Why We Matter to Each Other

Church is a living, moving, breathing entity and it's promised to change. And God is promised in every one of our individual lives to change us and ultimately perfect us in the presence of Christ because that's what spiritual growth means. It means change. But it also means to in the assembly accept noise.

It's a vision that kind of transcends that intuitive design and desire for us to find that quiet place. Believers are called to be members of a local church body. We're committed to participate and engage in the life of the church.

We gather together because we share faith in Christ. And as local church families, each church and all of its members are meant to encourage each other. We encourage each other to stand firm in the faith throughout life's challenges and trials.

Welcome to Wisdom for the Heart with Stephen Davey. In this lesson, Stephen expounds upon the promises we must make as members of a local church body. We are to pray for, care for, and serve one another spiritually and physically. Stephen's calling this lesson why we matter to each other.

Grab your Bible as we get started with today's lesson from God's Word. It strikes me, if you read the history of the church from its very inception, beginning at Acts chapter 2 and onward, you discover embedded in the DNA of God's design, this idea of people, the idea of change, the idea of movement. The church is a breathing, living body and we're given the analogy of becoming part of a body where hands or feet or eyes, mouths, ligaments, blood vessels, organizing, active, it means noise, it means people. Belonging to a local church is making a decision to move beyond whatever that ideal might be of a quiet, solitary life and if we all had our druthers and we were asked, where would you really like to live, more than likely we would say, many of us where there are no people.

Our deck would overlook a pond, we'd be surrounded by trees, they don't talk back, not people. But the church of our Lord is designed to move beyond that solitary, quiet life where everything stays put and nothing changes, to roll up our sleeves and engage. All of that to say, a church is a living, moving, breathing entity and it's promised to change and God has promised in every one of our individual lives to change us and ultimately perfect us in the presence of Christ because that's what spiritual growth means, it means change. But it also means to, in the assembly, accept noise and distraction.

You don't get your favorite seat, not all the time, sometimes, maybe you got it today, good for you, but it's a vision that kind of transcends that intuitive design and desire for us to find that quiet place and for me it would include a pond and trees. We make a promise when we come into the body of Christ to set that in a very real way aside and I want to show you today what that means. In our study on the church thus far we have addressed subjects of who we are and why we belong and how we behave and why we exist and now we're talking about what we promise.

What we're promising is we head toward in a matter of weeks the signing of a new constitution and bylaws. Now what we promise effectively relates to what we believe and so I've kind of used that categorical statement and stuffed under it a number of things that we are holding to and stands which we are taking biblically. We have dealt with what it means to promise each other things related to our personal conduct. Now what I want to do is shift gears and talk about what it means as a member of the body to make some promises as it relates not just to our conduct but to our church. What are we promising each other?

Well let me give you the first of two we'll cover today. The first promise of a member regarding his or her church is to purposefully and faithfully participate in public worship services and all that goes with that. Now you might think that this is really too obvious.

You wouldn't have to say this. Yet it's interesting in the New Testament you discover early on even in the first century that people were choosing in fact some had already made the habit of withdrawing back to that quiet place maybe back to the pond. Instead of participating they were saying and theologically there was a construct that would be accurate that you can worship God alone you can worship God all by yourself so I really don't need the assembly and we've taken a look closely at some of those unique ways where God shows up when the assembly meets and we've dealt with a lot of that but it's interesting that they have to be told in the first century that you need to invest personally in this living body called the church. Let me show you one particular text we're just going to land at the book of Hebrews here so turn to Hebrews the book of Hebrews written to Hebrews that is converted Jews and I want you to notice what he's going to say to them in chapter 10. In fact before announcing the personal responsibility of belonging to an assembly of believers he kind of takes them on a little bit of a history tour and he says here's what you left here's where you used to be look down at verse 19 he's going to summarize now so much of what he's taught we don't have time to get into all of that but let's just deal with the summary verse 19 Hebrews chapter 10. Since therefore brethren we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus by a new you could translate that freshly slain a reference to the death of Christ and living way that's a reference to his resurrection which he inaugurated for us through the veil that is his flesh let's stop for a moment that would have immediately meant a lot to these Hebrews these converted Jews because they knew full well that the tabernacle and in the temple there was the separation of the holy place from the holy of holies by this this gigantic veil in the temple it would have been 30 feet high our ceiling is about 30 some feet high so imagine the curtain that tall when Christ dies it rips right down the middle there's no hand anywhere grips you see to them they understood for centuries that veil basically communicated stay out you can't come in here in fact only one man one time a year was allowed to go beyond that veil and he went in there with such fear and such terror and the people with him that they would sew bells on the fringe of his robe and they'd tie a rope around his ankle because if they didn't hear the jingling of those bells they would assume God had rejected that annual sacrifice and they'd need to drag the dead body out so now you're talking about going with confidence into the very presence of God you got to be kidding what a wonderful gospel this is and that's exactly what he's telling them this new and living way through the veil which is the flesh of Christ which he gave on our behalf we now have direct access into the very presence of God so as an assembly we don't take that for granted because uniquely he's present with us as he met with them when they met as a church there's a uniqueness to corporate living truth we're not going to meet today and I've got to deliver to you something new because God changed the guidelines for access we get into the family by faith and the gospel never changes for by grace you have been saved through faith not of yourselves it's the gift of God not as a result of works lest any of us should boast so sweet to see a couple baptized at the eight o'clock hour this morning who'd come out of Roman Catholicism wanting to do the best they could to get into heaven and to hear their testimony of coming to faith in Christ and now their obedience and what a thrill to have met this week with a lady in Greenhouse and in the course of my conversation with her she's come directly here from Roman Catholicism and after an hour and a half to hear her accept Christ as her personal Lord and Savior by faith alone and my assignment whenever I have a chance to do that with people is to tell them to tell three people just to sort of lock it into their own hearts as they use vocabulary they've never used before and we went out of my office and there was our membership secretary in the outer office and I said you know why'd you let her be the first of the three so she's describing to her what she's done with vocabulary that's new and she happened to give this phrase she said to Laurie she said my eyes were opened that great my eyes were opened you know it strikes me that for many of you Sunday is the only day you get to get around people whose eyes have been opened like yours this is the only day you get to be around people who love the word and love the Lord and love the assembly and and and want to invite that change and are so troubled by the fact that you need to change more what a wonderful thing to gather for spiritual food and fellowship and encouragement we got in by faith and we're meeting with people who have the same story somewhere along the line God's Spirit opened our eyes and we believed in Christ alone the writer here stresses first and foremost you get into the family of God by faith but then he goes on secondly you get a grip on life because God is faithful look at verse 23 let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering literally without swaying for he who promised is faithful so cling hold fast to your confession that's simply what we confess to be true related to the gospel he's not talking by the way about holding on so you don't lose your salvation you get a good grip he's not talking about entering the faith at this point he's talking about growing in your faith and you cling to that confession and you understand as you cling that God not you but God is faithful for he who promised is faithful he doesn't change the rules to get in we get into the family of God by faith we get a grip on life because God is faithful and now thirdly this is where I want to get we gather together to encourage our faith verse 24 he says and let us consider how to stimulate your translation may read provoke one another you can translate that to stir up or to provoke it typically has a negative meaning and that's what we think of when we hear the word provoke you may know some people whose spiritual gift is provoking you every time you get together they provoke you well it's used negatively that way can be used for irritating or exasperating here it carries the idea of prodding forward positively of of inciting of infusing others with hope and courage this is a positive action word and here's the point he's making it takes your presence to pull it off it takes your presence you notice here that this isn't an invitation for just a few people in the church the staff for the elders the deacons you know they're supposed to do that this is for every one of us this is our commitment let us let us consider ever thought about how to do this let us consider how to stimulate one another in the faith how much time do we spend thinking of ways to encourage each other in the faith so much of what goes on here is literally the result of people thinking through ways to encourage each other in the faith now the writer goes on in verse 25 to add what what seems like you know it's too obvious to even say but he says it not forsaking our own assembling together as is the habit of some in other words there are people in the first century church you've already decided i really don't need that stuff i really don't have a responsibility to the assembly yeah i'm pulling back to my pond and my trees it's already the habit of some by the way don't be one of the some here don't be one of the some don't be one of these somebodies and it's not because just the fact that you need the assembly what he's saying here is he's turning it around he's saying the assembly needs you christianity is a team effort a team sport we can't pull this off if we're missing parts of our body the trouble is we often come to church and somebody will ask us well how was it well it was great well why well because we sang what we liked and we had people treat us like we liked and we got what we wanted and coffee was halfway decent or whatever the writer of hebrews is saying we come to the assembly on the lookout for someone that we can encourage in fact he goes on to write but encouraging one another that is literally infusing another person with courage putting courage in so the english translates it encouragement literally cheering others along you know your very presence next to someone you sang with encourage them it wouldn't have been anything in any way shape or form encouraging to have sang all by yourself we're to cheer one another along i love that incident recorded by a pastor by the name of brad e step who wrote about jamie scott a little kid in his church and in second grade in time for the annual love of minary school play and jamie had his heart set on being one of the key players and actors and told his mother about it she knew he was introverted and rather quiet he wasn't going to land that role and so she was so she was concerned for him that he would be so disappointed when he wasn't chosen to play one of those leading roles and so at the day of tryouts and when the results are going to be handed out she she went to school to pick him up and had with her some cookies that were her favorite she was going to try to encourage him and this would be so discouraging and she pulled up eventually and when jamie saw her ran over to her she rolled her window down and and he he said to her guess what mom a bunch of kids were chosen to cheer and i'm one of them i'm one of them wouldn't it be interesting beloved to discover the reality one day that in the mind of god for the church cheering on other believers happens to be a leading role a leading role we have been chosen to cheer and we're basically promising by becoming part of the body officially that we're going to cheer each other on that your faith and your growth happens to be a responsibility of mine and of me yours that whenever this assembly meets it doesn't just meet to encourage us it doesn't just meet to serve us it doesn't just meet to please us it doesn't just meet to give us hope it meets together so that we can do that to others along that same line then is the next promise that i want to cover and let's make it a little more tangible to actively pray for care for and serve one another spiritually and physically in other words it isn't just cheering by word it's cheering by means of action deeds we don't just verbally cheer one another on we physically roll up our sleeves and get involved in one another's lives and and most of what we do for one another is behind the scenes most of what happens in an assembly on on the lord's day so many things are going to happen today and so much of it will not be seen but by a handful of people sometimes on a sunday and it happened again today i'll come in a side door early met by one of the security detail i'll walk down a hallway through a room or two and backstage eventually and i'm walking through this classroom that's going to become an abf and there's this gentleman who's setting up chairs in rose he's come early to get ready and to prepare that room he's not the teacher not the assistant teacher he's a helper and what always strikes me is that that man was a senior pastor for decades now in his 80s what can i do i can set up chairs that deeply moves me so much goes unseen but by our lord and i think we ought to have better eyes and more alert spirits to notice what was the last time he watched a movie and then stuck around and read the credits as they're scrolling up you know indian scout number 45 indian scout number 46 or whatever that music that you thought was so beautiful did you stick around to find out the name of the composer probably not i don't there's another event there's somewhere to go there's something to do one of my favorite verses in scripture for the sake of time i'll just dip into it and and quote a phrase for you but it's found in the journal of nehemiah and it's a wonderful text where they are rebuilding the city of jerusalem and the walls and nobody's living inside the city it's dusty it's broken down and they're camping out and and uh and and and then some men volunteer to go live in the city to help protect it and to take on the inconveniences of all that that would mean and there's that wonderful little text in chapter six where it says and the people blessed all the men who volunteered i love that the hebrew word for volunteer not dev simply means in fact we could rather woodenly translate it to be compelled to be courageous to be incited urged onward in fact you could rather woodenly translate it with a nuance of to be noble i love that translation to be noble and all the people blessed all those men who chose to be noble they volunteered to take on a difficult role an assignment to literally move into that broken down unfinished city to accept difficulty and inconvenience for the sake of people you know what that sounds a lot like volunteers to this day doesn't it taking on the inconvenience willing to serve willing to take on difficulty and what may very well be a very tough assignment what better way to describe volunteers than to describe them as noble ones noble ones and most of the noble things you do will never be recognized on earth see when you watch that movie you typically focus on three or four leading characters and all those other people behind the scene that even made that script and made that film you don't stick around to read the credits to find out who the assistant to the assistant to the assistant director of graphic arts happen to be i wonder how many people will serve this church today i know there are 200 of them just for kids fifth grade and down who will never be recognized or thanked the truth is the ancient city of jerusalem is a lot like this church we have a lot in common we advance as a church any church does that's advancing not by a few leading characters you know this church is advancing by people who spot need who roll up their sleeves and say i'm going to tackle that one so much of the ministry is is not from some top position down it's from the people up who are saying can i meet that need i need to do that and by the way i keep this in mind for those of you who are noble ones god reads the credits never misses a name like the writer of hebrews addresses that look over at chapter six turn back a few pages look at chapter six and verse 10 what an encouraging text here hebrews chapter six and verse 10 for god is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward his name how in ministering and in still ministering to the saints god will not forget your deeds of love the things you do to minister to the saints that is the body of christ people forget god won't people don't say thank you as much as we ought to say thank you people overlook you god never will he will always read the credits in fact if we want to make that analogy a little more theologically correct we would say he's actually writing them he's writing the credits he doesn't miss a name he doesn't miss the simplest deed done out of love for him and for those who make up the church let me tell you something you are among the noble ones you're spiritually and are physically demonstrating the love of christ in action your credits that may never be read by people on earth are written and recorded and one day rewarded by god in heaven and it isn't only those who played a leading role it's all of that behind the scenes to join a family means to promise that you will invite change to participate in the lives of others because we understand that we don't just belong to jesus christ but because we belong to jesus christ we actually belong to each other god wants each of us to be part of a healthy church and in the context of that church he wants us actively serving each other belonging to jesus means belonging to each other you're listening to wisdom for the heart with stephen davy today's lesson comes from a series on the church called upon this rock stephen's calling today's sermon why we matter to each other if you joined us late or had to step away and you missed part of this lesson you can listen to it online go to wisdomonline.org and you'll find the link that allows you to listen right from your computer there's lots of other valuable resources on that site as well so take time to look around that address once again is wisdomonline.org you can also listen on our smartphone app go to either the google play or the itunes store and search for wisdom for the heart install that app and take this ministry with you wherever you go each week the staff team here at wisdom international gathers to pray for each other and for you we were encouraged recently to hear from sharon who listens to us from moline illinois she said i'm praying for your ministry and for pastor davy and the staff i've been praying for you for a while what a privilege it is to give and to pray for you i'm praying that many will come to christ through your ministry and then she adds please tell stephen i really like his sense of humor well thanks sharon for encouraging us and for praying for us if you'd like to send a prayer request or a note or even a gift of support to our ministry you can write to us at wisdom for the heart p.o box 37297 raleigh north carolina 27627 that's all for today but please be with us tomorrow for our next lesson here on wisdom for the heart