Together Following Jesus

This morning, typically on a Sunday morning, I'm preaching through a passage of scripture.

! This morning is more of a topical sermon because of Membership Sunday.

! I get to remind you of something.

!

Together, following Jesus.

In all three words, matter.

And so, the most important word is Jesus.

And the way that we talk about Jesus is that He is the controlling center of our life.

He's our one-consuming passion, our all-governing reality.

He is the treasure center of our lives.

And so, we individually and corporately live for Him.

And so, we follow Jesus.

And that word for following, what's that to trigger in your mind is this idea of discipleship.

That we are to deny ourselves, take up our cross, follow Him every day.

And not just individually, we as a church are following Jesus because He is so worth it.

And it's that first word, together, that this Membership Sunday is so poignant about.

We're mutually committed to one another as we're together following Jesus.

And so, think about our church as a pack of disciples who are looking to live for Jesus together.

Here's the thing.

We suffer from what Paul Tripp calls theological amnesia.

We forget who we are.

We forget that Jesus is who He is.

And so, this morning, I want to remind you of who you are as a blood-bought follower of Jesus.

And that we follow Him together.

When someone becomes a Christian, they're converted.

And typically, when you may hear the word conversion, you may think about a decision made for Christ.

And conversion does involve a decision made for Christ.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Did you know that conversion is actually this radical reorientation of who you are?

It is a fundamental changing of a person.

The Bible talks about it as someone who is going from darkness into light.

It talks about someone who is dead in their sin being made alive in Christ.

It talks about someone who is converted in Christ being a new creation.

It uses some really strong, important language.

And so, it's more than a decision.

It's a radical change of who you are.

Many of you have heard this illustration before.

It's one of my favorites.

Back in the 16th, 17th century, there's a guy named Copernicus.

He was a Renaissance man.

He was a Christian.

He was a Christian.

And pre-Copernicus, most of the world thought that the sun orbited the earth.

It's called a geocentric solar system.

But what Copernicus did, he made this discovery.

He realized this just by observation that we live in a heliocentric solar system.

That the earth orbits the sun.

Now, here's why that matters.

We've always lived in a heliocentric solar system.

What Copernicus did was he just brought people into the reality of that.

It's always been that way.

And so it is with becoming a Christian.

It's a Copernican realization.

It's when we're born, we're born in sin.

And we're born under this false pretense that it's all about us.

That we are the hero of our own stories.

That's what sin does.

It just kind of reduces your world to you at the center of it.

And everything orbits you, including God.

But when someone believes in Jesus, and someone believes what we talked about last weekend,

that Christ died for their sins and was raised from the dead.

He went into the tomb dead and came out of the tomb alive.

When someone realizes that, sees that, the Lord Jesus brings them into reality.

And that the reality is that he is the controlling center of all things.

He's always been.

And so conversion is being brought into reality.

Through the blood and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

You're delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of the beloved son.

You've made a new creation.

The old is gone.

The new has come.

You've been justified.

You've been adopted.

You've been redeemed.

You've been set apart as holy.

And that's something that only the gospel can do.

Only the gospel can change your heart like that.

That's why it's called God's power unto salvation.

So this morning, I want to be clear with everybody of just what a disciple of Jesus Christ is.

And so we use the acrostic tomb.

T-O-M-B.

And so if you're taking notes, you can write on the left side of your bulletin or whatever you're taking notes on.

T-O-M-B.

Jesus went into the tomb dead.

and he came out of the tomb alive

so that we would treasure him above all else.

T, O, obey him in all that he commands.

M, magnify him among all people.

B, belong to him with all of his blood bought.

So I'm gonna walk you through each of these letters.

Many of you have heard it before.

Many of you haven't,

but it's always good to be reminded of it.

And so Jesus died and was raised.

So that we could treasure, obey, magnify,

and belong to him together.

So let's talk about this idea of

treasuring Jesus above all else.

What is a disciple?

A disciple is someone who treasures Jesus above all else.

When we talk about together following Jesus,

we could say together treasuring Jesus.

So when we were dead to God in our sin

prior to our conversions,

we were living for ourselves.

That's what sin does.

It's me first living.

That's what our culture teaches.

Live for yourself.

But the thing is that God has created every human being in his image.

So there's over 8 billion people on the planet right now.

They all bear his image,

and they're all worshipers.

Because they're image bearers,

they are worshipers.

They're hardwired to worship God.

But if you're born into sin,

you're going to worship something other than God.

But you're going to worship something nonetheless.

Well, that all changed when he became a Christian.

God radically,

powerfully,

graciously,

dramatically changed you.

He gave you a new heart.

One of my favorite verses of the Bible

is in 2 Corinthians 5,

515.

And it gets at this idea of conversion.

It says this,

And he, Christ,

died for all,

that those who live,

those who believe in him,

might no longer live for themselves,

but for him

who for their sake

died and was raised.

And so what conversion is,

is this radical shift

from living for yourself

to living for Christ.

The one who died for you,

you now live for him.

It's a radical,

radical shift.

And it will result in you worshiping him.

Because you're going to start seeing him

for who he really is.

I find it helpful in my own thinking

just to help me to remember

how wonderful Jesus is

to do a little side-by-side comparison.

Do you remember

greater than,

less than,

or equal to?

Okay, you tell me.

Jesus,

the second person of the Trinity,

according to Hebrews 1,

according to John 1,

Colossians 1,

he's the creator of all.

So he's the creator.

I'm created.

You're created.

Greater than,

less than,

or equal to.

Is Jesus greater than,

lesser than,

or equal to you?

Greater than,

because he's the creator

and you're the created.

We also learn from Hebrews 1

that Jesus is the sustainer

of all things,

but we need sustaining.

Our next breath comes from him.

He set our days.

So you tell me,

greater than,

less than,

or equal to.

Jesus is the sustainer.

Is he greater than,

less than,

or equal to us

who need to be sustained?

He's greater.

We can go all the way down.

He's the savior.

We need saving.

He's the Lord.

We need to serve him.

He's the king.

We need to obey him.

He's the judge.

We will be judged by him.

Every time you go down,

every time you recognize

that he's greater,

it has an effect.

He's the giver of our salvation.

And we could only receive this

as a gift.

There's this,

there are these beautiful passages

in the New Testament.

I'm going to show you one right now.

It's Matthew chapter 13.

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

And why I love it,

it's because

it's a one verse parable.

In Matthew 13, 44,

Jesus starts using

treasure language.

Listen to this.

The kingdom of heaven

is like treasure

hidden in a field,

which man found

and covered up.

Then in his joy,

he goes and sells

all that he has

and buys the field.

So he's comparing

his kingdom

to treasure,

hidden treasure.

And someone who discovers it,

he covers it up

to sell all that he has

in joy.

It's a picture of repentance.

I'm turning away

from my old way of things.

I'm cashing out

so that I can obtain

this treasure beyond treasures.

And what Jesus is describing

in that is his kingdom,

his saving reign,

the saving reign of God.

He talks about it

as treasure

and in joy,

giving up everything to have.

If you flip in your Bibles

to Philippians chapter 3,

Philippians 3:8

verse 8,

this is the Apostle Paul speaking.

It's page 1166

of your pew Bible.

He says,

Paul says,

indeed I count everything

as loss

because of the surpassing worth

of knowing

Christ Jesus,

my Lord.

It's treasure language.

It's value language.

Paul valued

Jesus so much,

he would then say things like,

for me to live

is Christ

and to die is gain.

He treasured Jesus

more than his own life.

in Mark 8,

Peter has just confessed

that Jesus

is the Christ

and Jesus

corrects that

to make sure

that they understand

that the Christ

will suffer,

die,

and be raised

on the third day.

And then Jesus

says this.

He says this

in verse 34,

if anyone would

come after me,

let him deny himself

and take up his cross

and follow me.

For whoever

would save his life

will lose it,

but whoever

loses his life

for my sake

in the gospels

will save it.

For what does it

profit

a man

to gain the whole world

and forfeit his soul?

For what can a man

give in return

for his soul?

He's doing a

cost-benefit analysis.

And here's what it is.

Jesus is saying,

I'm worth it.

Deny yourself,

to gain me,

you save your soul.

But if you deny me

to gain the world,

you lose your soul.

What Jesus is doing here

is saying,

I am the treasure.

I am your salvation.

At the core of being

a disciple of Jesus

is a changed heart

that is treasuring

Jesus

more and more

and more

above all else,

including

yourself.

The reason why

we

start by talking

about Jesus

as the treasure

when it comes to

talking about a disciple

is that

this is the great

headwaters

of discipleship.

becoming a follower

of Jesus

starts and continues

by treasuring Jesus.

It's where it all starts.

It's where it all

happens every day.

It's that initial

step of conversion

and then every day

after that,

you deny yourself,

take up your cross

and follow him

because he is worth it.

He's the treasure.

what we're talking

about here

is worship.

Worship-driven

discipleship.

It's seeing

and savoring

the glory

of Jesus

and following

him

in light of it.

He is

so worth it.

So we can say

things like this.

We don't follow

Jesus because

we have to.

We follow Jesus

because we want to.

He's changed

our hearts.

We value him now.

We love him.

So let me ask you

a question.

When was the last

time

you

privately

adored

Jesus?

Worshipped him?

You

spoke

his worth

to him?

You told him

how wonderful

he is?

When was the

last time

you did that?

A disciple

is someone

who has been

radically changed

by the gospel

and treasures

Jesus

above all

else.

So let me

issue a challenge

this week.

There is a way

to treasure

Jesus

daily.

You take

things from

what the Bible

says about Jesus,

you read it,

you take it to heart,

and then you speak

it back to him.

Let me give you

an example.

Last week I made

reference to Isaiah

9-6,

which is that

great Christmas

prophecy.

You know,

this son is going

to be given,

a child given

to us.

His name

shall be called

Wonderful Counselor,

Mighty God,

Everlasting Father,

Prince of Peace.

These are four titles

of the Christ,

and here's what you

can do.

You can say,

oh Lord Jesus,

you are my

Wonderful Counselor,

and today I'm

going to need

your wisdom.

Would you help

me?

Lord Jesus,

you are my

mighty God.

You are totally

God, totally

man.

You are risen

and reigning.

All things are

in your hands.

You are

Everlasting Father,

which is a way

of talking about

kingship.

You're my king.

I will obey you.

You're the Prince

of Peace.

Oh Lord Jesus,

will you bring

shalom to my life

today?

Would you help

me to walk in

peace and be a

peacemaker?

Do you see how

that works?

And so you take

these truths about

Jesus, you digest

them, and you speak

them back to him.

Nobody drifts

into treasuring

Jesus.

You cultivate it.

It's like opening

up a treasure chest

and letting your

fingers work

through the gold

coins and lift

up rubies and

look at them in

the light.

That's what we're

doing with

different aspects

of who Jesus

is.

And it affects

our souls.

What is a

disciple?

Someone who's

been radically

changed by the

gospel, and now

they treasure Jesus

above all else,

even more than

themselves.

Jesus went into

the tomb, dead,

came out alive,

so that you would

treasure him as

well as obey him

in all that he

commands.

At the end of

Matthew 28, Jesus

has been raised

from the dead, he

appears to his

disciples, and he

speaks to them what's

called the Great

Commission.

And this is what he

says.

He says, all

authority in heaven

and on earth has

been given to me.

It is a massive

statement.

What Jesus is

saying here is

that I have the

right to require

obedience of all

people because I'm

the king of kings

and lord of lords.

He's been risen

from the dead.

And he's just not

an all-authoritative

king.

He is our all-authoritative

treasured king.

He's got all this

authority and he's

got all this worth

and it is our joy

to obey him in all

that he commands.

As you read through

the Great

Commission, you read

this.

Go, therefore, make

disciples of all

nations, baptizing

them in the name of

the Father and the

Son and the Holy

Spirit.

In other words, as

people are converted,

they are to publicly

identify with me.

And then he says,

verse 20,

teaching them to

observe all that I

have commanded you.

Teaching them to

observe all that I

have commanded you.

Now, the observation

that Jesus is

requiring right here

is not just

looking.

He's talking about

obeying.

He's requiring

obedience of us

who are present

followers of Jesus

and then anyone

who becomes a

follower of Jesus,

we teach them to

obey all that Jesus

has commanded.

Disciples are

those who have

been radically

changed by the

grace of God and

now they treasure

Jesus and obey

him in all that he

has commanded.

He went into the

tomb dead and he

came out of the

tomb alive so that

we would so that

we could obey

him even with

joy.

Because we know

his commandments

are not burdensome.

Therefore,

are good.

So,

what commands are

we talking about?

One could say,

well, all of the

commands of the

Bible we are to

obey.

It's as if the

triune God is

calling us to

obey from all of

the scriptures,

right?

But more

specifically, we

can point to a

specific place in

the Gospels where

Jesus lays out a

series of his

commands.

And that is in

Matthew chapter 5,

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

6, and 7.

Would you turn with

me there?

Matthew 5, 6, and

7.

This is the

Sermon on the

Mount.

This is Jesus, his

kingdom manifesto.

This is him

declaring in the

Beatitudes, this is

what my followers, my

citizens are like, and

then he goes on to

say, this is how

they live.

And he unpacks a

series of commands.

What I want to do

right now is I want

to help you to see

the commands.

I want you to see

what Jesus is calling

you to.

So that's not just

vague, but specific.

So in Matthew

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5, if you

look at verse 21,

there's a heading.

It says, anger.

Anger.

Jesus calls his

citizens, his

followers, to live a

certain way when it

comes to our anger.

He requires something

of us.

Not to be ruled by

anger.

Not to sin in our

anger.

And then in verse 27,

he talks about lust.

He requires something

of us when it comes to

the stewardship of our

bodies sexually.

Both physically and

mentally.

He says things about

divorce.

He requires things of

us in verse 31 and

32.

He talks about oaths.

What he's getting at

there is being a man

and woman of your

word.

He requires something.

Retaliation.

When you get slapped,

he wants us, requires

us to respond a certain

way because we're his

disciples.

love your enemies.

This is a requirement, a

calling of us.

It's not optional.

We are to love our

enemies.

So what I'm helping you

to see here is there is

commands that Jesus has

made known clearly for us

to trust him and obey him

in.

Chapter 6, verse 19,

addressing materialism.

Chapter 6, verse 25,

being anxious over what

you have or don't have.

Chapter 7, verse 1 through

5, talking about judging

other people.

Not to be hypocritical in

that.

But I wanted to point you

to something at the end

of chapter 7.

People don't realize that

this parable of building

your house on the rock,

they don't realize this is

the conclusion to the

Sermon on the Mount.

This is Jesus kind of

summing up the sermon.

Look what he says.

Everyone then who hears

these words of mine and

does them.

will be like a wise man

who built his house on

the rock and the rain

fell and the floods

came and the winds

blew and beat on the

house but it did not

fall because it had been

founded on the rock.

It perseveres all the way

to the end.

Remains faithful.

But then, verse 26,

everyone who hears the

words of mine and does

not do them will be like

a foolish man who built

his house on the sand

and the rain fell and the

floods came and the winds

blew and beat against the

house and it fell and

great was the fall of it.

And so we have two sets of

builders.

Both hear what Jesus says

but only one of those

groups does it.

Be a hearer of the word

and a doer of the word.

James 1.22.

What Jesus is calling us to

is obedience.

Now I know that it's not

popular to talk about

obedience in our culture.

But this is exactly what

Jesus is calling us to.

It's normal for Christians

to obey our king because

he's our treasure.

He's got all authority and

his commandments are not

burdensome.

They're always meant for our

good.

I think it was Gary Smalley

that wrote a book years ago

The Five Love Languages.

Anybody hear that book?

Do you know what Jesus'

love language is?

Turn with me to John

John 14 · chapter mention

chapter 14.

What communicates love to

Jesus?

John chapter 14 verse 15.

John 14:15

Jesus says,

If you love me,

you will keep my commandments.

Verse 21.

Whoever has my commandments

and keeps them,

he it is who loves me.

Verse 23.

If anyone loves me,

he will keep my word

and my father will love him

and we will come to him

and make our home with him.

What communicates

devotion

and love to Jesus?

It's not

ecstatic experience.

It's obedience.

Obeying him.

Trusting him.

Obeying him.

So here's a question for you.

When was the last time

you consciously

obeyed

a command

of Jesus?

You came across

a command of his

in the word

and you're like,

I've got to obey him

here.

I've got to change

the way I'm living

and I'm going to

obey him here

out of

trust

and love

for him.

When was the last time?

So here's the challenge.

This week,

make your way

through the Sermon on the Mount.

Walk your way

through

all of this

glorious sermon

in which

Jesus is laying

out his kingdom manifesto.

This is what is to be true

of my citizens.

And as you're reading

through it,

ask the Lord Jesus

to

pierce your heart

with his word.

Show me areas,

Lord,

where I am disobeying you

and show me

where you want me

to obey you.

And because

you are my treasure

and I love you,

I will obey you.

Could you imagine

a church

postured

towards the Lord Jesus

and his word

like that?

What is a disciple?

A disciple

is someone

who's been radically

changed by God's grace,

the gospel.

And now they treasure

Jesus above all else

and they are seeking

to obey Jesus

in all that he commands.

Not perfectly,

but they're seeking

to obey him.

Which brings me

to the M

of tomb.

Treasure,

obey,

magnify.

Magnify Jesus

among all people.

When you treasure

Jesus above all else

and you're seeking

to obey him

in all that he commands,

do you know

what happens?

you shine.

You stand out

from the rest.

It's what Jesus

talks about

in Matthew 5, 16.

He uses

light language.

You're the light

of the world.

In verse 16,

let your light

shine before others

so that they may

see your good works

and give glory

to your Father

who is in heaven.

Do you know

what a marquee is?

A marquee

is this lit up sign

on the side

of a theater

and it's like

an arrow

pointing to

what's inside.

And so when a Christian

is treasuring Jesus

above all else

and seeking to obey him

in all that he commands,

he gets lit up

like a marquee

but he's not drawing

attention to himself

or herself.

He's drawing attention

to Christ.

You see,

what happens

is that when we

are seeking to treasure

and obey Jesus

is that God

brings our

changed life.

What he does

is he brings

the kingdom,

his kingdom

into the public eye.

That word magnify,

there's two ways

to think about it.

Either microscopic

magnification,

it's when you're

looking through

a microscope

at a mitochondria

and you're looking

to kind of bring it up

so you can see

it's a small thing

made big.

That's not the kind

of magnifying

we're talking about.

We're talking about,

as John Piper says,

telescopic magnification

and that is where

you are kind of

being used by God

to show other people

this heavenly glory

brought near.

The kingdom

is brought near

through your changed life.

by obeying him

because you treasure him.

When you're seeking

to build your house

upon the rock

of Jesus' commands,

it brings something

of Christ's kingdom

into the public eye.

You start to stand out.

People will experience

the difference Christ

makes in your life

and some people

will mock you for that.

Other people

will be curious

about that.

I believe

one of the most

compelling

witnesses to Christ

is a changed life.

It's a life

that contrasts

from everyone else

around you.

People see something

that has changed

in you.

You're starting

to go to church

on a Sunday morning,

Sunday after Sunday.

It wasn't that way

and now people are like,

why are you going

to church on Sunday morning?

And you're like,

I can't get enough

of Jesus.

There's been a change.

People start seeing

that you are living

by the words

of Jesus

and they take notice.

It could look like this.

A friend comes up to you.

I notice you don't sleep around

like you used to.

And you get to say,

well, I don't sleep around anymore

because I follow Jesus now.

And I'm just obeying

what he's commanded.

I'm trusting that

his good and right ways

are one man,

one woman,

for life,

in marriage,

and that this good gift

of sex,

it is to be enjoyed

in the context of marriage

between one man

and one woman.

That's how you answer it.

I'm just following Jesus.

I'm just building my house

on that rock.

You have co-workers

come up to you at work

and they're like,

hey, why don't you

trash talk everybody else

like we do?

What are you,

better than us?

And you get to say something

like,

I actually used to

trash talk you, buddy.

Just kidding.

I used to trash talk,

but as a follower

of Jesus now,

I'm just taking

what he said seriously.

He says in the sermon,

he said,

hey,

treat other people

like you would be treated.

It's the golden rule.

And so,

I realized,

man,

I don't want people

trash talking me,

so I'm not going to

trash talk other people.

That's it.

You want to know

why I don't do it?

It's because of Jesus.

This is how we magnify Jesus.

Jesus.

We name drop him.

We give him the reason

for the change in us.

We're just given credit

to where credit's due.

The way to magnify Jesus

among all people

is by treasuring him

above all else

and obeying him

in all that he commands.

Now, you may be

asking a question like this.

Hey,

I'm not magnifying Jesus.

Well,

then the question becomes,

well,

are you obeying Jesus?

No,

I'm not obeying Jesus.

Why aren't you obeying Jesus?

Well,

I'm not treasuring Jesus.

Well,

that's where we go.

That's where the heart change starts.

Treasure Jesus.

And then will come

the obedience.

And then will come

the magnifying.

And when people come

into contact

with a genuine Christian

whose life is actually

being changed

by God's grace,

it's a game changer.

On Christmas Eve,

we do this thing here

where we darken the sanctuary.

It's the last move

of the service

and we light candles

at the front

and those candles

get lit all the way

to the back

and then all of a sudden

this dark room

is lit up

with light shining.

That's who we are,

church.

We're God's light

shining in a dark place.

This dark city.

Your neighborhood,

your family,

your workplace.

So here's the question.

When was the last time

you actually

named dropped Jesus

with a non-Christian?

That you gave him

the credit

for the change

that was being seen

in you?

The contrast.

When was the last time

you did that?

So here's the challenge.

Would you pray?

Lord Jesus,

this week,

would you give me

an opportunity

to witness to you

and the change

you've wrought

in my life?

Would you help me

to see it when it comes

and would you make me brave,

unashamed of you?

I love talking

about my wife.

Do you know why?

Because I treasure her.

Out of the overflow

of your treasuring,

the mouth speaks.

So if you're having

a hard time

talking about Jesus,

maybe you need

to treasure him more.

This brings us

to the belonging.

Jesus went into

this tomb dead

and came out

of the tomb alive

so that we would

treasure him

and obey him

and magnify him

among all people.

And the B

is the B

of belonging.

Belonging to Jesus

with all of his

blood bought.

What we're talking

about here

in this belonging

piece

is being a meaningful

relationship

with one another

because of Christ.

Here's the reality.

If it weren't

for Christ,

we wouldn't

know each other.

We wouldn't.

Christ has brought

us together.

He is

the unifying

agent

of our relationships.

He's the hub

of our fellowship.

We are in relationship

with one another

because he

died

and was raised

for us.

And Jesus

calls us

to live out

our relationships

with one another

in a particular

way.

In John

13,

34 and 35,

he says,

A new commandment

I give to you

that you love

one another.

Just as I have

loved you,

you also are

to love one another.

By this,

all people will

know that you

are my disciples

if you have

love for one

another.

And so,

this love

ethic is to

be the thing

governing our

relationships

with one another.

But let me

just be clear

on that.

It's just not

like rubbing

our backs.

How did Jesus

love us?

He laid down

his life

for us

so that we

would live

for him.

And so,

the best way

that I can

love you

is by giving

myself so

that you

would treasure

Jesus above

all else.

How about

that?

How about

we give

each other

ourselves to

one another

to that end

that we

would love

Jesus more,

treasure him

and obey

him and

magnify him

together.

This kind

of loving

one another

is not

conditioned

on someone

else's

ethnicity

or someone

else's

biological

sex

or someone

else's

neighborhood

that they

live in

or someone

else's

experience,

time in

jail,

success in

life.

We are to

love one

another as

Christ has

loved us

sacrificially

and unto

Jesus.

This

is,

I wanted to

quote a

Boston song,

more than a

feeling.

this is a

commitment

that we

make to

one another.

Our

salvation

is bound

up together,

our salvation

in Christ.

So here's a

specific way I

want to apply

that this

morning, on

this membership

Sunday.

Sunday.

I'm not sure

if you have

thought about

why you come

to church on

a Sunday.

Maybe you come

to church on a

Sunday because,

hey, I just

want to get

built up, I

love to sing, I

want to hear

God's word, it's

good, I want to

pray, that's good,

or I come on

Sunday because I

need to serve and

that's good, but

have you ever

thought that you

come and gather

on a Sunday

morning out of

love for other

Christians?

I am showing

up to build

up.

I am showing

up, not so much

for myself, but

for others.

I am gathering

in order to

experience this

belonging because

I love these

people, I'm

committed to

them.

Think about

belonging as

uniquely taking

place when we

gather on a

Sunday morning.

This 75

minutes on a

Sunday morning

is the most

important 75

minutes in our

life as a

church week by

week, bar none.

This is the most

important time we

have together, and

here's why.

It's the only

time during the

week when the

whole church

gathers in

person.

The only time.

When we gather

together, we see

each other, we're

in each other's

presence, one

place, one

time, and

one focus, one

people.

We're the

church.

Did you know

that the word for

the church in

Greek is

ekklesia?

And that means,

it means called

out ones, it

means you're set

apart, but what it

also means is

simply the gathering

of God's people,

the assembly of

God's people, the

congregating of

God's people.

When the people

gather together,

that's the church,

we're the church.

the visible

representation of

the blood

blood of God.

That's what

happens when we

come together.

It's the only

time during the

week that we

sing glorious

truths about the

treasures of

Jesus.

So grateful for

Zach, for his

team who lead us.

They work hard,

they're skilled,

so that we sing

these wonderful

truths about Jesus

together.

Together!

One of my

favorite things to

do, you might do

it too from time

to time, I'll

stop singing so

that I can listen

to everybody else

sing.

And I am so

encouraged by that.

God gets

something,

Colossians 3,

done in us.

When we together

are singing to

God one time,

one place,

one focus,

one people,

it's the only

time when we

get to pray

together in

person.

One place,

one time,

one focus,

one people,

confessing our

sin together,

thanking God

for things that

he has done in

our life together,

praying for our

mission partners

together,

praying for

brothers and

sisters who are

in need together.

It is so

unique.

It happens

just once a

week, 75

minutes.

And of course

there's the

preaching of his

word.

Whoever's

preaching from

this pulpit

has put a

lot of time

in preparing

a message to

preach.

But it's

more than

that.

When God's

word is

faithfully

preached,

God himself

is forming

his people

with his

word.

One place,

one time,

one focus,

one people.

It's

unprecedented.

It's

unprecedented.

contested.

We love

one another

this way.

We love

one another

by coming

on a Sunday

morning and

gathering

together.

It's

contested.

Sometimes

you don't

want to

come.

Do I

have an

amen?

Sometimes

you don't

feel like

it.

Sometimes

you don't

want to

wrestle the

kids into

the car.

Sometimes

you'd

just rather

stay at

home.

But can

I just

ask you,

do you

think those

are love

motives?

We love

one another

by gathering

together on

a Sunday

morning.

So let me

ask you a

question.

Are you

working it

in?

Is one of

your motives

for coming

on a Sunday

morning at

10 a.m.,

the 75

minutes of

unprecedented

time together

because you

love God's

people?

Let that

soak in.

Let that

motivate you.

you.

And the

challenge,

the challenge

would be

this.

If you

don't like

coming to

church,

if you're

not wanting

to obey

Jesus,

not wanting

to magnify

him,

could it be

a treasure

issue?

A

treasuring

Jesus

issue?

I would

challenge you

to treasure

Jesus more

and you

will find

his love

for his

people in

your

heart.

On this

membership

Sunday,

I've been

asking and

answering the

question,

what is a

disciple of

Jesus Christ

and a

disciple of

someone who's

been radically

changed by

God's grace?

So much so

that they

treasure Jesus

above all

else,

obey him in

all that he

commands,

magnifies him

among all

people,

and belongs

to Jesus

by gathering

frequently out

of love for

one another.

Jesus went

to the tomb

dead and

he came up

alive so

that we

could live

this way,

together,

following

Jesus.

Let's pray

together.

Lord God,

Lord Jesus,

there is no

one like you.

would you

stir our

hearts,

would you

call us

to treasure

you all

in new

and fresh

and profound

ways,

and that we

would treasure

you together

and obey you

together and

magnify you

together and

of course,

belong to you

together.

You are so

worthy.

God, thank you

for adding to

our numbers.

Would you add

more for the

glory of your

name?

Amen.