?
A study revealed that when mom and dad attend church regularly 72% of their children will remain faithful in attendance. If only dad attends regularly 55% of their children will remain faithful. If only mom attends regularly 15% will remain faithful. If neither... Excuse me. I choke up on this. These stats are so emotional. If neither attend regularly only 6% will remain faithful. See how it trickles down? You are setting an example. You are saying, Yeah, you know, we don't need to go today. I want to go golf instead. Or... Well let's not go today. It is three drops of rain. I don't know. It could be so dangerous on the road. You know, that is the example. You are saying, That is not important to me. And your kids are going to absorb and pick up on that.
The Physical and Spiritual Benefits of Church
I read an article that actually says going to church is good for you physically. And for your health. Time Magazine did a story on it. Talking about the benefits of faith in the church. And among other things it revealed that heart surgery patients who draw comfort from their faith in their church have a higher rate of survival than those that do not. The blood pressure of people who go to church is lower than those who don't. People with faith who attend church regularly experience less depression than people that don't. Suicide is four times higher among non church goers than church goers. Fringe benefits.
But the real reason we should come together in worship is because God works in a unique and powerful way when His people gather together in His name. It is in church that we refocus and we learn and we grow. It is here where we come to the Lord in many cases. We bring others to the Lord. And it is here that we help one another and use the gifts that God has given to us.
But why does the church exist? There are three reasons. And we are putting them up here on the screen if you are taking notes. The church exists, number one, for the glorification of God, for the edification of the saints, and for the evangelization of the world. Number one. Glorifying God. Edifying saints. Evangelizing the world. Or a simpler way to remember it. Upward. Inward. And outward.
Glorifying God Through Worship
Number one. We are here for the glorification of God. The church is here to bring honor to God. And by the way you are here to bring honor to God. Apart from the church, your purpose for being on planet earth is to bring God glory. The Bible says that He has created all things for His pleasure. We are told over in Ephesians 1:12 that we are here on earth to praise our glorious God.
And that is why we worship the Lord in song. By the way, how many of you know that we have the greatest worship band on earth? Raise your hand. Okay, yeah. It is true. Now I have traveled around the world. I have spoken to churches all over the place. I have heard a lot of worship bands. Many of them very good. Ours is number one. But I shouldn't say that. That is sort of proud. But it is true. No. But you know we are very proud of them. And we thank God for them. And these guys work very hard at what they do. And they practice and prepare and come out here and just do such a fantastic job.
But you need to understand. When the worship band comes out they are not here to perform for you. They effectively perform for an audience of one. Me. No. They are here for God. They are here to perform for God. To worship God. And to lead us in worshiping God. Worship is effectively prayer set to song. This is why you should never be late to church. Because you miss out on that time when God is glorified. And when He inhabits the praises of His people. They are not a warm up act. Oh well let's get in. We will get in after the worship is over. No. They are here to help us prepare our hearts as we receive the word of God. The Bible tells us that He is inhabiting the praises of His people.
Worship as a Powerful Witness
And I will tell you what. I think that worship is a powerful witness. I think it is a powerful witness. You say, how so? Well actually I think when a non-believer walks into a setting where Christians are honestly encountering God it is a testimony to them. Because you know what? There is nothing in the world like it. For starters people out in our world today they rarely sing together. There was a time historically when Americans would sing songs together. You see that very rarely these days. But we come and we sing. And some of us sing well and some of us don't sing so well. But that is okay. It is not about that. And we worship the Lord. And it makes an impression on a non-believer.
In fact that was one of the things that drew me to this little Bible study where I ended up being converted. There was a cute girl I was looking for that I knew attended the study. So that didn't hurt. But when I located her and she was sitting on the front lawn of our campus with her Christian friends I sat down and I was amazed at their music. Now understand it was so simple back in those days. It wasn't as sophisticated as it is now. Most worship songs of that era were made up of four chords. G, C, D, and E minor. And if you knew those four chords you too could be a worship leader. And there were simple little choruses that were sung over and over again.
And I had been really into music prior to this. I consider myself a musical connoisseur. You know I was into The Beatles and Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix and The Doors and all this stuff. So I come to Christ and I said, Well I am not going to listen to that music anymore. But now what? And I listened to these simple little songs and it moved me deeply. And the reason it moved me was not because of how great they were musically, but because these people were encountering God and I had never seen anything like it.
And when someone comes in here, guess what? If they are a visitor, if they are a non-believer, they are not just watching what is happening here on the platform. They are watching you. They found a seat out there and they are next to you. And you are making an impression on them. And if you are engaged in worship, encountering God, I think that non-believer looks over and thinks, Wow. I don't have that kind of relationship with God. But if you are texting a friend, or you are jabbering away, or you are doing something else, what kind of testimony is that? You see?
And I think it is a powerful testimony when a Christian can rejoice in the Lord when they are going through horrible suffering. Look at the story of Paul and Silas thrown into jail for preaching the gospel. But yet we read there in the book of Acts at midnight, Paul and Silas began to sing praises to God. And we read the other prisoners listened. And the phrase used there for listen means to listen with pleasure. It was music to their ears. They had never heard anything like it. I don't know if Paul and Silas were like harmonizing, you know. Probably not. But the fact that they were singing at a time like that was a testimony.
And we should be here to worship the Lord. And also when we do this, when we engage in worship, it helps us see things in perspective. Asaph was grappling with the age old question, why do the wicked prosper? Then it dawned on him in Psalm 73:16, When I tried to understand this it was oppressive to me. Till I entered the sanctuary of God. Then I understood their final destiny. Asaph is essentially saying, I didn't understand why things are the way that they are until I came into God's presence to study His word with His people. Then I saw things in their proper perspective.
You can come to church with big problems. And then you leave. Your problems are still there. But now you see them the right way. Big God, small problems. Big problems. Small God.
After the Lord called our son Christopher home on a Thursday. It was the worst day of our life. We were devastated. But when Sunday came I knew there was only one place I was going to be. And that was at church. People were amazed. Oh he came to church. Well why would you be amazed? Church is a place for hurting people. Church is a place for people that need focus and help. A place where we get God's word. And boy if I ever needed it, I needed it then. And I came and I worshiped the Lord. And it wasn't some big sacrifice. I needed perspective. And God helped me on that day. And I can imagine when something bad happens withdrawing from the church. That is the time to run to the church and find that encouragement that fellow believers can provide. That is why we are here to glorify God. You can applaud for that if you want.
Edifying the Saints Through the Word
The second reason the church is here is to edify other believers. So this is inward. The apostle Paul said that his goal was to warn believers and teach them with all the wisdom God had given. That is why we give such a prominent place to biblical teaching here at Harvest. Listen. I don't want to waste your time. My opinion isn't any more valuable than anybody else's opinion out there. I understand what my purpose here is. I am not here to be your cheerleader or to be your life coach or a motivational speaker. I am not here to be your psychologist or your political pundit. I am here for one reason. To make really bad jokes. No. I am here to teach the Word of God. That is my job. That is my job. And I love my job.
You show me a church where this isn't happening and I wonder what is the point? What is the point? And what is with these short little sermons? You know. With a little fifteen minute talk. I don't want a fifteen minute talk. I want a message from the Word of God. Sermonettes produce Christianettes. We need God's Word. Otherwise why are we here? So we want to open it up and see what it has to say.
Why? Because Hebrews 4:12 says, The Word of God is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife. Cutting deep into the innermost thoughts and desires. It exposes us for what we really are. I love the statement of Martin Luther who said, The Bible is alive. It speaks to me. It has feet. It runs after me. It has hands. It lays hold of me.
You know when we read about the church of the first century. The church in revival. The church that changed its world. We read in Acts 2:42 that they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and in fellowship and prayer. That phrase continued steadfastly speaks of real passion. They were living in a first love relationship with Jesus Christ. They applied themselves to what was taught from the Word.
You know, I think we need anointed preaching and teaching today. But I think we also need anointed listening. What does that mean? That means that I come to church, A, with my Bible. Don't come here without a Bible. You know, a trend in some churches is people don't bring Bibles. They put the verses up on the screen. Or they have a Bible there in the pew you can borrow. Sorry I'm not loaning you a Bible. No soup for you. I'll give you a free Bible if you want one. It has a big old white arrow on it. But here it is. I'll give it to you. But you know what? Go buy yourself a Bible. Get a proper Bible. And then bring it to church.
How many of you have your Bible with you today? Grab it. Hold it up. Yeah. Brad has a cute little pink one. Nice Brad. See the reason I don't want to put verses on a screen or whatever, I want you to bring your Bible. I want you to open your Bible. And I want you to read it. Because this is the authority. I'm not the authority. This is our standard that we look at everything in the light of.
So we study the Word of God and we listen. It is attention with intention. I strongly encourage you to write notes. Take notes of what you hear. On the screen we will put phrases, definitions, quotes, and always Scripture passages. And the reason for this is so you can look those things up later. I know you are not going to retain all these things I am saying to you. But as you jot them down you can go look them up later and dig in even deeper.
We should hunger for God's Word like a little baby desires milk. In fact we are told in 1 Peter 2:2, like newborn babies you should crave and earnestly desire spiritual milk that you may grow thereby. When our son Christopher was a little boy before he could speak. I love the way that kids have their own language. Our youngest granddaughter Allie will say things to me and they are meaningful to her. And she will have a little word there that is right. And she will tap me on the shoulder. She will say yes Allie. I will say okay I agree totally. In her mind she is saying something.
Well Christopher was very little. One day he went and stood in front of the refrigerator and he was just staring at it. And he kept repeating this word. Yomp. Yomp. We are like what is he doing? Yomp. Yomp. So we are looking at him. Yomp. Just staring at the fridge. Yomp. So he thought there is something in there he wants. So we opened it up and we pulled out the eggs. No. No. Yomp. Yomp. There is bread. No. Yomp. Yomp. We went through a number of things. Finally I grabbed the milk. He went yomp. Yomp. Yomp. Yomp is milk. In babies speak. That is how we should hunger for the word of God.
Commit to One Church Family
We come here. Yomp. No don't say that. Let me say something that might seem controversial. But I am going to throw it down. Not only should you be a part of the church. You should be a member or a part of a church. A single church.
Now I know it is popular today to visit a lot of churches. I don't have a problem if you go and visit another church. That is fine. We are not the only church around. And there are a lot of great churches out there. But the problem with circulating among two or three churches at a time and not having a home base. I think it can almost cause a bit of spiritual schizophrenia. And you would be surprised to find that other pastors would agree with me on this.
Why? Because we are here to help you. And the Bible tells us as pastors that we are to watch over your soul. And we will be held accountable to God. So this gives us an opportunity to influence you starting with giving you a consistent theology. If you are jumping around to all kinds of different churches you will find you don't really know what you believe exactly.
First Timothy 4:16 says, Watch your life and your doctrine closely. Persevere in them. Because if you do you will save yourself and your hearers. You see what you believe matters. And that is why I have never understood people raiding a church on what I think are peripheral issues. Well I like that church because they have a really great facility. And I like this other church because it is closer to my home. It is convenient. Really? Is that your basis of evaluating the church?
I mean if I wasn't a pastor the first thing I would look for is I want to go to a church where the Word of God is taught. That is number one. I don't care if I have to drive for a while. I don't care if it is convenient. I don't care if it is the greatest facility. I want to go hear the Word of God taught.
But here as we gather together we want to be a part of what God is doing. This is not about one church being better than another. People like to pit churches against each other and pastors against each other. Don't come to our church to talk smack about another church. That is not why we are here. I don't want to hear it. When people come and they start criticizing this other church I say, you know, okay. But that is not why we are here. We are here to study the Word. We are here to worship Jesus. So please don't come here and do that. I don't like it.
I remember the story James McDonald told when he spoke here one time. Someone came up to him and said, oh Pastor James we are coming to your church now. Your church is so much better than the church we used to go to. And they start saying all these critical things about their former church. And so James listening to them, he is such a character really, you know. And so he pulls back his shirt and he just starts staring at his watch. And they are jabbering on about how bad their other church was. James just looks at his watch. They said, Pastor why are you looking at your watch? He said, I am just wondering how long it is going to be until you say those things about me and this church.
I find that people that leave one church because they didn't like this go to another church. They didn't like that. And they go to another and find something else to dismiss. Maybe the problem isn't with the church. Maybe the problem is with you. And maybe you need to settle down and be a part of a congregation.
This happened in the early church too by the way. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3, some of you say I am a follower of Paul. Another says, well I prefer Apollos. Another preacher. Aren't you acting like those who are not Christians? Paul says, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? That we should be the cause of such quarrels. We are only servants. Through us God caused you to believe. Each of us did the work that God gave us.
But why should you have a home church? Because you need a pastor who can influence you and you need to be accountable. Quite honestly I find a lot of times when people are church hoppers it is because there is sin in their life. I am not saying everyone who goes to multiple churches is living in sin. But I am saying some are. And I will tell you why I say that. Because I will hear a story of someone coming to Harvest to some guy showing up here with his girlfriend. Ok. Yeah but the problem is he is married. And his wife goes to this other church he used to go to. But they are separated right now. So he brought his new girlfriend to church here. See I don't... No we don't like that. Ok. And we are not going to go with that. People hop around so they won't be accountable. So someone won't come up to them and say, Hey how are you doing? Is everything alright? Can we pray for you? Can we help you?
We need to have a place where we can serve the Lord. And yes we need to have a place where we can invest our finances. Regularly every believer should give to the work that God is doing. I think we treat churches like we treat restaurants or movie theaters. We get a consumer mentality. Oh you want to go to this theater? Oh we went there two weeks ago. Let's go to this other one. You want to go to that restaurant? Let's go to this other one. Yeah. The church is not a restaurant folks. The church is a family. And you need to be a part of the family. And you need to engage. And maybe one of the reasons you feel like you are not getting enough out of it is you come intermittently and you don't commit yourself. And I say if you would settle in and become a part of what God is doing here it would change for you because you have skin in the game. Stop thinking of the church as them and start thinking of the church as us. And be a part of the family. And take the gifts that God has given you and develop them and use them for His glory. I suggest to you church could completely change for you if you stopped coming as a spectator and instead joined the team. If you have come here for more than a couple of years you ought to be involved in some ministry here.
You say, well I am not called to preach. Oh listen we have lots of things for you to do. In fact we are going to tell you a little bit more about them at the end of the service. But as you leave today there are some tables set up with signs over them describing all the ministry opportunities we have here at Harvest. There is something for everyone. And trust me there are some of you out there that have the gifts that are needed to help out in these areas. We being many are one body in Christ. Everyone members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us. Use your gifts.
It is fine to come and be served in the church. But there has to come a point where you start growing up and say, you know what I want to start serving now. And you will find everything changes for you.
Evangelizing the World as Light and Salt
So we are here to glorify God. We are here to edify and build up one another. And lastly the church is here to evangelize the world outward. That is the natural outgrowth of the first two. I think if we are glorifying God and building up one another we will want to share the hope of salvation with others through our loving actions and words. Healthy sheep will reproduce themselves. And Jesus has told us to go out into this culture as light. Light in a dark world.
How do we shine our light? Jesus said, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father. We do many good works in our community. We feed people. We clothe people. We help people get off drugs and alcohol. We counsel all week long helping messed up marriages. Parents with kids with problems. You name it we deal with it here. We help people in every way that we can. We build homes for people. We build churches for people. You will find out more as you go and check out some of our tables. But there are things that we do to shine our light for Jesus Christ. We are a light in our community. And a light in our state. And a light in our world.
But we are also called to be salt. Jesus said in Matthew 5. You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt has lost its flavor what good is it? Salt in biblical times was used as a preservative. And we as Christians are a preservative in our culture. We stand up for what is right and true. Yeah we register and we vote our conscience. That is informed by our biblical worldview. We make no apology for that. As followers of Jesus we are going to oppose sin.
The story is told of President Calvin Coolidge. He returned home from church one Sunday. His wife asked him what the minister talked about. Coolidge, a man of few words, said, oh he spoke on sin. His wife said, well yeah. What else did he say? President Coolidge responded, he was against it. That is right. We are against sin. But we love sinners. And want them to come to the Savior. That is why we are here. And God wants to use each one of us to touch our world and to touch our community.
But here is what I am saying to you. Be a part of the church. Stop dissing it. Stop critiquing it. Don't be a church connoisseur. Be a family member. And you watch how things will change for you as God uses you.
Invitation to Join God's Family Through Christ
Let me say in closing, maybe you have joined us here today and it is sort of like you walked into a family meeting. Have you ever done that? You go over to your friend's house and they are having a family meeting. You are like, uh, I am going to go now. Why? Because you are not part of the family. So you have come in and we are having one of those. And we are having a candid talk about what the church is. And you are thinking, well I am not a part of the church. Yeah that is true. But guess what? You can join this family. You are not born into it. You are born again into it. Through faith in Jesus Christ.
So maybe as you have joined us and you have seen us worship and you have heard this message and you are saying, man I wish I had that relationship with God. I wish I was a part of this family. I feel so all alone out there. And I have not found family. But right here you have a family waiting for you. And you have a Father who loves you. A Father in heaven. Who will change you and forgive you of all of your sin if you will come to Him right now.
And I am going to give you an opportunity to become a Christian. And to join the church. And I don't mean this church in particular. But you become a part of the body of Christ. The church as a whole. You join God's family. And if you have never done that but you want to, why don't you respond to this invitation as we close now in prayer.
Let's all pray. Father I thank you for your word to us today and we want to apply it. We don't want to just be a hearer of the word. We want to be a doer. But we pray for those that have joined us who may not yet know you. Lord would you help them to see their need for Jesus and help them to come to you now.
While our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we are praying together. How many of you would say, Greg pray for me. I want to be forgiven of my sin. I want to know that when I die I will go to heaven. I want to join God's family. I am ready to say yes to Jesus. Pray for me. If that is your desire. If you want Jesus Christ to come into your life right now. If you want to go to heaven when you die. Wherever you are sitting would you just stand to your feet. And I am going to lead you in a prayer.
You want Christ to come into your life. You want your sin forgiven. Stand to your feet. You want to go to heaven when you die. Just stand up. And I am going to lead you in a prayer of commitment to Jesus. God bless you. Just stand up wherever you are. You want His forgiveness today. I talked about backsliding. Maybe you have fallen away from the Lord. Maybe you have been drifting. You have been relaxing your grip. But you are ready to recommit your life to Him. You stand as well. Let me pray for you. Anybody else? Just stand up. God bless you.
Up in the balcony. There at Harvest Orange County. You stand up at Harvest Orange Crest. Outside in the amphitheater. Up in the court building. Stand to your feet. I am going to lead you in a prayer. If you need to make this commitment or recommitment to Christ. Anybody else? God bless you that are standing now. There might be a few more. Anybody else? Stand now and we will pray. God bless you sir. Anybody else? One final moment. Stand now. Alright. God bless each one. God bless you. God bless you. You that are standing pray this prayer out loud after me. And this is a prayer of asking Christ to come into your life. Pray this after me now.
Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner. But you died on the cross for my sin. And rose again from the dead. Now I ask you to come into my life. I choose to follow you Lord from this day forward. I want to be a part of your family. I want to be a part of your church. I commit myself to you now. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. Amen.