Getting People faithfully to integrate

Getting People to faithfully integrate (updated)

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Getting People to faithfully integrate is an article on how to get people to particate in your church. This article links to more articles dealing with these issues.

Contents

Getting People to Faithfully Come, Integrate, and Participate.

Why go to Church or Attend Church, Why Congregate.

by Missionary David R. Cox

It is lamentable that most Christians who are just church members have had poor experiences in their past with churches. The reasons for this run from a bad pastor, a bad group of people, poor or unbiblical doctrine, a particular few people in the church ruining it for everybody, to the person themselves being unspiritual, sinful, and rebellious. But much of these problematic consequences of your relationship with your church has to do with wrong or a total lack of teaching on why we go to church in the first place.

As pastor, it is the pastor’s duty to teach what is supposed to be, to correct whatever is wrong, and “make things work.” The local church should be at the center of each Christian’s spiritual life. We cannot change the plan and structure of what God has commanded because we “think” or “believe” it doesn’t work. It does work, and if in your experience, traditional church as in the New Testament doesn’t work, it is because you don’t understand it right, or you are not implementing it right. God’s genius and eternal wisdom has gone into the plan God has commanded, and it will work (it alone has the blessing of God), and any alternative plan won’t work. As a Bible believer, we have to affirm and insist on that.

So here, we have to agree with God on importance of the plan of God, and the methodology of God.

Let’s be frank about this. You cannot do much of anything with people if they do not:

(1) Come to church.
(2) Participate in the church.
(3) Support the church (read this, to serve and give).

We go back to one of our fundamental principles of church planting, the Pastor is the one in charge of fixing anything that goes wrong. So how? By teaching and preaching (the methodology God has given us) we change people to first convince them of what is God’s plan and commandment, and then motivate them to obey God. This is the only way that things will really work right and work on a permanent, life-long basis. But if the auditorium where the preacher preaches is empty, it is of little use to preach to empty pews. (While somebody is there, at least something is happening in some few people’s lives.)

So as pastor, our duty is to teach, preach, and convince with the power of  Scripture so that our people understand God’s plan, and they do it. Only then will their lives be changed, and things will work right.

So these three things are like the “holy grail” of church work. The minister who achieves these things is very fortunate, and he will have a tremendous ministry for God.

So we should start with the reason as far as why a Christian should congregate.

The Pastor is the person given the job of administrating or governing the local church, and you must understand what God’s “plan” or will is, and then inform the people of this plan, convincing them that only obeying God will things work right. Our contact with people is mostly in the local church, in its services and activities. You must constantly convince and correct motives and ideas about why your people “are there.”

We are trying to “sell” the concepts of God to our people. This is where we insert these concepts into our people through sermons, through indirect treatments in different settings, and through items in the bulletins, in the announcements, and in any channel that we can get them across. At times, the only way to do this is to go to a person’s house and sit down face to face and counsel them about their erroneous ideas, and try to correct the person that way. This is not the “easiest” way to do it, because general teaching is much better, but sometimes it is the only way to do it.

You must be a persuasive person, putting forth the correct arguments in teaching, sermons, exhortations, counseling, and in literature.

Note that this gathering of the sheep is one of the basic duties of a pastor, (posts Deember 8, 2023) sheep gathering and conversing.

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See https://www.churchplantingworkshop.com/why-go-to-church-or-attend-church-why-congregate/

My Tracts on Church Attendance

Main Issues: Participation – see side bar
Issues: Local Church – see side Bar

Let’s start here by examining first of all why people come to church, and why they don’t. They we will go to why people participate and why they don’t.

A. Why people come to church

When we deal with church attendance as a person in charge of church oversight, we need to understand that we are not passive in this matter. The problems that drive people away from church and God in general are at our hands, and we cause these problems, we can prevent them, we can fix them, we can avoid them, and we can make them go away, because that is the ministry of oversight.

We start off by getting a good understanding why people come to church. There are right reasons and there are wrong reasons. On a superficial level, it does not matter why your people have come to church, because without their presence there, you can do very little for them short of moving the teaching and exhorting ministry of the church out of the church and into home Bible studies. This is possible, but it is not recommended nor our goal.

Main Issues 14 A Primer on Home Bible Studies

The Wrong Reasons for Coming to Church

Over the years I have heard a lot of things as a minister. These would be the reasons that I hear or discern that people come to church which are misguided or improper. I am trying to put forth these ideas as clearly and boiled down as I can, and most of the time these reasons are “cleaner” or rephrased so that they do not sound so harsh, but nonetheless it is the same issue.

(1) Because somebody makes me go to church.
(2) Because I want to find a Christian mate.
(3) Because I want the economic benefits the church offers me.
(4) Because I want to be entertained.
(5) Because I want status, prestige, and power.
(6) Because I want to be saved.
(7) Because I want to be religious.
(8) Because I want my husband/wife/children/parents to turn out right.
(9) Because I was brought up in church and its my custom or habit.

(1) Because somebody makes me go to church –

This reason is that someone is forcing the person directly or indirectly against him will. After all is said and done, a person has to want to go to heaven and be saved. There are some people that after considering what it will cost them, they prefer not to pay the price. Christ directed teaching towards making people come to grips with the high cost of following Christ, and that a person should consider this high cost and enter in full conscience of what it will cost him, possibly everything including his family, his welfare, and even his life.

Useful Preaching Texts

a. Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Christ – Mat. 16:24; Mat 26:35; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23; 2 Tim 2:12; Titus 1:16.

b. Gain the world but lose your own soul – Mat 10:39; Mat. 16:25-26; Mark 8:36; Luke 9:24-25; John 12:25;2 John 1:8.

(2) Because I want to find a Christian mate

(or I want to find somebody, anybody will do, and the quality is better in a church College and Career than a bar) – Although this is a valid element of our church community, it should not be the priority in the life of a single Christian, and even less should it be the basis for deciding where or how often a person attends church. The person controlled by this worry typically goes church hopping to check out the available singles in all the churches in their area.

Useful Preaching Texts and Tactics

a. Wait on the Lord.

Psa 27:14; 37:4, 7, 9, 34; 130:5.

b. Deal with singleness as a gift and ministry – 1 Corinthians 7.

First understand that God’s plan or norm is normally that every man and woman marry one time and settle down with that person until death do they part. All of the sexual, social, and spiritual needs that a person needs in companionship should be fulfilled in that relationship with their spouse. But God gives different gifts to different people at times (7:7), and there is a great spiritual benefit in singleness. Those that God wants to stay single is for undistracted ministry in God’s vineyard (7:25-35). Even so if a person is dedicated to ministry and serving God with singleness of heart (and singleness in their social life), if they meet somebody, it is not a sin to marry (7:36-38).

c. God waits on you to prepare yourself socially and spiritually.

God’s timing sometimes depends on you not being socially or spiritually prepared. Here read this because of our immaturity, God keeps our mate from crossing our path. Spiritually many people are likewise not ready to handle the responsibilities of married life, and the surprise that a child brings into it.

(3) Because I want the economic benefits the church offers me

This is the typical rice Christian approach to church growth. Many churches take the position that as long as they are in the door, for whatever reason they came we don’t care, we just want to count heads. As such, they typically offer economic benefits in coming to their church. If they are children, then it is candy, toys, and other such things. If they are adults, then it is kitchen pantry items, or some other economic benefit.

Here we need to understand that very simply, people come with one or the other mental attitudes. Some come to get economic benefits, and they never put in the offering plate anything near what they take home economically. Those who come without consideration of economic benefit usually support the work of God.

Here we also need to understand that this type of church is flawed in its concept of the ministry because the pastor at the head of this seeks power, influence, fame, and personal economic benefits. By using this tactic he promotes his own church to good Christians so they will give to support his ego trip. According to various passages such 1 Timothy 3:3; Titus 1:7; 1 Peter 5:2, such a minister is disqualified from the ministry in any aspect.

Useful Preaching Texts and Tactics

a. Christians have to renounce riches and the retaining of riches to be truly saved.

Luke 14:33; Mat. 6:19-21. Early Christians lost their possessions without it bothering them because they sought a heavenly country and home Acts 8:2; Heb 10:34.

b. The value of a person’s life is not in the possessions he owns.

Many people follow the popular but illogical thinking, “The person with the most toys wins.” (Wins what? If this is your goal up until you die, after death how much will you take with you?)

Luke 12:15, Mat. 6:21

c. Covetousness is a great sin before God.

1 Cor 6:10; Eph 5:3,5; It is idolatry Col. 3:5. Those who do this have erred from the Christian faith 1 Tim 6:10. Christ warned to avoid all types of lust, covetousness, and greed Luke 12:15. We need to be in constant vigilance against greed and covetousness in our lives Mat 23:25; Mark 7:21-23; Luke 12:15. We should flee the desire to enrich (make wealthy) 1 Tim 6:10-11; Heb 13:5. Christians should separate themselves from those who are greedy Eph 5:7. The deception of riches chokes out the true word of God in a person’s heart Mat 13:22.

d. Rich people hardly enter heaven.

Lazarus and the rich man “you have received the good things in your life” Luke 16:19-25. Luke 6:24. People either serve riches or God, but not both, so few get to heaven Mat 6:24; 19:21-24.

e. Christians should seek mediocrity, neither rich nor poor.

Proverbs 30:7-9. neither riches nor poverty

(4) Because I want to be entertained

Some people today want to go to church to be entertained. Really what they want is a bar with its show, but don’t want to pay the price of admission. Somehow they think by involving it with religion it makes it right. These types churches usually cater to people who are very little interested in religious transformation, and are more interested in seeing, hearing, and experiencing.

Their services take the form of orchestrated shows. The hundreds of thousands of dollars on electronics to fully this is obviously a tip off. Who gets the glory, man or God? God organized the church such that the main force in it for spiritual change is the explaining of the Word of God. Does this kind of service fulfill this requirement? What is the spiritual change after hearing a moving (read rock and roll tune placed over a hymn)? Do the people meditate on the words and the message? Most of the time it is hard to even understand the words of these kinds of songs. The glory of the artists who perform them is also in question. God wants purity, so those who minister should be pure. Can God really effectively use a spiritually dirty minister? With the show mentality it doesn’t matter. With a church service that communicates spiritually to the soul (challenges the soul to better itself by obeying God’s word), it is very important. Who will listen to a child-abuser preacher who tells us how to order our families or love relationships with our spouse and children? Nobody. Because he is unqualified to spiritually minister. Yet the list of sins among Christian popular artists is long. None are exemplary in their lives. They are lustful for money, they are proud, they are vain.

You, by following that type of church, fall into the same sins as those in front of you each week.

Useful Preaching Texts and Tactics

(5) Because I want status, prestige, and power.

Some people see church as a social club, and they don’t really consider any spiritual activities or purposes in going to church but rather, it is a place to be seen, it is a place where one is esteemed by others, etc.

By rubbing shoulders with powerful people, they become powerful. That is not how it works.

Useful Preaching Texts and Tactics

(6) Because I want to be saved

This is the desire or statement of a person who is not saved. Basically, anybody who equates having to attend church in order to be saved, is believing in a work instead of faith to be saved. This is common for people in the Jehovah’s Witnesses or Catholic church.

Useful Preaching Texts and Tactics

a. We are saved by faith, not works. Ephesians 2:9-10; Titus 3:5.

(7) Because I want to be religious

This is also the statement of somebody who is not really saved. The human mind and soul understands that there is a moral or religious side to life. Nobody can stand or accept when somebody else steals from them, hurts them, or in other ways does things against them. But without a moral structure, there is no reason why it is wrong. So morals have to enter into the picture in order for us to preserve our rights, freedoms, and liberties (and possessions).

But many people want morality, but they don’t want salvation. They have considered it, and they have deemed that what God has offered comes at a price to high for them. Therefore they fabricate their own religion to fulfill this basic human desire or need, but they create something that avoids their favorite hot points. Often we see belief systems that avoid concepts of hell, grace and mercy (they are not who controls salvation but God), and concepts of deep sacrifice, even to death.

The key to dealing with these people is to get them to see their concepts are in error, and that true salvation is only in Christ. God presents us Jesus, broken and hanging on a cross (speaking of his deep sacrifice), of eternal punishment that won’t go away because we don’t like it, and salvation by grace through faith that means you must understand and come to God and salvation on God’s terms and conditions not on your own fabrications. You cannot judge God, God judges you.

Useful Preaching Texts and Tactics

(8) Because I want my husband/wife/children/parents to turn out right

This is often seen in people who show up occasionally to get a “dose” of religion for their loved ones. Normally this goes hand in hand with family problems. When the kids are rebellious, the parents decide it is time to take them to church. When they think they have exposed them to sufficient “religion” (see above) then they again fall away from church attendance.

Here the point is to deal with these family problems separate from the rest, then deal with the lack of commitment in these key people (the ones doing the bringing), and finally to verify that they are truly saved.

Useful Preaching Texts and Tactics

(9) Because I was brought up in church, and its my custom/habit

Although church attendance should be the custom or habit of every true Christian, this should not be the reason why you go to church. You should go for other reasons, but it should be a part of your Christian life.

People who have this principle reason for going to church receive blessings anyway, but often they are very vulnerable to being offended, to being scared off by problems, or they don’t participate or interact with the church and the brethren because they have a faulty foundation here.

Useful Preaching Texts and Tactics

The Right Reasons for Coming to Church

(1) Because it is an evidence of true salvation.
(2) God commands me to go to church, and it should be my custom.
(3) It was the example left to us by the NT church and first century Christians.
(4) Church provides me with the opportunity to identify with Christ as my Savior.
(5) Church provides me with the opportunity to serve God by serving my brothers in Christ.
(6) Church provides me with the context to benefit from spiritually gifted ministers.
(7) Church provides me with the avenue to properly worship God.
(8) To comply with other commandments in my Christian life, I must do so in the context of church.
(9) Church facilitates the growth of my faith, the holiness of my life, and purity of my doctrine.

(1) Because it is an evidence of true salvation.

This point is our strongest point that we must belabor with our people regularly (always new people who come in and everybody has to have this grilled into them). Very simply the relationship we have with the people of God is a reflection of our saving relationship with God.

1 John 2:9 He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.

“hate” – [3404 miseo] – Meaning: 1) to hate, pursue with hatred, detest 2) to be hated, detested  BDAG – “depending on the context, this verb ranges in meaning from ‘disfavor’ to ‘detest’  The English term ‘hate’ generally suggests affective connotations that do not always do justice especially to some Semitic shame-honor oriented use… in the sense of ‘hold in disfavor, be disinclined to, have relatively little regard for.'” The point is that miseo can mean to want to do harm to, to detest, but it can also be a much less intense form, such as BDAG’s second meaning, (2) to be disinclined to, disfavor, disregard. Thayer’s has this second meaning as “to love less, to postpone in love or esteem, to slight… feel and express nothing more than interest in, or disregard and indifference.”

1 John 3:6-11 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. 7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. 8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil:whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. 11For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

1 John 5:18 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.

God places two clear signs of salvation before so that we may “try the spirits” 1 John 4:1-2, and discern what is of God and what is not. These signs of salvation are:

(1) to keep the commandments of God. (and they are not grievous to us 1 John 5:3).
(2) to love the brethren.

You cannot truly be saved and hate or sleight or put little or no interest and attention in Christ and His body.

1 John 3:14-19 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not hisbrother abideth in death. 15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. 16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay downour lives for the brethren. 17 But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? 18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. 19 And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.

Simply put, anybody who hates his brother (here stronger use of “hate”) is a murderer and no murderer is a truly saved person, he does not have eternal life abiding in him. Sacrifice like Jesus did for us demanding a response if it is accepted. The only acceptable response is sacrifice in kind. Here we enter into some clarifications.

(1) Who is my brother? – Very simply everybody who is truly saved. This is why John entered into defining who is saved in the first part of this epistle. Those who we are to understand as being saved (our brothers) with which we have an obligation to relate are those who (a.) have fellowship with God 1 Jn 1, and that fellowship must be seen in their lives. (b.) They must manifest the light of God and not darkness. (c.) The true Christian is a person who does not sin. 1:8-10 says all sin, but here the idea is not a one time occurrence but rather an habitual practicing of sin. There is a firm and solid commitment on all Christians to “keep the word of God”, i.e. obey (2:2-5). (d.) The truly saved is marked by walking as Christ walked (2:6, 18; 1:6-7; Mat 11:29; John 13:15).

If this is true, then the context of seeing the lifestyle of our brethren must be limited to a limited and local context. Our brethren (those with whom we have obligation) are those who are local and visible, not on the other side of the world. It is not necessarily wrong to send help to some distant church, but the force of our spiritual obligation is to a local context, those whom we “live with” and “fellowship with” in a local context.

(2) What is love? – Love apparently is to see to the conditions of another, and make them better or the best that they can be. 1 John 3:17 interjects a physical needs element in this relationship. The person claiming to be saved and rejects sacrificing of his goods and money when a brother is in need, simply is denying the love of Christ, and this is a testimony against his salvation not for it.

Matthew 25:31-46 Parable of the helpful – Jesus put forth a parable to make a point, who really is the saved? As a shepherd separating his own sheep from the goats that join in his flock, God will one day separate the unsaved from the truly saved. Here the criteria is the point of this parable, what is the element that distinguishes a true sheep of Jesus Christ from a goat of Satan.

Love for Christ as demonstrated through service to the Body of Christ – These saved people didn’t fully comprehend that their service to their brethren was actually to Christ Himself. Thirst, hungry, clothing, seeing to needs when sick or in jail.

Matthew 25:40 Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Hatred for Christ as demonstrated for lack of interest in the Body of Christ – Here the point is not that these people persecuted the body of Christ, simply that they had no time nor interest for “those types of things”.

Matthew 25:45-46 hen shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

Clearly these are unsaved people who thought they were going to heaven got a nasty surprise. The criteria for discernment is simply in a person’s relationship with the body of Christ.

Matthew 7:20-23 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. 21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Here we need to insert this passage above. A true Christian is known by his fruits. Even some people will boast in the judgment that they have “prophesied” or preached, they have done many great and wonderful works like casting out devils, and God will say he never knew them. Their works are iniquity. The key is knowing God’s will by seeking God’s will, and then by doing God’s will.

(3) What is hate? – We have already seen that hatred is really not necessary the destroying of another (although it can be), but it is also the disinterest, the lack of priority, the lack of show of interest in something. This is what happens when a Christian takes a plan of attending church once a month or every other week something like that. It is disinterest. This is the same plan that a supposed Christian takes when he comes in late to the services, leaves early (no fellowship with the brethren), or when he refuses to open up in this fellowship to participate in what is going on in the local church.

You are only saved by loving Christ. To love Christ means to embrace Him, and all that that signifies. This love of Christ also includes loving those redeemed by Christ.

1 John  5:1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.

Simply put, you cannot manifest this love with the following things:

(1) Dedicate time to being physically with these brethren.
(2) Dedicate energy and interest to know them personally.
(3) Dedicate resources to help them (time in prayer, time in aiding them, etc).
(4) Sacrifice of your economic resources to help them (donations, etc).

The local church is a group of redeemed people in your area which have decided to organize themselves so as to comply with the will of God, and to move forward the word of God as best they can. If that is truly their purpose and character, you must unite with them and support them both with interest, energy, and resources. To do otherwise is to sleight Christ, and sleight your Savior and your salvation. These passages present us with the picture that such a person who sleights Christ and His body is simply not saved.

(2) God commands me to go to church, and it should be my custom (habit).

Psalm 50:5 Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.

Nothing is as direct or stronger than a direct command. Here we go to Hebrews 10:25.

Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) 24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

The context of this command is that Hebrews is written for Jews who were under the OT system. The point of the previous verses is that the author is convincing the Jews that the OT system is set aside for the new system (churches instead of the OT Temple). A false conclusion would be that our independence from the OT system would mean we do not need to congregate. Nothing would be further from the truth.

God has planned our salvation to be worked out in a context of a local group of redeemed, called a local church or a “church.”

Notice in Hebrews 10:24-25 that church attendance is wedged between provoking one another to good works and exhorting one another. This is a local church context.

Useful Preaching Texts and Tactics

a. God Treats Harshly Willful Belligerence on our part

Luke 12:47 And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.

1 John 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

Here your best approach is to show the individual that salvation has as its foundation obedience to the will of God. That is what saves you, doing what God wants, and in the case of salvation it means being in Jesus as the Redeemer of your soul from your sins. If this is the foundation or a condition upon which we enter salvation, then it absolutely has to be an element of every true Christian’s life. He who believes he is a Christian but does not have that tender and live relationship with the will of God is only deceiving himself on the issue of salvation in the first place.

Other verses are the brokenness of Christ as our example (body broken on the cross and in the Lord’s Supper), meekness and humility as our principle Christian nature, the active seeking of God the Father’s will as Christ showed us so we can imitate (John 4:34; 5:30; 6:38; Mat 26:39), and verses using the keeping of God’s commandments as almost a condition of salvation (1 John 2:4-5; 3:24; 5:3; John 14:15, 21,23; 15:10; Mat. 11:30).

Acts 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

b. The Idea of church or congregating

The terms used for church or congregation (ekklesia in the NT) means called out for a purpose. The point is that it was used to call the people out of their homes and normal business to gather for a special purpose, like a town meeting to deal with a group issue. This is what God wants us as Christians to do every Sunday and Wednesday night.

c. Custom, manner or Habit in Congregating Hebrews 10:25

The idea behind congregating with the people of God for the purposes of God is that it be an established regular part of our lives. A habit is something that we always usually do. On any given Sunday during the year, you should be in church. If you are not in church then it is because of an emergency or some non-normal event in your life, sickness, vacation (even here you should be in a church wherever you are vacationing), business travel, etcetera.

(2) It was the example left to us by the NT church and first century Christians.

Luke 4:16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.

We see that the New Testament church and Christians have left us an example for us to follow. Without argument, the New Testament believers had the establishment (by God) of local churches. These local churches were gathering points where the people of God got together to do the work of God and fulfill the purposes of God on the day God appointed (God changed it from Saturday to Sunday in honor of the resurrection).

Useful Preaching Texts and Tactics

a. Jesus custom was to be in with the people of God on the day God established for the purposes God established (Scripture reading and explaining Neh 8:8).

Luke 4:16.

b. New Testament Church example.

John 20:1, 26; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2

c. What did they do when they got together? Typical local church service stuff. Acts 2:46-47 fellowship and praising God, 1 Cor 14:26 Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, doctrinal teaching, edifying things; 1 Cor 11:27Lord’s Supper. The most central activity is the public reading and explaining of Scriptures Luke 24:27, 32, 45; Act 17:2-3.

d. We should not let pass by either, that the Old Testament example is the same. Psalm 23:6; 27:4; 65:4; 84:4; 134:1-2.

(3) Church provides me with opportunity to identify with Christ as my Savior.

Our salvation depends on our faith, and the strength of our faith is extremely important therefore. That professing of Christ is precious and extremely dear to the true Christian. God has designed salvation such that it is necessary for us to interact in order to truly be saved.

Useful Preaching Texts and Tactics

a. Romans 10:10-11, Matthew 10:32-33 Importance of Confessing Christ

Romans 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

Confession is a necessary outworking of our faith, because he who refuses to confess Christ is plainly not saved (Matthew 10:32-33). Here (verse 11) he who is ashamed of Christ is not saved.

Matthew 10:32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

The bottom line here is that anybody that claims to be a Christian but refuses to publicly confess Christ is simply not yet saved. Take great caution that you do not leave the impression that some kind of confession (as a work) is necessary for salvation, but rather the reality of salvation depends on the boldness and lack of shame one has towards his faith in Christ.

Useful Explanation: Here I use the illustration of two young single people. If a young man asks a girl to marry him, but they do it in the privacy of his room with nobody else present, and then he says to her that they will never tell anybody that they are married, they will never get a marriage certificate, and they will not live together, both will continue to live with each’s parents like they did growing up, what girl in her right mind will accept this kind of thing? All girls want the same thing here, a ring (shows commitment), a wedding where both families and friends come (shows lack of shame and public acceptance of the girl as his wife), and in general a constant acceptance by the guy that he is really married, and married to her.

God is no different. God wants us to publicly confess Christ. Here the beginning is in our water baptism, then our relationship with God is seen in our relationship with a local church where there are true redeemed, and then a general anywhere everywhere public recognition that Christ is your hope of going to heaven, you are a little Christ, or Christian.

b. We should not have shame towards our faith in Christ.

God is very specific about the absolute need of not being ashamed of Christ if you propose that you have saving faith. See No Shame in Mark 8:38; Luke 9:26; Romans 9:33; 10:11; Phil 1:20; 1 Pet 2:6; 1John 2:28. See No Denying in Mat. 10:33; Luke 12:9; Rom. 1:16; 2 Tim 1:8; 2:12.

c. We are saved by God to give witness to the Savior.

Mat. 5:16 – God commands us to let our light shine.

1 Peter 2:9 – God has ordained us as a people to show forth the praises of he who calls people from darkness to light.

(4) Church provides me with opportunity to serve God by serving my brothers in Christ.

God’s design for every Christian is that he live out his spiritual life in the context of a local church, relating to the other redeemed in that local church as well as the spiritual leadership in that local church. This is main burden we have in this issue of attendance and participation. If we lose the battle here, we have lost everything.

Useful Preaching Texts and Tactics

a. Brotherly love with the redeemed is a principle part of God’s commandment to us.

First is that the true Christian must love his brother, and secondly this love must take the form of service. He who does not love and does not meet the needs of his Christian brethren by means of personal service, well, they cannot enjoy salvation it would appear.

Here we need to explain some things. First of all, Titus 3:5 and Ephesians 2:8-9 again clearly lay down the principle that we are not saved by works but by faith. But true saving faith is a “fruitful” belief, that is, a belief that produces fruit or evidence in a person’s life. No evidence, no real faith (see James 2:17-24).

Okay, so real faith is to love God for the salvation He has given us, and this love is intangible, because God is not physically here in a body that we can show Him our love. So God has replaced his physical body with the body of Christ, the redeemed. We show our love for God by what we do to our brethren.

Read Matthew 25:31-46.

Let’s note a few things here. First note that God sees how we treat our brethren in Christ as how we would treat God if he was here again in a physical body. Not treating God with respect gets one thrown in hell pretty quick. That point is lost in our day of disrespect being trendy.

Next let’s note that it is not how we treat everybody else, but how we treat our brethren in Christ. This does not extend to the unsaved but to the saved, and this we understand in the context of a local church.

Next let’s note that those who are disfavored here are not out of God’s will, or good Christians that God is displeased with, but the roughest wording possible is used. They are going directly to hell!

Matthew 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Matthew 25:45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

Both the positive and the negative are noted. Those who are truly saved do serve their brethren in Christ, and those who do not serve their brethren in Christ cannot possibly be saved for God condemns them to hell. Here we go much beyond church attendance to church participation and active Christian service of every member towards their brethren in Christ.

1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

Now we go to 1 John and note that to be saved by God is to declare and comply with one’s intentions to be like God. However God is, that is how we should model our lives. God is love, and love demands relationship with somebody else in order to truly manifest itself in its purest form. Therefore a community is absolute necessary.

Chapter 3 of 1st John reveals to us how to discern who is our brother. Basically our Christian brother is somebody who confesses publicly Christ and does not sin. Sin is ever present with us, even among good Christians, but the idea is that Christians renounce sin, and when they do sin, it is a shame and they are uneasy and stressed by it, and they repent and abandon it.

But note something else here.

1 John 3:11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

What we have here then is a clear explanation of what should be happening in every true believer’s life. He has a relationship with the body of Christ, other Christians, and here we insert other Christians in the context of a local church. The New Testament clearly presents that Christians had relationships with each other in local churches, and we see nothing that clearly presents any parallel to the church. Only the local church exists in the New Testament. Everything rotates around it. There are no Christian organizations or groups outside of the local church.

So a Christian that does not love his brethren, is not really a Christian. Can you love somebody that you neglect, that you do not seek out, that you do not serve and care for? Matthew 25 says no.

The relationship of the believer with other believers is absolutely essential in his Christian life and for him to validate his salvation. The idea here is that he validates his true love for God through how he relates with his brethren in Christ. If this is a valid conclusion from this passage (and I assert it is), then what does it reveal about the reality of the love of a professing Christian that abandons the church and never participates, and attends almost nothing at all? His love for God is fake.

b. Our attitude should be happy and glad at the thought of church, not something else.

Psalm 122:1

c. God doesn’t want us to serve and worship God in outward hypocrisy, but in inward truth.

John 4:23; Matthew 15:7.

Getting this concept through to our church people is absolutely necessary for their spiritual growth and spiritual welfare.

(5) Church provides me with the context to benefit from spiritually gifted ministers.

Very simply put, God has given us a set of commandments and teachings that makes it quite impossible to comply with all of these without first depositing the context of a local New Testament church. You simply cannot comply correctly without understanding that each and every Christian is a member of a local church.

Ephesians 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

For example, in this passage, God has given His church spiritual gifts. Now the question is, where exactly did God intend for these gifted people to exercise their spiritual gifts so that everybody can benefit? Isn’t it in the context of a local church?

Useful Preaching Texts and Tactics

(6) Church provides me with the avenue to properly worship God.

Although we should be worshipful towards God always, no matter wherever we might find ourselves, God’s desire is that we join with our co-redeemed in the place God has appointed, on the time God has appointed to do what God has appointed. In this time and place and situation, we should worship God in the presence of our brethren.

Useful Preaching Texts and Tactics

a. God deserves all our worship and honor.

Rev. 4:11.

(7) To comply with other commandments in my Christian life, I must do so in the context of church.

Let me just say that there is no alternative to what God has invented, the church. The church will stand the test of time, and it has the genuis and wisdom of God behind its creation and design. You cannot find anything better. Most churches have problems. Some churches (probably many) have a lot of problems. But you fix the problems, you don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.

Satan is also very smart at ruining churches, and making them something other than what God has designed them to be. The only way to “fix” the problems of a church is to bring it back to what God has commanded the church to be. The guidelines in the Word of God have to be known, understood, and well used (obeyed rigidly) in order for them to be effective. We must be faithful to abide by these no matter what, and we must believe in them even when they would not seem to “work” at first. Time and faithfulness will turn the tide and change things.

Useful Preaching Texts and Tactics

a. Verses that demand a community of the local church

James 5:14 – sick call the elders of the church.
Galatians 6:2 – bearing one another’s burdens before the Lord (especially in prayer) this shows the great need of attending mid-week prayer service
1 Thess 5:10 – encourage one another with these words
1 Thess 5:10 – edify one another
1 Thess 5:12 – know (recognize and honor) those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you.
Acts 3:13 – exhorting one another.
1 Cor 16:14-16 – submit yourselves to those who are addicted to the ministry of the saints and works diligently, and are helping.
Hebrews 13:7 – remember (recognize and hold in respect) them which have the rule (governing or leading) over you… whose faith follow considering the end of their conduct.
Hebrews 13:17 – Obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves (1 Tim 5:17)
1 Cor 9:14 – those who work of the gospel should live of the gospel (by your financial support)

There is “something” that happens in a group when they get together. That benefit has been seen by technically, scientifically minded people as well as medical researches. That is why the elderly, the young, divorcees, mothers, etc. are all encouraged to gather together with others in their same situation. But when this group is a church, the benefits are great. Satan wants to convince everybody that there is no benefit of going to church.

b. Verses touching our spiritual sacrifices to God

God established (Exodus 19:6; 1 Peter 2:4, 5, 9) that we redeemed in the New Testament dispensation are all priests before God. Part of our priesthood is to offer sacrifices (with the requirement of a holy life before we can do so correctly) and to intercede before God on the behalf of others.

Holy life dedicated to the Lord and His work – Romans 12:1-2; 2 Cor 8-15
Brotherly love through goods works and mutual help – 1 Tim 6:18; Eph 2:10; 4:28; Gal 6:10; Titus 2:14; 3:1, 8; Hebrews 6.10; 13:1, 2, 15; Romans 12:10, 13.
Joy – Phil 2:17-18; Psalm 107:22; 132:9.
Thanksgiving – 2 Cor 9:9-12 You will only get more from God when you thank Him for what He has already done for you.
Praise – Hebrews 13:15; Psalms 50.14; 107:22; 116:17
Hymns and Spiritual Songs – Singing a song in unison means something “sometimes.” Modern “praise music” has ruined this. The song has to be a spiritual song, or a hymn. Hymns are defined by being doctrines that we believe put to music, that we sing together because we believe what we are singing.

(8) Church facilitates the growth of my faith, the holiness of my life, and purity of my doctrine.

Let’s put this point as clearly as we can. The only thing that saves us is our faith in Jesus Christ. The quality of our Christian life (and life in general) after we are saved is dependent in only one thing, the same thing, our faith in Jesus Christ. So our faith is the most important thing for those of us who are really saved. What’s more our faith is of great concern to God.

Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) 24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

God wedges this great commandment concerning our congregating in a passage with other elements. Verse 23 speaks of God’s exhortation to us to hold fast or to shore up our faith. The way to do this (keep your faith, and make it grow stronger) is simply by congregating (not just attending church, but attending and participating or interacting with other redeemed in church).

Notice that our activities here are provoking our Christian brethren to love and good works. How? By us being an example in doing this. We are to exhort one another. How can we do this if we do not have time during each week in which we are with our Christian brethren in a certain place with this as its purpose? This is church!

Useful Preaching Texts and Tactics

Is Church Membership Necessary?

B. Why people don’t come to church

As a pastor of 40 plus years, I see two overwhelming reasons why people don’t go to church. Apart from these two reasons, of course, most people don’t go to church because they are not saved, and see no reason to go to a building dedicated to some God they don’t know.

The two reasons people don’t go to church is because they do not have faith, and they are not “spiritual” (they are spiritual babes still). The Just will live by their faith, means the saved person will let his beliefs guide his life. Actually, these beliefs do not just guide, but their faith will DOMINATE their lives.

What are we? We are nothing. The only thing that pleases God about us is our faith. When we believe the right things, things that God has commanded us to believe in according to His Word, then God is pleased. What saves us? Our faith. We cannot “do” anything that will save us. We can only believe, and that saves us. Our belief is not a work we do, but it reflects a relationship that we have with God (John 3 Ye must be born again) in which we are convinced of how great, good, faithful, and beneficial God is towards us. That is why we have faith. The reason we are saved is not because of something we “do” but something that we “believe”. This belief, or faith in God, in Jesus Christ, in His work on Calvary is why we are saved. It is not “in” us, but in “Christ.”

I have to mention that many, many people who claim to be saved have decided not to go to church, and their reasoning is because of somebody or something or some person. Satan has embittered them on God’s construct of the church. This is lamentable. I hate this. Because of the tares Satan has planted in the church, many are staying away from what is spiritual life and bounty.

Many people who go to church, go for the wrong reason. Why? They go to church for some reason (Hebrews 10:25), but they have their eyes on others, on the building, on a lot of things that are not right. They should go to worship Jesus, worship God. They go to church, but they will not profit from church, because they have their eyes on others and not on Jesus.

C. Why people participate in church.

If you go to a football game, there are three types of people there. The players, the crowd watching what is going on, and people who just want to make money off of the event. They really don’t care about what is going on, just how they can manipulate the event to make money for themselves.

People participate in what they like, what they believe in, what they want to success. People who don’t participate in something usually are just nasty in their spirits. It is like envy, but in reverse. They like to see things that they dislike fail. They go to watch this happen. They take up space, but they really are not interested in the event to sucede in what its purpose is.

The key to a successful church is a group of people, however small they may be, but a group of people committed to seeing the church, the house of worship and praise for our God, succeed. If there are these people, the church will succeed to some degree. Often, this group is just the pastor and his wife. At other times, more people enter into this small nucleous. But at all times, if there is not a calling, a determination, a full commitment by some individuals, the church will fail. Very often, this comes to light in the area of finances. Without people who will sacrifice economically, the church cannot continue on. It is very difficult for the work of the Lord without committed Christians.

D. Why people don’t participate in church

To me (I am a pastor of a local church on the mission field), I constantly think about this. We have had people come, and leave. I go to them after a bit, and ask why they stopped coming. Many are not going anywhere, or they say that because it is embarrassing to say “we didn’t like you or your church, and have found another church to our liking.” In 40+ years I have never had anybody say that to me. But we have had a number of people tell us they are not going anywhere but I know from other people who see them, ask them where they are attending now, and they give a church name. You just don’t know what is going on if a person is dishonest.

The Need of a New Birth

I think the parable of the Sower that Jesus taught us would be very important in understanding why people don’t come to church, or if they do, they are in and out, on and off, hot and cold, and ultimately, just unsaved. The gospel has not grabbed their hearts to the point where there is a new birth, a new creature.

In John 3, Jesus spoke to Nicodemus. He was a teacher of the Jews, and the jewish rabbis were haughty thinking that they had “the ultimate grasp” on religion. Nobody can teach them anything. Nicodemus was honest though, not like the other rabbis or teachers, but he had the same problem probably. To put this in perspective, Nicodemus had a doctorate of religion at your most favorite Bible college. Jesus spoke to him about the one thing he lacked. A spiritual new birth. It changed his life morally. That should be very significant to us.

People who don’t participate are acting like God hasn’t done anything to transform and change their lives. They are living like the unsaved. If they are saved, they have to stop living like that. If they are not saved, they should get saved.

People don’t have faith

Faith is noun. It is “a thing.” God speaks a lot about believing (the verb for faith). But so many Christian the adjective for faith, faithful. You cannot convince me that you have faith if it only occasionally pops its head up. Let’s compare. Is a man faithful to his wife? Yes except on Friday and Saturday and Sunday nights when he visits a prostitute. Is that in any way, shape, or form “faithfulness?” No it is not. Faithfulness is that he NEVER GOES TO ANOTHER WOMAN EXCEPT HIS WIFE! Yes, we are all sinners. But isn’t salvation about wiping out that sin in our lives? Or is salvation just a Monoply game, “Get out of jail free”, so the more of these cards we have the more we can sin? Isn’t that what the Catholic church did/does in indulgences, a get pardoned for a sin before you do it so you can enjoy your sin more? There is no idea of changing, there is no repentance, there is no abandoning of the sin, just continuing in the same.

People don’t believe in what the church is. That is many people’s problems. Even if they are saved, they do not fully believe that God is serious about His house. Wow! These people will one day wake up to the truth when they face God in eternity! I wouldn’t want to be them. God’s love for us, for the church, was so great that Jesus had to die. He, being sinless, had to take our sins on Him. And this is how we repay Him?

See my post on the Art of Persuasion. This is not from a Christian point of view, but a scientific point of view. But even though it does not have the authority of the Bible behind each point, it would seem counter intuitive to ignore these factors when we are trying to persuade people. (These topics are: 1. Reciprocity. 2. Scarcity. 3. Authority. 4. Consistency. 5. Liking. 6. Consensus.)

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