The Church of the Living God

Let's stand and read a very important Scripture. Let's stand together. It's a long time since we stood and read the Word of God, so let's do that and join me as we read. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near. Amen.

Please be seated. For many people, their faith is very individualized. They are lone rangers. They have no spiritual home. They're kind of ecclesiastical nomads in a spiritual wilderness, perhaps occasionally going from church to church, but never really finding their spiritual home. But when God in His grace saves us, He calls us not to live solo lives, but to gather as the people of God, even as we are doing.

My maternal grandparents, as I was a little boy visiting them, never referred to going to church. They referred to the gathering or to the assembly. That is the gathering, the assembly of the people of God. A recognition that the church is not a building.

It's not a denomination, but rather the church comprises of followers of Jesus Christ who have been saved by His grace, yes, who have come individually, one by one, to the Lord Jesus and acknowledged Him as their Savior and Lord, but now understand that while their faith is very, very personal it is not always private, but rather it is to be shared. We are to gather together as the people of God, gather to the person and in the name of our Lord Jesus. And today then as we regather after this terrible battle with COVID, I want to demonstrate from Scripture the importance of the church. I want to encourage you to love the local church, to be part of a local church, to be committed to it, to be a member of it, to worship God and to serve others in the local church as we come, as we worship, as we are equipped, as we are encouraged and we then go into our dark world with the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Your spiritual health, your spiritual balance, your spiritual growth are developed in the context of the church of Jesus Christ in a way that listening at home by livestream or going on YouTube cannot duplicate. No, as we gather and we're so privileged this morning, as we gather in this beautiful sanctuary, we come, I believe, face to face with God. Do you realize that when God created you, He created you to worship Him?

He created you to love Him, to know God. And worshiping God is our highest, most noble activity. That is the greatest thing that we could ever do. Now, some of you like myself watched a very important soccer match yesterday. And two of the great clubs, happened to be English clubs, playing in the European cup final. And I watched it because I love soccer and it was a great game and the right team won. But as I thought and I watched some of the preview and I listened to it, and I love soccer, but I thought for vast, vast numbers throughout the world, their greatest joy, the most important thing they do is to watch a soccer match. It's their idol. They live and breathe. And poor followers of Manchester City who thought they were going to win, they're in great mourning.

Many of them got drunk last night and are returning to England with a terrible hangover. That is number one in their life. And I thought whatever sport you like, and I like sport, just think of the sadness to think that God created us in His image. And that for vast numbers of people, their greatest joy is watching a soccer match or a football game or a basketball game or work or whatever it is, and they've erected an idol. And when God in His grace saves us, He does something remarkable. He opens our eyes to see the beauty of our Lord Jesus Christ and to understand that we were created for this high and noble purpose that we, His creatures, we who are redeemed by the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ can come and to praise our great God and say, great is your faithfulness. And Jesus said, a remarkable statement to a woman, a very immoral woman in John chapter 4, Jesus said to this woman that the Father seeks worshipers. That God the Father seeks us to worship and to worship in spirit and in truth.

And here at Calvary Church, we come to worship God with reverence and with awe, focusing on the greatness of God, but also on His grace revealed to us in our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, you have your Bibles there, I trust. Turn to 1 Timothy chapter 3. 1 Timothy chapter 3. Now, we're going to be looking at a lot of verses in our Bible, so I hope you have your Bible and you say, I don't know my way around it.

That's OK. Week by week, as you come here, as you read your own Bible, you'll find your way around it. And 1 Timothy is towards the end of the New Testament. 1 Timothy 3.

Paul is writing to young Timothy, who is one of the leaders in the church at Ephesus, and he says to him here in 1 Timothy 3 verse 14, I hope to come to you soon, but I'm writing these things to you so that if I delay, you may know how you ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. Notice how Paul describes the church. Number 1, it is the household of God. It's the very house of God. Secondly, it's the church of the living God. Third, it's the pillar.

It's the support. It's the foundation of the truth. Yes, the church is important to God.

I want to think with you of four metaphors. There are many metaphors in the New Testament of the church, here are four. First of all, the church is the house of God.

Do you realize that? As we come this morning, we've come to the very house of God. In the Old Testament, where did God dwell? He dwelt in a tabernacle. He tells Moses in Exodus 25, let them make me a sanctuary, tabernacle, that I may dwell in their midst.

Think of the condescension of our Lord. He's about to deliver his people from Egypt. They're going to go through the wilderness and he wants to dwell in their midst.

He wants a house to be built for him. And we have the tabernacle and then there's going to be the temple. Here Paul is writing in 1 Timothy 3, he's writing to Timothy, who's leading this church at Ephesus. And the pagan Ephesians believed that the goddess Artemis dwelt in their temple. Some of you have been to Ephesus in the modern day Turkey and you see the temple and the Ephesians in their pagan superstition believed that Artemis was actually living in that temple.

The temple is one of the seven wonders of the world. Now, Paul is telling us in New Testament that Jew and Gentile comprise the church in which God dwells. 1 Timothy 3.15, it is the household of God. The church, think of it, is the house of God. We live in homes, we live in houses.

You have your house, I have my house. This is God's house. It is the house of God. Turn to 1 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians chapter 3. Many problems in the first century church at Corinth. Paul writes here in 1 Corinthians 3 verse 16. Now remember, he's writing to the church. So often when we read the New Testament, we think it's just directed to individual people and often it is. But this is a text given to the church. 1 Corinthians 3.16, do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? You say, well, the individual Christian is indwelt by the Spirit. That's true, that's not what Paul is saying here.

He's going to tell that later. But here he's saying, you collectively, you the Corinthians, do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? That is as they come together in the church. If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy and you, Corinthians, believers, you are that temple. Turn over a few pages to Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 2.

We'll see the same thing. Ephesians chapter 2 is a marvelous chapter where Paul is describing the reconciling work of our Lord Jesus Christ. He has demolished that wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile. He's knocked it down.

He's demolished it. And in the wonder of the Gospel, Paul is explaining that not only are you reconciled individually to God, that's true, but you're now reconciled to your fellow Gentiles, that Jew and Gentiles are now one in God's new society in the church. And he's going to explain in Ephesians 3 that not only are they in the same church, they become equal. Jew and Gentile, slave and free, men and women, all equal in this new society, this new community, the church. Ephesians 2 now, verse 22 with that background. Notice what Paul is saying. In Him, that is in the Lord, you also — this is mind-blowing. Think of this.

Take this seriously today, your sister. In Him, you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. If we're Old Testament believers, we have to build a tabernacle and you can read the care in which the tabernacle was built.

You can read about the magnificent Solomon's temple where Solomon is amazed that you want us to build a temple. I mean, the heavens and the heavens can't contain you, God. How much less this house that we're building for you, how can you contain God? He's infinite.

He's omnipresent. But now, in the wonder of the Gospel, Jew and Gentile are coming together in this one new man, this church. Says Paul, you're being built together, Jew and Gentile, slave and free, men and women.

You're built together into what? A dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Do you think of the church like that? It's the dwelling place of God. It is the family of God.

It's the household of God. That's why when you come to worship here, we ask that you leave your Starbucks cup outside. You say, why do you do that? I like my coffee.

Can you not stop drinking for an hour and 50 minutes? No, we don't allow it because we don't want you spilling it on the seats, but more importantly, we want you to understand that when you come here, not because of the beauty of the sanctuary that points us to the majesty of God, not because we have this wonderful natural light coming in, something more important that when you come here, you're coming into the dwelling place of God by His Spirit. Yes, Calvary Church is the house of God. It is the dwelling place for God to the Spirit. You say, John, wait a minute, God is everywhere. That's true. God is everywhere.

He's omnipresent. And I can worship God in my house. A man told me I can worship God on the golf course.

Yes, you can, but I'm not sure if you do that, but you can say you're doing it. Yes, of course, you can worship God everywhere. That was true in the Old Testament.

That's true now, of course. You can and you should worship God wherever you can, but the Psalmist says in Psalm 87, verse 2, that the Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places of Jacob. Yes, God loves the individual dwelling places of Jacob throughout Israel.

That's true. What's the gates of Zion? It's a picture of the temple, a picture of the time when the people of God go to the temple in these wonderful feasts, because there is the very presence of God. So David says, I wonder if you said this morning, Psalm 121, verse 1, I was glad when they said to me, let us go to watch that great game yesterday.

Is that what you get excited about? I was glad when they said to me, let us go to the house of the Lord. Isn't that wonderful? Because David understood that God in His grace was dwelling with His people, and the greatest of all privileges that we have is not just to worship alone. Of course you should worship alone. Of course you should worship with your family. But the greatest privilege we have is to come together in the house of God and praise our great and gracious God. So first the church is the house of God. Secondly, the church is the bride of Christ. Do you realize that the church is loved by God? That we are His precious blood. Listen to Paul as he speaks to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20, Acts 20 verse 28, he says to them, pay careful attention to yourselves, talking to elders in the church, and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care, I was talking to elders of a particular church, to care for the church of God which He obtained with His own blood. Paul tells us in Ephesians 5, 25 when he tells husbands to love their wives, he says husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her. That when the Lord Jesus Christ died, think of this, He was not just dying for individuals, His precious blood was being shed.

For what purpose? So that He may purchase us, the church of Jesus Christ. And so God, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit love the church.

Why? It has been purchased with the very blood of Jesus. And so we're described in this beautiful way of intimacy and love, Christ. The church is His bride. And Christ loves the church, He loves us. He loves Calvary Church.

He purchased us with His own blood, and we are to love what Christ loves. The church is the house of God. Secondly, it's the bride of Christ. Third, it is the body of Christ.

Think of that. That we are the very body of Christ. Now, who is the head of the church? Ephesians 1, many scriptures, Ephesians 1, verse 22, Paul says, He put all things under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. Christ is the head of the church. 1 Corinthians 12, 27, as Paul is describing the church at Corinth with all of the different gifts, all of the ways the church functions, he says, 1 Corinthians 12, 27, now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. The church of Jesus Christ. Who's the head?

Christ. He's the commander. He is totally to be in charge. That's why Paul is saying to Timothy, I need to tell you how you're going to behave yourself in the house of God. It's not what you want Timothy. It is what God wants. It is what Christ wants. He's the head. He's the one who's to be glorified.

Leave your own agenda and your self-will and your ego at the door. The church belongs to Christ. It is His very body. He is the head and we are the body.

Individually, members of it. Think of that. Think of the wonder of that. Think of the humility of our God that He describes us, saved sinners, that we are His body, the body of Christ. We go into a world and show by love and compassion that we are the very body of Christ. The church is the house of God.

It's the bride of Christ. It's the body of Christ. The church is the building of God. The building of God. 1 Peter, if you turn there with me, 1 Peter chapter 2.

Peter is describing this in a beautiful way. 1 Timothy 2 verse 4. He says at the end of verse 3, if you have tasted that the Lord is good, haven't we tasted of the goodness of God? As you come to Him, a living stone rejected by God but in the sight of God, chosen and precious. Yes, the builders rejected Him.

That's true. But He is the cornerstone. You yourselves, verse 5, like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. It's a very building of God. We saw in our study of Matthew, and if you're new, we're just taking a break today from Matthew, Lord willing, we'll go back to it next Sunday. But in Matthew chapter 16, Jesus has told us, I will build my church. Make no mistake about it, He is the head, this is the church of Jesus Christ.

I think we sometimes forget that, don't we? My fellow leaders, congregation, a member, Calvary Church belongs to Christ. I will build my church. Christ is the very cornerstone. He's the foundation stone.

We were singing about that. And think of the marvelous truth, Peter is saying that we are living stones. We are built up with Christ as our head, with Christ as the foundation. We're built up as a spiritual house all to the glory of God. Is the church important?

Yes. It's the house of God. It's the bride of Christ. It's the body of Christ. It's the building of God. Therefore, all true believers, all authentic followers of Jesus Christ are to belong to a local church.

Now let me explain that. Through the grace of God, every single authentic follower of Christ belongs to the great universal church. At conversion, we are placed by the Spirit into the body of Christ, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12, 13, that we're baptized by the Spirit into the body of Christ. You realize that, the day that you were saved. Not only were your sins forgiven, but through the work of the Spirit of God, you were baptized into the body of Christ. This is the great universal church. It doesn't matter what denomination you're in. This is the wonder of the grace of God that will become part of the family of God.

And therefore, Paul's argument in 1 Corinthians 12 is this, that we are the one body. We can't be divided. That's why division is so grievous to God. The devil loves to divide, doesn't he? He does all he can to mess up your family, to mess up your marriage. If you're in business, he does all you can to mess it up. If you're an employer or an employee, that the devil is there, isn't he? Planting his seeds of doubt and confusion. But God, the Spirit, is a God of unity.

There is one body. We receive the same Spirit. The Holy Spirit who indwells you, brother, is the same Holy Spirit that dwells me. The precious blood that washed away all of your sin is the same precious blood that washed away all of my sin. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, and we are incorporated into the same body. We're all part of that great family of God, part of all of the redeemed.

And for all of eternity, they shall praise our Savior, but all those saved should belong to a local church. Turn with me to the book of Acts. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts. Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2. Here is the day of Pentecost. Peter is preaching. He says in verse 41, Luke records, so those who received his word, those that were saved, those who responded to the Gospel, what happened to them, they were baptized.

Incidentally, why is it? Some of you believers in Jesus Christ have never been baptized. Those who received his word were baptized, and they were added that day about 3,000 souls. Verse 42, they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and their fellowship to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Verse 47, praising God and having favor with all the people, and the Lord added to their number day by day those who are being saved. Added to the church.

They're not left solos. It's not that they're saved, baptized, and then go and do your own thing. No, they're added to the church. When Paul writes, for example, to the church at Corinth, which I referred to, 1 Corinthians 1, what does he say in verse 2? He's writing, to the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together, with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours. When Paul is writing to the Corinth, he writes to the church.

It is a communication to the church, and as the church would have been gathered, they would have been read and reread before the church at Corinth. So you need, we need, I need to be part of a local church. And the local church is best seen not as part of the universal church, but rather as representing and demonstrating the universal church in a particular locality. So this body of believers here at Calvary, we are to make visible the church to the unbelieving world. Someone asked, well, what does the church look like?

We usually want to point out the problems, don't we? Paul tells us in Ephesians 3 verse 10 that the manifold wisdom of God is made known through the church to the rulers and authorities. That God's wisdom is being displayed through the church. When Peter, as we will see in a moment, talks about gifts in 1 Peter 4 verse 10, he talks about we're stewards of the manifold, the multifaceted grace of God. How are unbelievers going to know the grace of God?

Well, we can, we can communicate it verbally, but we're also to display it, aren't we? So that people come here for the first time, here's an atheist, here's a skeptic, comes for the first time, and he or she can understand something of the wisdom of God and something of the grace of God through the church of Jesus Christ. So if you're part of the universal church, if you're saved, you need to be part of and committed to a local church.

Now, what does this mean? I want to give you three ways. We glorify God in what I'm calling the body life of the church. The body life of the local church at Calvary glorifies God. Now, we all want to glorify God.

Here are ways we can do it according to Scripture. The body life, I'm talking about being part of the church, involves, you ready for it? Serving one another. I often say I love being served.

Isn't it great to be served by people? Ah, but now that I'm saved, now that God calls me into this local fellowship, I am to serve others. First Peter 4 verse 10 that I referred to.

Listen to Peter. He says, as each has received a gift, brother, sister, new members, you have received a gift. As each has received a gift, use it. Don't bury it. Use it to serve one another. Don't use it to show off.

Don't use it to bolster your sagging ego. Use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace. I've become part of a local church like Calvary Church. I've received a gift, whatever it is, it may be a gift of helps, maybe a gift of mercy, maybe a gift of giving, maybe a gift of teaching, whatever it is, I'm to use that in serving others. See, by being a member of Calvary, you're testifying that you're committed to the body of Christ's followers who meet here.

Calvary is your spiritual home. According to Scriptures, we're members of the same body, we're sheep of the same flock, we're stones of the same building, we're children of the same family, and think of the uniqueness of the church. Think of all of the tensions in our society, all of the divisions politically and socially and economically. It seems that here in the United States, these divisions are getting greater and greater and we, people are getting so frustrated with each other. Think of the uniqueness of the church.

In the church of Jesus Christ, Jew and Gentile are sitting at the same Lord's table. Now, you think you've got differences from someone else. You think you've got hostility between someone who's rich or poor, who is of a different color, who comes from a different background, a different color.

You think you've got hostility? There's nothing like the hostility between Jew and Gentile. Think of the, in the church, there were slaves and there were free people. They're all at the same Lord's table. Men and women, where women were looked down on, second-class citizens, oh, not now, they're sitting at the same Lord's table.

What's happened? They've been reconciled to God and reconciled to one another and why is it, brothers and sisters, these divisions and these differences continue to, to haunt us? And here at Calvary, we have the joy of having different nationalities, different cultures, but we are one church. Someone said to me a few months ago, well, you, you, you pastor that American church. They were from another country. I said, Calvary Church isn't American.

Right? I mean, why would they select me as a pastor? I came, I wasn't even a citizen. One of the questions someone asked me when I was up here at the congregational, when I was candidating, somebody asked me, well, you know, are you here legally? You want to check my passport? And I said, no, I've got cards saying I am an alien.

It's true. Welcome to the United States. You are now a resident alien. OK. I'm an alien.

Yes. I'm really odd. I admit it.

Right? But think of this Jew and Gentile living in, in spiritual harm. I want to say to you, wherever you are, whoever you are, whatever your background, I want to say to you, you are welcome at Calvary Church. Please hear me. Someone told me this story is a joke about Scots because we, we get, we get ridiculed by people.

There's a lot of discrimination against Scottish people, don't you find? Anyhow, this man, this florist, goes to the barber for a haircut. And after the haircut, he goes to the barber and the barber says, you know, you do such a great community service.

You don't need to pay. The florist said, oh, that's wonderful. Next morning, as the barber opens his shop, here's a dozen roses from the florist saying thank you. The next day, a police officer goes for a haircut, and he goes to pay, and the barber says, you know, you're a police officer. You do such a great service for our community.

You don't need to pay. The police officer said, thank you very much. Next morning, when the barber goes to open the shop, there's a thank you card and a dozen donuts waiting for him.

Now, whether the police officer paid for them or not, I'm not sure, but there's a dozen donuts. Scotsman goes for a haircut. He also goes to pay to the barber, and the barber says, you know, you Scots make such a contribution to our society, we're not quite sure what, but you don't have to pay. And the Scotsman's very happy and leaves. Next door, next day, when the barber goes to open his barbershop, there's a dozen Scotsman waiting for a free haircut. You know, and people tell me these jokes, and I'm in the laugh at them, but I can tell you, not 100 percent of the time, but even Scots people are welcome here.

Why? We are partners in Christ. We are co-laborers with our Lord. And one of the greatest joys, and you know this, I trust you know it, you've experienced it, however imperfectly, one of our greatest joys is to serve with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Isn't that true? Think of those who sing in the choir. You know, they go to all these rehearsals.

I mean, they would drive me crazy, right? You go over the thing over and over and over again. My wife used to sing in the choir in Michigan.

I said, and she said, oh it's great, I love it. Right? Different people, different gifts. The joy, not only of serving, but serving with others. Some of you feed the homeless. You pray together and you go. And we serve the Lord, and you go on a missions trip. And yes, you are encouraging the missionaries, you're reaching out with the Gospel, but one of the greatest joys is the fellowship you have on that trip with your brothers and sisters in Christ. And this is what it means to lament the many one anothers in Scripture.

One of your Life Group leaders sent a note to his class and all of the one anothers were listed. Bear one another's burdens. Pray for one another. Encourage one another. Help one another. Don't grumble against each other. Respect one another. And above all, love one another. Our world is desperate for people of love. And when you're in crisis, you don't need a critic, do you?

You need someone who comes along beside you and who loves you and is prepared to bear your burden with them. And so we read in Hebrews that Scripture, don't neglect meeting together as some do, one in the first century, some were skipping church. Don't neglect it, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near. So here's a way in which we glorify God in the body of life. We serve one another. Secondly, it involves submission to the Word of God and to the leadership.

Notice that Paul, in 1 Timothy 3.15, refers to the church as the pillar and the foundation of the truth. Where do you go for truth? Oh, you listen to CNN.

Some say, no, no, I'm more for Fox News. You're going to get the truth? You hear the truth from the politician? You're going to get the truth from the pop culture? You're going to get truth from the celebrities? The church of Jesus Christ is the pillar and support of the truth.

Why? Because God is there and God is truth. And one of the foundations of our ministry at Calvary and is referred to by some of our new members, one of the very foundations that we must never ever depart from is the proclamation of the truth of God's Word.

Yes, we believe this is true. We believe that when the Bible speaks, God speaks. The church is where you go for truth. What should we believe?

How should we act? The answer is in the Word of God. John Calvin said, a dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God's truth was attacked and yet would remain silent. In the church of Jesus Christ, whatever's going on in the pop culture, whatever the politician or the courts are saying, or whatever the activists are saying, we must be committed to the truth. And particularly when truth is attacked, as it is, it is important for the church to defend the truth, to proclaim the truth, that we will understand the truth and that we will, in an accurate and in a persuasive and an egregious way, tell others this is what God said.

This is the church. And this is why it's important in the church that we learn to submit to one another. Paul tells us this in Hebrews 13, to obey your leaders. They watch over your soul.

Don't make it difficult for them. Sometimes people want to lead. You know, before you lead, you must voluntarily learn to submit to God's Word. Make sure, if you're looking for a church, that you are part of a church which is going to point you to the Word of God and to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the authority. It amazes me that people can go to church and say, well, I like the music.

This is where my friends go. It's a cool church. And you say, but what are they telling you about the Bible? What are you learning about God? What are you learning about the Lord Jesus Christ?

We must learn in the body of Christ that we are to learn to follow, to submit to the Word of God, to submit to the leaders of the church that God has appointed. S. I. McMillan in his book, None of These Diseases, tells the story of a young woman who wanted to go to college, but her heart sank when she read the question on the application form. Are you a leader? Being both honest and conscientious, she wrote no. And she returned the application expecting the worst. To her surprise, she received a letter from the college.

Dear applicant, a study of the application forms reveals that this year our college will have 1,462 new leaders. We are accepting you because we feel it is imperative that they have at least one follower. Oh, that's good. That's good.

We honor their military. The military teaches you before you lead, you must learn to follow. Do you always agree with the instruction? Not necessarily, but you learn to follow. One of our themes at Calvary Church this year is obey the Word of God.

Can we practice instant obedience? Stop arguing with the Word of God. Submit to it.

Show humility. What does body life mean? It means serving one another. It means submitting to the Word of God, submitting to one another.

And it involves financial responsibility. First Corinthians 16, may read what Paul says. Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the church of Galatia so you also are to do, on the first day of every week, we meet on Sundays, not Saturdays. On the first day of every week, each of you, each of you, each of you, is to put something aside and store it up as He may prosper so that there will be no collecting when I come. Part of our worship then is to give as the Lord has prospered us.

We've been bought with a price we're not our own. God has showered His grace on us over and over again. As we learned in the Sermon on the Mount, we're not to lay up for ourselves treasures on earth, but rather in heaven.

And we're to use everything we have, all of our resources, our homes, our cars, everything is to be used for the glory of God. You say, John, how much should I give? Give generously.

If you're a Scots person, we're innately generous. Some of you may not be so generous. Give generously. How much can you give generously? Give systematically, the Scripture says, as the Lord has prospered you. Don't give just casually. Keep a note of what you give. You give generously, you give systematically, you give cheerfully.

The Scripture says, Paul says, how much can you give cheerfully? Do you want a gift from someone who doesn't give it to you cheerfully? I give you something. You say, well, there you are. You say, what's wrong with you?

No. The very nature of giving is, true giving is gracious. It's from the heart.

You give with a smile. Do you think God really needs your money? Right? He wants everything. He can pour his wealth on you or take it from you, as many of you know. The Lord gives, the Lord takes away. Give generously, give systematically, give as the Lord has prospered you. Has the Lord prospered you? Are you rich?

Give a lot. You're poor, you can't give as much as the Lord has prospered you. Think how the Lord has prospered you.

So we give. It's part of the body life of the church so that the church can reach out with the gospel of Jesus Christ. So, from Scripture, as we conclude, the importance of the church is clear. Think of the immense privilege of being part of a local church.

That's something which is dynamic, something which is changing. The church is not so much an organization but as a living organism. As we're growing up to the fullness of Christ, as we seek to do everything to the glory of God, make that a priority. If you're not a member, become a member of Calvary Church. If you're not serving, get involved in serving. Worship every Sunday.

Make that a priority. But you know, maybe you're not part of the family of God at all. It may be that you've never yet come to Christ as your Savior. Listen to John, John 1, 12, but to all who did receive Him. Have you received Christ as your Savior?

This is something you must do, personally. But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. That's the supernatural birth. See all of us have sinned. You say, well I'm not much of a sinner. Sin, no sin of yours is small.

Can I tell you that? No sin of yours is small, just as no grain of sand is small in a mechanism of a watch. Just a little grain of sand.

Just a little virus. Think of all the damage it does. Yes, you may not be, you may not have committed as much sin as others, but one tiny sin. Can I say, well damn you for all of eternity.

There's only one way. There's only one who can forgive your sins. There's only one blood which is so precious, it will forgive all of your sin, and that is the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, God who became man, who dwelt among us, who lived a sinless life, who died on the cross for our sins, and who rose again. And so I call on you, if you're not part of the family of God, to humble yourself, turn from your sin, and receive Christ as your Savior. And may we who have been saved, may we hold high in our life, high in our family life, high in our priorities, the local church, which is the very house of God.

Help us our Father and God we pray. I thank you for Calvary Church. Thank you for your grace and mercy to us when we mess up. Thank you for the way you've guided us and protected us through this crisis. Encourage us Father, and strengthen us. And may we at Calvary always be united, always glorifying you, always basing all we do and say on the Scriptures, and have the joy of telling people that Jesus saves. We ask it in His name. Amen.