The first Sunday in November this November will mark 39 years that I have
been working as a full-time minister, nothing compared to Dayton,
he's been doing what 84 years now, something like that. We're not competing.
Well I say this because in that amount of time you begin to recognize some
patterns that are common from church to church some things are different but
some things are the same wherever you go, I've preached in California and
here and in Canada and different provinces always some things never
change from place to place. Each congregation
has its own strengths and weaknesses each has its own personality but all of
them seem to share one particular trait without exception and that is the
constant struggle to maintain good attendance for worship and of course
Choctaw is no exception to that. For this reason I have compiled the ten most
common reasons why people do not come to church, here they are the top ten: number
ten, I'm Jewish. I can stop here and be ahead of the game right? Obviously the
main reason why people don't attend worship is that they're not Christians.
Seriously 68 percent of the world population never heard of Christ,
that's pretty sobering isn't it? The number of believers that we have today is the
same as we had in 1830 but the world population has tripled.
This is why the Great Commission is still enforced today. I mean no
disrespect to doctors lawyers accountants teachers plumbers carpenters
oil workers truck drivers I mean no disrespect but the world can do without
one more lawyer but it needs every single preacher that it can get amen.
Reason number nine: I'm sick, I'm not coming to church because I'm sick. Each
week a number will be sick and this is normal, this is part of our ministry to
pray for and to visit and to help the sick, James 5:19. Didn't Johnny one of our
elders pray for people who were sick many of whom were members of this
congregation and they're not here we've tried to minister to them our elders do
and we stream our services so they can at least participate from home
but it happens all the time people are sick 10% of the congregation
not here because they're sick for some reason or other. Top 10 reasons, number 8:
I'm changing, I'm in transition. Life is a continual process of change
moving going to college getting married having babies new jobs more babies
retirement. With these changes come interruptions in our routines and habits,
one habit that suffers during a period of change is usually church attendance
and it goes something like this well I'll start searching for a new
congregation next week or what wait a minute after the house closes or when
things settle down that'll be a better time to go look for a new church
and we keep putting it off and putting it off and putting it off. Coming
to worship and Bible study often gets packed away with other things that we
promised ourselves to sort out once we get settled but many times this habit
this feature of our old life never gets unpacked and it remains stored away with
the family albums and the old tennis rackets.
I'm not coming to church because: I'm working, I'm working. This is particularly
Oklahoma where most people have two jobs everybody's got two jobs everybody's got
their main job and I got their side job but he's got a sideline going. Folks here
work long hours. There was a time when industry and
government recognized that this was basically a Christian nation and working
on Sundays or irregular shifts was less prevalent but now it's the norm, now
your boss doesn't care that you go to church on Sunday.
Normally it won't make exceptions for you if you work I have to
work on Sunday and miss church. Today we live in a multiracial multi-religious
heavily indebted society where people accommodate schedules and not the other
way around. The Bible says that to provide for our families should be a
priority, I'll read the scripture I Timothy 5:8, "But if anyone does not
provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the
faith and is worse than an unbeliever." So it's important as Christians that we
provide for our families. It's simply unfortunate that our fast-paced and
extremely materialistic society requires that we sacrifice our spiritual lives in
order to meet the demands of our lifestyles, that's just the way it is. I'm
not coming to church because: I'm new, I'm new. One of the most
embarrassing moments for the minister is announcing the good news that we have a
new brother or sister in Christ recently baptized and we asked them to
stand then there's this awkward moment while people are craning
their necks to get a look at this new Christian but they're not at worship
service, we forgot to teach him about that thing oh yeah by the way
we're expecting you to be at worship us on Sunday and Wednesday. The scene
repeats itself at the Wednesday service as well. Young Christians may
know about the gospel and the way in the reasons why they came
to Christ this is important but young Christians also need to be trained in
Christian living and be taught about the rewards of regular attendance with the
saints for study and fellowship and worship, that's part of the teaching. Paul
tells us that the only way to strengthen faith is by continually hearing God's
Word, Romans 10:17. He says in II Timothy 3:16 that the study and
sharing of God's Word is what trains an individual in Christian wisdom and
service. And we just don't hear the Word at work you know if we're at the shop or
at the office or on the on the floor or wherever they don't stop they don't take
a break and say ok I'm going to stop working we're going to have a moment of
reflection the Bible verse for today is, they don't do that at work you don't
hear the Word being preached that work, you come here for
that. In most cases this valuable experience is only gained through
regular attendance at church services. Coming to services each Sunday, making
time for Bible study each Wednesday is an acquired habit developed by the
encouragement and example of other Christians. Hopefully it's our parents
that teaches this. Being faithful in attendance isn't hardwired in at baptism
it comes with patient repetition under all kinds of circumstances. I was
baptized and it was a sunny day whoop Sunday comes around it's raining and
it's raining hard, should I not go to church is that an excuse should try
living in Montreal we didn't cancel church when there was 10 inches of snow
that fell on Saturday night you made it in somehow. I'm not coming to church
because: I'm busy, I'm just a busy person. There's a difference between
I'm working and I'm busy, one is based on need and
is based on want. The busy person is not a bad person they're just busy, in Mark
4:18-19 Jesus describes this person in Hhis parable of
the sower and the seed, we read he says, "And others are the ones on whom seed was
sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, but the worries
of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things
enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful." Who's he talking
about? He's talking about the busy guy, do you recognize this person, very busy
concerned with problems that are strictly rooted in this world, we're not
saying they're illegitimate problems we're just saying busy concerned with
the problems in this world, very busy getting ahead in this world very busy
securing and defending his place in this world; this person is not evil but this
person has a priority problem, he or she allows what's urgent what's here and now
to take precedent over what is truly important perhaps unseen but
nevertheless important. Busy people have forgotten or don't realize or don't
believe the most basic principle of Christian living: if we put kingdom
matters, like faithful attendance for example, if we put things like this first
God will find a way to provide for us all the things we are so busy trying to
provide for ourselves and in doing so putting our souls at risk. I'm not coming
to church because: I'm hurt. Many people stop coming to
worship because they have been hurt in some way
it's unfortunate; hurt by another member's comments or attitude, offended by a
perceived lack of attention by the elders or the ministers, angered by some
things being done in a way that they disagree with, offended by a comment or a
teaching made by one of the preachers or one of the teachers in the class. Now
most times elders or preachers are unaware that the person is offended and
I know that ministers don't sit around trying to figure out ways to offend and
run off the members, we have the minister's meeting you
know on the agenda is wow how are we going to get sister so-and-so to get mad at
us so she will leave or she'll write us a nasty note how do what can we do to
really get on her nerves? I mean but it happens people get their feelings
hurt you can't put 400 sinners together in one room and think that somebody's
not going to get their feelings hurt. Now even though the offense may only be
perceived and unintended people do get their feelings hurt in church and when
this happens it's unfortunate for several reasons:
first of all leaving the church because you're offended will not justify
you before God a judgment, sorry. Jesus specifically warned his disciples
that among other things they would be subjected to persecution, false teachers,
sufferings of all kinds including physical, emotional and spiritual attack
and then He says that the one who endures until the end will be saved,
Mark 13:9-23. Think now regardless of the offense real or imagined leaving the
church is not the answer nor is it something God excuses.
I mean He tells us you might have to give up your life
for your faith but if you hang into the end you'll be saved.
Another reason leaving church is unfortunate: it doesn't solve the problem.
Leaving the church because someone or something offends us leaving because
we've suffered a tragedy or a setback of some kind this is not going to help us
recover this is not going to make things better ignoring God or separating
ourselves from our brothers and sisters will not make us healthier spiritually
it will only make us more vulnerable to sin. Jesus tells us what to do when
somebody offends us in Matthew 18:15 it begins with go to that person and tell
them what is on your mind. Of all the things we could learn to avoid division
in the church if we could just learn that lesson somebody says something or
does something to offend you you go to that person if we could just learn that
oh boy what a wonderful experience we would have in our Christian fellowship
together. James tells us what to do when we're suffering or we're sad: ask the
church for help and prayer don't just go off by yourself in a corner. This is why
we offer an invitation at the end of our service in order to take care of these
type of things, this is why we have more than one elder, there are the
reasons for that but certainly that's one of them,
these men are there to care for the sheep but they cannot guess what the
disease is they cannot guess what the care is they cannot guess if one is
offended or not they need to be informed. We shouldn't try to punish God or the
church for the offenses committed against us. You know what better that we
turn the other cheek then we turn away from the
who died to save us and the body that he loves, remember Jesus loves the church.
Another reason why I'm not coming to church: well I'm just lazy.
I'm sorry we're getting to it now. In 39 years I've only met one person who
actually admitted that this was the cause of many of his problems and
failure, I admired his honesty, he said to me I'm just lazy I can't
fight it, so I slapped him, no I didn't do that I didn't I wanted to but I repented.
Let's face it, going to church on a regular basis requires physical and
mental effort I mean think about it there's preparation and travel
multiplied if you have young children or are bringing an elderly person who needs
help or you live a distance away, you need personal discipline to sit and to
listen and to stay focused, there's the extra work involved if you are teaching
or serving in some way, and then there's the spiritual effort that comes with the
continual adjustments and changes pressed on you by God's Word and His
Spirit as He molds you into the image and the person of Christ, it's not easy. Now
the definition of a lazy person according to the dictionary is as
follows: one who dislikes physical or mental effort. Solomon in the book of
Proverbs says it this way, "The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he is weary
of bringing it to his mouth again." You like that one.
Too lazy to feed him say his hand goes into the dish he's just too lazy to
bring it back to his mouth that's lazy. In other words the lazy man won't even
feed himself but you know what the lazy man won't even feed himself spiritually
either, why? Because it requires effort. The Lord provides the nourishment for
the only part of a person that will live forever
which is the human soul and yet some people are too lazy to make the physic
and mental effort to come to the dinner table each week. I'm not coming to church
because: I'm worldly. One of the saddest stories in the Bible is the story of
Demas an early disciple in the church in Colossians 4:14 and Philemon 24
Paul the Apostle counts Demas among his missionary team of helpers and faithful
disciples in Christ, in Paul's last letter from Rome before he died he
mentions Demas again but this time in different terms
he says, "for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone
to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia." Some
Christians don't attend regularly because they can't decide who they love
more from week to week: Christ or the world. They love the smell of success
more than they love the smell of sacrifice, they love the pleasures the
activities the allurements of this world more than the promises of the next. Jesus
spoke of the terrible pull of the world and its power to immobilize us
spiritually when He said the following, "This is the judgment, that the Light has
come into the world, and men love the darkness rather than the Light, for their
deeds were evil." When we we're involved in sin of some kind a secret habit a
worldly lifestyle and we have no desire our attention to let it go we lose
interest in going to the place and being with the people that might expose us and
deal with our sin. Worldliness is such an insidious vice because it eats away at
our spiritual life quietly and without pain until we're cold and dead in Christ
and we don't even realize it until it's too late.
Some of us just keep making one concession to the world after another
until we're no longer part of the kingdom the world owns us lock stock and
barrel. Satan's number one attack in this process is to diminish a
Christians exposure to God's Word and God's people and he finds any number of
seemingly innocent excuses to make that happen. Eventually we find ourselves
liking night better than we like the light. And I'm not coming to church
number one, well the number one reason is: your reason, whatever that is you fill in
the blank. It could be any of the above or one I haven't mentioned yet but it's
the number one reason if it keeps you from attending all of the services of
this congregation on a regular basis. Perhaps you think you don't have to be
here maybe you're not convinced that the Lord not just a preacher but the Lord
actually wants you here. It could be that you think you don't get anything out of
church attendance whatever. The purpose of this lesson is twofold
like Paul says it doesn't beat the air for nothing,
I don't preach for nothing. Reason number one: if you don't attend all the services
regularly I want you to at least acknowledge to yourself the reason why,
and number two: to examine that reason or reasons to see if it is truly a valid
excuse for you not to be here every time. If it is valid then I pray that God
strengthen and keep you faithful since you are missing a very important part of
your spiritual life and if it isn't valid then I hope you'll repent and make
some changes in your life and your attitude in your habits so that regular
church attendance will become part of your natural lifestyle and an important
priority for you personally. Yeah thank you. I realize that I'm mostly
preaching to the choir really when I had this sermon thinking I'm there you're
here you're here and that by your presence here today you're fulfilling
your responsibilities to the Lord and worship
and I commend you and I encourage you to be here tonight for our evening service
and also on Wednesday evening for our midweek service as well. This type of
regular attendance is not just tradition or habit it's a form of inoculation
against the world we break its hold on us three times per week so that we can
maintain a spiritual perspective. Regular church and I don't just mean Sunday
regular church attendance, Sunday morning Sunday evening Wednesday night
whenever we have activities regular attendance like this is like the
icebreaker ships in Canada we don't have them here we don't need them here but
these ships they plow the Great Lakes in the Seaway constantly in the wintertime
they're breaking of the ice because left alone the ice will form a mass a solid
mass in the St. Lawrence Seaway and in the Great Lakes
no ship will be able to come in or go out the shipping lanes will be frozen
solid so these ice breakers go up and down the St. Lawrence Seaway and all
around the Great Lakes breaking up the ice; well in the same way attendance at
all services stops the world from forming a worldly mass over our hearts
and over our conscience allowing the free flow of spiritual influence and
prayer between ourselves and God, that's what we're doing, we're not allowing the
world to continually and totally possess us. Now for those who may be here today
but who usually don't attend regularly please don't be hurt and use this as an
excuse not to come back, this message this medicine was given to spur you on
to greater faithfulness and service which will only benefit you in the end.
If this is your weak area then today's lesson is an attempt to help you
become strong, this congregation will not grow as it should unless each individual
member grows in his or her own life first and the beginning of church growth
the number one step is increased faithfulness among the members that are
already here. So if you remember here at Choctaw then decide today that you
will make church attendance a priority in your life and ask yourself this
question: if I make church attendance a priority in my life will God be pleased
with me, will the Lord Jesus Christ be upset with me because I've made a
decision in my heart to attend every service of the church? You think the
Lord's going to kind of be upset with you because you did that? Think about
that for a second. No need to come forward no need to fill out a card just
make the commitment between yourself and God, He knows your heart He knows your
intention He also knows the legit reasons why you can't be here as well.
We'll know it as we see our numbers grow from week to week from service to
service. If you're not a member of the Lord's church then of course we invite
you to be added to the body of Christ in repentance and baptism, if you've been
visiting with us and would like to be a member and place yourself under the
under our elders under their direction be a part of this congregation of course
so we asked you to come and let us know about that as well as you place
membership with us, if you have any need any type of need of prayer then please
let us know now as we stand as we sing our song of encouragement.