9th October 2022 All Age Service - Dave Food - Why I go to Church

Really kind of challenged, as we're not meeting today for very practical reasons,

why do we go to church? Jokingly, Matt last Sunday's kind of throw

in there. Sometimes people go to church because there's good looking other halves men

or women in church. And I'm sure there are people in our midge who

maybe started going to a youth group or started going to church because because there

was somebody they liked who also went to church. But God gets us in

lots of different ways. So I just really thought I would just very quickly

just explore, you know, why do we go to church, And maybe

at the end of this you'd like to share why you went to church,

or start off with the scripture that I shared. You know that as we

gather as a body, and gather as a body of the words I want

to use, you know, we speak to one another with psalms, hymns

and spiritual songs, we see them make music from our heart to the Lord,

and that you know, we can do that in isolation. We can

do that. I know people on the call today who do that, but

you know, it's it's so much better to do it together. Corporate worship

is actually one of the reasons why. So here's here's I think it's eight

different reasons why I think we should gather together as church. Firstly, to

hear the preaching of the word. I don't mean listen to a teaching.

We can with the wonders of modern modern day technology, we can listen to

recorded sermons twenty four to seven. And there's so much stuff being recorded around

the world now because of COVID that you know, there's a lifetime of stuff

that you and I can watch and listen to. But it's sitting under the

preached word that's important. So actually there's an impartation. Scripture says when the

word is preached, there are signs and wonders that follow, and I think

when we do that corporately, there is something that is imparted. So as

we read in Matthew eleven, you know what what what did them? What?

What? What? What did they want? Well? The blind received

their site under the preached word, the lame war, the lepers cleansed,

the dead were raised. Good news was released as people heard the preaching of

the word. Second reason why we might gather is to participate in corporate worship.

Yes, of course, we can all sing alone, and again with

technology, we can sing with a recording, and we've been doing that as

a church. That's particularly why I felt this morning that I want to encourage

us to pray for a new season of worship. But there's something about singing

together. There's something about worshiping together. There's nothing better than, you know,

allow the overflow of who we are and where we are to overflow into

others' lives. If you're low, come to church. If you're not well,

and it's not you know, I don't know, you just I don't

sorry. That'd be really clear about us. If it's something that's not communicable

and something that you're not going to share, then you know, let's say

you've got I don't know, a pain in your back. Well, actually,

there's no better place to be than with God's people. We can pray

and see God heal you. I mean, obviously there's wisdom we around things

like COVID and stuff now, but just participating in corporate worship. The third

thing is that when we come together Iron Sharp and z iiroon, as we

encourage one another, as we share with one another, as we talk to

one another, we are lifted up. We sparks fly, gifts are released.

The word is anointed, and iron sharpens iron. And please remember here

iron sharpens iron, so that means we come as we are to sharpen others.

So part of our role is to sharpen others, but also to be

sharpened as well. We come together to exercise the gifts that we have,

natural gifts, spiritual gifts, and there's nothing no better place to do that

than with others. God can speak to us, God can speak through us.

We even had the example as even though we're meeting online and virtually that

it witnessed with Niki. So as Lorraine prayed, as she prophesied, it

witnessed with Niki. She shared that and more prayed in line with that.

That's us allowing the gifts to minister within us. And sometimes we keep silent

in these things when when we agree with something. Actually, it's great to

be encouraged by somebody says, do you know what I had? Exactly the

same picture? I had, exactly the same word, because that brings encouragement,

and that just shows that God is speaking to us and through us.

We come together corporately to encourage others. And I know there are encourages in

our midgs today and I want to encourage you. Keep on encouraging. Don't

allow this season of isolation. Don't allow the lack of connectedness to stop you

encouraging. You know, send a WhatsApp message, send a text, pick

up the phone. Write someone a lesser there's a radical thing, write them

a quick note, a postcard. I just wanted to encourage you today.

I know many of us are often woken in the middle of the night,

and it's not the cheese that we've eaten the night before. It's that God

has woken us for a reason. And if you get woken in the middle

of the night with someone on your heart, the best thing I can recommend

to you is pray about them and then just see if you can roll over

and go back to sleep. I've try sometimes tried to go back to sleep

just thinking it was the cheese or the marmalade or whatever it was. And

it's only when I prayed that suddenly I felt peace and I've gone back to

sleep again. But then in the morning, take a moment just to reflect

upon the time you prayed. Who you prayed for, just share with them,

because you'll be very surprised just how much God is involved in the timing

of these things. We come together too to make room for godly mentoring.

We all need encouragement, we all need input. We all need to have

wisdom, and you know that comes from being the body of Christ, being

the Church together. Let's make room for measuring. Let's you know, I

ask someone who who has wisdom to share wisdom with you. We also come

together as a church to teach the children around us to love church too,

and that's not just our own children, but children in the church, to

teach them, to model them, model to them that you know, church

is a great place to be and it's a good community to be part of.

We also come together as church to be a light in the community.

People notice people notice church. They notice people coming and going. They notice

people coming with laughter and smiles on their face. And the overflow of who

we are as church is not just what we share, what we talk about,

but who we are in the community. So we as a church come

together to be a light in the community. And most weeks I get some

kind of request coming in from a complete stranger, just saying, Dave,

would you pray with the church? Pray you know, and we're a church

you believe in prayer. We're a church who prays. We've evidenced that this

morning. Let's keep on pressing in. Let's not be discouraged. We also

come together to bear one another's burdens. And as bt once said, a

problem shared, it's good to talk, and the other sayings like a burden

shared is a burden halved, Well, that's great. We if we've got

God involved that if you think about the economy of that simple mathematical equation that

if I talk to you, suddenly you've got half of my problem or half

of my burden, and then you share maybe some anonymous detail with somebody else,

and so now they've got a quarter of my burden. All that does

is just move burdens around. We need to keep a vertical connection in this,

in this truth, so that when we say, you know, a

problem shared is a problem half well, okay, that's that's the heavenly perspective.

So that as we share back with God the things that are troubling others

that have been laid at our feet, we're actually taking it heavenwards. And

the more often we do that, the later his yoki is easy his burden

is light. And then finally, why do we gather as church? We

gather as church because God says, says we need to God encourages us to

do that. So in this strange, strange Sunday, when we're not meeting

together for the face to face for quite a long time, I just wanted

to encourage us and reflect upon that. And as it says in Hebrews ten,

verse twenty five, let's not give up eating together as some are in

the habit of doing, but encouraging one another all the more as we see

the day approaching. So Father, I want to pray. I want to

pray this morning for your word. I want to pray that Lord, this

is truth for Lord. The statistics would suggest, Lord, there are people

who are choosing not to come to church. Father, would you raise up

your church again? Not just running me Christian fathership, but church is far

beyond Lord. Would you cause a revolution of your spirit amongst us, O

God, Father? Would you cause a radical prayers to be prayed? Would

you cause words of faith to be released? Father? Would you cause miracles

to happen, words of knowledge and wisdom and prophecy to flow, gifts of

healing to be released. We pray in the body, but beyond the body.

Father, help us to be your church wherever we find ourselves, not

just as we gather, but also as we go. And so, Father,

as we've met today and as we're meeting today, Father, we pray

that you do. I pray you'd annoin everyone who's listening today, everyone who's

part of the service today, be part of what we do. Be part

of what we're doing. In your name, we pray in Jesus name,