What’s the Big Deal about
Going to Church?
Dr. Larry Thorson
Scripture: Acts
42
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the
breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled
with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in
common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to
anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet
together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together
with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and
enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily
those who were being saved.
Today’s New International Version Copyright © 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society
What’s the big deal about going to
church? When I was growing up my family
went three out of four Sundays every month.
I wouldn’t say I was a big fan of church. In fact every week I had an assortment of
options for my parents to choose instead of church. I just didn’t see what the big deal was about
going to church. It was old. It was dark.
It smelled funny. To make the
experience even worse I had to wear suspenders and hard soled shoes. I wasn’t allowed to laugh in church unless it
was to something the minister said and he never said anything funny to me. Somehow my dad’s growling stomach during a
sermon always seemed to be the funniest thing I heard all week. Worship was at 11:00 and you know what I
always start thinking about at 11:00.
LUNCH! The worst Sundays were the
Sundays when lumps appeared on the communion table. That signaled worship was going to be long
and of course lunch delayed. Fortunately
for me, I had a cool dad who taught and practiced the fastest way out of a
worship service after the benediction.
We practiced it to perfection.
The minister even changed where he stood at the back to thwart our exit
plans.
I
just couldn’t see what the big deal was about going to church. That wasn’t true
for the early church. Not only did they
go by the thousands, but Dr. Luke, who wrote Acts says they "DEVOTED
themselves to the teaching, to fellowship, to breaking bread and prayer."
The
Greek root for devoted (proskartereo) conveys a sense of being really earnest
towards something, to persevere, to be constantly diligent, to not give up. When I was a student at San Jose City College
Bruce Jenner was training on our campus for what would become his gold medal
performance in the decathlon at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Every morning for four hours and every
afternoon for another four hours he trained.
Jenner was serious about winning a gold medal (and he had a wife who was
devoted to him). That’s how these new
Christians were about being followers of Christ.
How serious were they? First he says, they devoted themselves to the
apostles' teaching. This wasn’t just coming and listening to a cute
sermon. They wanted to be a disciple of
Christ and that takes serious learning.
The root meaning of the word "disciple" is
"learner." Some of you devote
yourselves to the study of God’s Word.
You read it daily. You study
it. You apply it. You teach it.
Reading the Bible is a big thing for you. The big deal about coming to church then is
being able to learn more about the Bible.
We
take our learning pretty lightly here at First Pres. In ancient
Second, they devoted themselves
to fellowship. The early church talked
together, they laughed together, they sang together.” Outsiders would say “See how those Christians
love one another." You remember
what passers-by thought was going on at Pentecost - it sounded like a drunken
party, and it was only
I remember a Peanuts comic strip
many years ago. Lucy says, "It's my life and I'll do whatever I want with
it. I'm my own person. It's my life and I'm the one who has to live it."
In the last frame she grins and adds, "With a little help." We all
need that little bit of help from our friends.
Third, they broke bread together.
This bread breaking was probably a bigger deal than we give it credit for.
Remember, this was a disparate group - they came from everywhere; they were
rich poor, male, female, slave, free. Think about it, ever since Junior High
School, we have known to be careful about those with whom we eat. We didn’t
want to be at the cafeteria table with just anyone.
In
Fourth,
they devoted themselves to prayer. What’s being referred to here is probably
the Jewish prayers and psalms which are to be said at stated times throughout
the day. These folks continued to think
of themselves as Jews (which is why the text would note that they
"continued to meet together in the temple courts") even as they
struggled to understand their new relationship with Jesus. Regardless if it is
rehearsed or extemporaneous prayer, the act of taking time out of the routine
and rush of the day to pray is one of the aspects that sustains the community. That’s why we’re starting a thirty minute
Wednesday morning prayer meeting this week at 10:00 in the sanctuary.
What’s
the big deal about going to church? If
you don’t know Jesus and you don’t care whether you get to know him or not then
it’s not a big deal. There are lots of
other things to do with your time. If
the bread and juice in communion is just that, bread and juice and not the
presence of grace in your life then going to church isn’t going to be a big
deal.
It’s
like when you were dating and it was a big deal to take out your favorite
gal. You would drop anything to make
that date. I used to drive a hundred
miles one way in a stripped down
This
morning as we break bread together around the Lord’s Supper I want you to take
your spiritual pulse. How in love with
Jesus are you? Do you hear him on a
regular basis? Do you get excited when
you get to be with him? Maybe you need
what happened to the early church that transformed them from timid, passive
believers into on fire Christians and that’s a fresh baptism of the Holy
Spirit. During communion today open your
heart, confess your sin and ask God for a fresh baptism of his Holy
Spirit.