Embracing the Church: A Call to Continuous Worship

Because we as people of God have to get to a place in our lives where we don't need to wait on the day where we're told to come together to worship him, but rather we can become people who learn how to live our lives from an everyday posture of worship. [00:43:32] (15 seconds)


And when we wake up on Wednesday morning to celebrate however you so choose to recognize his holiday, you wake up remembering why he's worthy. You think about it. the vision and revelation and it's who is worthy there was none they searched everywhere there was none who was worthy to open the scroll and they asked who was worthy and the and the vision says suddenly there was one like a lamb that was slain that showed up in the middle of the thrones and that's why he's worthy that's why he's worthy of our worship that's why he's worthy of not just our verbal worship but our lives being offered to him as worship that's why he's worthy of our yes when it's hard that's why he's worthy of our worship when when life is beating you up that's why he's worthy of our worship when you don't have solutions to the things that's going on and you feel like you are abandoned or you feel like god isn't listening or you feel like things aren't going the way that you choose them to go in your life he's worthy of our worship even in those moments because he proved to us how much he loved us he proved to us how much he cares for us when he willfully no one takes my life he said but i lay it down nobody [00:44:30] (89 seconds)


The whole building is being fitted together and is being built into the temple of God. This means we are making up as individuals the whole building. We are not the whole building as individuals. We are fitted together to make up the whole. Let me make it a little bit more. Romans 12, 4 -5. For just as we have many parts in one body and all the body parts do not have the same function, so we who are the many are one body in Christ and individual parts of one another. [01:18:06] (31 seconds)


And so my prayer is that in 2025, we restore reverence and priority to the gathering also, not for a performance in a show, but because God has called us as individuals to gather together and worship in one voice as one body. Now, Paul establishes that the church is significant because we are the house of God, and without it, we are malnourished. But in the midst of that, we can't ignore that he talks about conduct, right? In the house of a God, right? And this is interesting because as God's dwelling place, and this seems like it should be like common, but it's not. [01:43:16] (35 seconds)


The church still matters because the church is God's vehicle for upholding his truth amongst the nations. A pillar is load -bearing. So it has the responsibility of upholding something. And in the case of God's word and truth, we are the ones that have been responsible for upholding it. Now, there's a very specific truth that Paul is going to get to. But in general, what he's saying is kind of in the same way in the Old Testament, he only gave his oracles to Israel, right? And they were the ones who were supposed to take his word and go and proclaim it amongst the nations, right? You know, they failed, didn't do what they were supposed to do, right? So now the church, consistent of both Jew and Gentile, now have the word of God and are the pillars and the support. Of that truth. He's given it to the church, his truth. He's revealed the mysteries to his church. This is why when you're talking to unbelievers or people who don't really know Christ, they can't understand what we're talking about. It don't make sense to them because it's been revealed to his church. [01:38:10] (52 seconds)


And then fourthly, we uphold the truth by defending the truth against lies. And I know some of y 'all are like, I ain't know. I ain't know. I ain't telling you to go be a heresy hunter. I ain't telling you. But the Bible is clear, 1 Peter 3 and 15. Everyone who act, be ready, right, to make a defense to everyone who gives an account for the hope in which you had. But with gentleness and respect. In Jude 3, behold, while I'm making every effort to write to you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all handed down to the saints. [01:40:25] (33 seconds)


And so, Lord, my prayer and my ask and my urge and my petition is that we would be a body that reach city church. And everybody who is present today and everybody who will belong, Lord, that we would be a church that honors you. Strives to honor you. Fights to honor you. We know we won't be perfect. But we fight. We fight to honor you in light of what it is that you. So Paul says, in light of understanding the gospel, he says that it is therefore no longer. He said the love of God compels him. [01:56:55] (42 seconds)


And if you're someone who don't even have access into the church because you don't have faith in Jesus Christ, then my invitation to you is to come and belong. To believe on the gospel. To believe that you were a sinner. To believe that you have been separated from God, alienated from God because of your sin. That you'll believe, though, that God loved you so much. And there's nothing that you can do to fix yourself. There's no amount of work you can do. You can't pay it off. You can't work it off. You can't serve it off. You can't good deeds it off. Because all of our works are but filthy rags if we have no relationship with God. No relationship with Christ. [01:50:03] (45 seconds)


And knowing that God said, I love you so much, I'll come then. I'll come and I'll come so that I can pay the debt of your sin. For the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life. Through Christ Jesus, I'll come and I'll pay the debt that is owed. And not only will I just pay your debt, I'll then come to you and make my home in you. And that thing that was once in me, that was impossible to do without me, you will now be able to do with me. [01:51:26] (33 seconds)


For the new covenant says, I will place my spirit in them and I will teach them to obey all that I have commanded them to do. I will teach them how to obey. I will empower them to obey. But the correction to our actions follows the belonging. Because the spirit comes after the yes, not before. At least not in their dwelling state. [01:52:20] (27 seconds)


And all who believe on that, that confess that with their mouth and believe it in their heart, those are the individuals who will be saved. Those are the individuals who are now grafted or entered into or become a house in the fitted together household of God. But if you don't, if you're not that, then finding a church is just you finding a place to go on Sunday. But the invitation is not to find a place to be on Sunday. It's to belong to the household and family of God. And it's so simple to just believe on the gospel of Jesus Christ. [01:53:34] (40 seconds)