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The River ChurchSermons

REACH, GATHER, GROW

Gather - Encouragement

Chuck Lindsey · Sunday, 14 September 2025 · Romans 1:12; 14:19; 15:2 · 41:18 · 6,318 words

Romans S21 · 1:12; 14:19; 15:2 Grand Blanc

There is no public page for this message yet — the transcript below is the whole of it.

The sermon explains that the church gathers because God calls his people to come together for him and for each other. Using Acts 2:42-47, it shows how early believers devoted themselves to teaching, fellowship, prayer, and communion. The speaker urges listeners to stop merely attending and actively participate in worship and service. It warns that those who only watch online or come only to receive miss half of what the church is. The message calls unbelievers to repent and believe.

What this sermon is about

Ranked by keyness against every other sermon in the corpus. Each one is a word this sermon actually said — nothing here was written by a model.

together 99 fellowship 17 stability 10 gather 26 regularly 10 people 58 doctrine 12 bread 9 steadfastly 5 church 44 rescue 10 assemble 6

Topics

Prayer 5 Faith 2 Baptism 2 The Gospel 1 The Body of Christ 1 Salvation 1

Scripture referenced 8

Verified against the transcript. A reference the recording does not support is never listed here.

Acts 2 5:51 Romans 2 11:56 Romans 2 12:20 Romans 1 20:02 Romans 1:8 20:06 Romans 1:12 20:35 Hebrews 10:23 32:50 Romans 1:25 33:23

Transcript

Every word, as spoken, with the second it was said. Each word links to its own entry in the index.

Pre-service announcement — 9 lines, 0:44. Excluded from every count and search on this site, kept here so nothing is hidden.

Hey everyone, my name is Patrick Bicknell, and thanks for checking out this message today.

We are so glad that you're here, and we want to connect with you and your family.

The easiest way to do that is to text RIVERCONNECT to 97000.

There we can answer your questions and even help pray for you.

You can also visit our website at theriverchurch.cc to learn more about us and what we have going on as a church.

Finally, if you want to support the work we are doing here at the River Church financially,

please head to our website and click the Give tab at the top of our page,

or you can text the amount you want to give to 84321.

Thanks again for joining us, and we hope you are blessed by today's message.

Well, good morning. It's good to be together with you this morning.

Welcome to all of you joining us online.

I see many of you wearing name tags today, and thank you for doing that.

That is our attempt to try to help a little bit with you, with connections,

and being able to make those connections.

So, instead of being like, hey man, you know, hey bro, hey girl, you know,

we wanted to try to help with that.

And so, if you haven't done so yet, no worries.

Right after this, you can put one on and hang out for a little bit and make some connection there.

It's been a tough week.

Just a lot of tragic events in the last couple of weeks, and it can feel overwhelming.

Evil, you know, done, and wickedness.

And then, shockingly, either ignoring or celebrating wickedness.

Just appalling, you know.

But reveals the deep need that we have for the gospel.

May we be gospel people.

It's the only message that rescues.

May we be all about bringing the message of the gospel to the lost.

In all that's happened.

In all that's happened.

In all that's happened.

I'm reminded that the Lord is good.

I'm reminded that he is in complete control.

That his promises have not failed.

That he is king.

Charlie Kirk's best day was his last day.

Our Lord, as our Lord promises to do for all those that love him.

Our Lord came and walked him home in those final moments.

For even though we, as his people, walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

we will not need to fear.

Because you are with us, his word says.

Your rod and your staff, they comfort us.

And so just know that his last breath here was his first breath there.

And his shepherd came and walked him home.

And this is because he trusted in Jesus Christ.

He trusted, first and foremost, in the work of Jesus Christ.

His mission was to help people who did not know the Lord to know the Lord.

And we don't exalt Charlie, we exalt Jesus.

We exalt his work.

But as always, there's a...

There's a flood of lies out there, as always.

You live in a world that is fighting for either lies or truth.

All day, every single day, you better know where truth comes from

or you're going to get swallowed up.

But I will just say this.

I pray that my life will be used as effectively as his was.

He was killed because people are listening and people are changing.

And it could be any of us who are using our lives to fight against lies and wickedness

and point to the truth.

It could be any.

And it has been.

It's the story of many people throughout history who have made their mission present Jesus Christ

to the world.

God's people have been hunted and killed throughout the centuries.

And while it is very hard to see these things, we remind ourselves that our king has never

left his throne.

His promises have never failed.

But I will say, it's good to be together with you today, his people, his church.

It's a needed encouragement this morning.

And I thank you for your encouragement.

As his people.

How appropriate that we are talking about the gathering of the church today.

I want to look at it for just a couple of moments together with you.

I want to open God's word together.

Can you turn in your Bibles to the book of Acts chapter 2?

Let's pray.

Let's talk to him who is good.

Lord, we come to you this morning and we just thank you for being so good, Lord.

We thank you that your promises are sure.

We thank you, Lord, that the worst that can happen is to be saved.

We thank you, Lord, that as we gather together today that you are here in our midst.

I pray that, Lord, you would comfort and encourage and help.

I pray that you would use your word to bless your church.

We love you.

We need you.

We thank you.

It's in Jesus' name I pray.

You know, there is nothing like the church.

When I say the church, I mean that there is only one church.

I mean, there is only one church.

I know that there are a lot of churches.

I know that there are a lot of religions.

I know all of that.

But the church is not just any religious sort of gathering together of people.

The church was created by God himself.

And it is the gathering of those who love him, who have been rescued by him, who look

to him for salvation.

The church celebrates the work of Jesus Christ for us, for our sins.

We come together.

We come together to celebrate him.

That is the church.

It is the only church.

And the church is not a building.

It is not a denomination.

It is not a brand.

It is not a person.

It is the people that love him.

As we come together, wherever you might come together, from wherever you might come together,

when we come together for him and for each other, we are the church.

In fact, you might find it interesting.

We hear that the word church throughout the New Testament, the Greek word ekklesia, it

means, I love this, it means to be regularly summoned together, regularly called together.

And so to say it differently, the church, they are people who are called to regularly

do what you're doing right now.

It's the word that you would use to call a group of people together, right?

I think of this early in the...

This summer, Judah's baseball team, you know, we would tell everybody to bring it in, you

know, take a knee.

We got something we got to tell you, right?

This is the word that's being used here.

That's the word church.

Bring it in.

We got something to tell you.

This is the word church.

And we are those he calls to regularly assemble together, as you're doing again this morning.

And it's all his doing.

It's his calling.

He calls us to come together.

He calls us to come to him.

Like that's what he does, right?

He calls into this world.

And I think the things that we have seen recently are having a massive impact in this world.

We're seeing people drawing to the Lord.

We're seeing him pull and call people to himself.

That's what this is.

It's a rescue mission, right?

He calls us to himself, to come to him.

And then he calls us to come out of this world.

And then he calls us to assemble together as his people.

Do you realize?

Today, that he has called you here, that he is calling God's people all around the world

to assemble, to gather together.

Did you feel that this morning?

Him pulling at you, right?

It would have been easier for you to not have come here.

Am I right?

Some of you, it was an effort.

What I mean is, let me say it differently.

Some of you have children, right?

You're like, how do you get all of these squirrels into the same thing, right?

How do you do that?

It would have been easier, but.

He calls you.

He says, come on, come together today with God's people.

And then here you are.

You have responded to his call.

It's not just something you do.

You've responded to the call of God to get together.

He summoned you, right?

And the question is, is why?

Why do we, why does he do this?

Why does he want us to come together?

According to the Bible, there are two main reasons.

The first reason he wants us to come together is for him.

It's for him.

That's the first and foremost.

That's the reason above all reasons.

It is for him that we come together this morning.

We don't care about this building.

We don't care about programs.

We care about him and we care about people.

And that's the second reason we get together.

He wants us to come together, not just for him, but also for us, for others.

And so in every New Testament passage that shows the church gathering together,

they are gathering for these two reasons.

Take a look at Acts chapter two.

I said, we'll back up.

Look at verse 41.

It says, then those who gladly received his word were baptized.

And that day about 3000 souls were added to them.

And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship

in the breaking of bread and in prayers.

So in Acts chapter two, the people are responding to the gospel message

that has been preached by the apostle Peter, right?

And so it says, right?

That 3000 people were saved and baptized in one single day.

What a remarkable thing that would be to witness.

What an incredible thing that would be to see.

People were saved and each one followed the receiving of the gospel.

We read here with being baptized.

And I would say to you, if you have not been, if you have not been baptized,

that is like not going on record that you are a follower of Jesus Christ.

Please come talk to me afterwards.

We will baptize.

You go on record.

Who do you belong to?

Who rescued you?

Are you his?

Are you not right?

That's what baptism is.

It says, I am his.

I belong to him.

And so if you have not been baptized, please come talk to me.

But listen, that's what they did.

They publicly professed Jesus Christ as Lord and savior of their lives.

It was amazing.

But I want you to notice what they did next.

Verse 42 says they continued steadfastly.

And this says that they immediately started to do something.

That they continually did.

They didn't move away from this.

They stayed with this.

They began to continually do something.

What was it?

Well, it's what we're doing here this morning.

They began to gather together.

I love it.

It says they continued steadfastly in the Greek language.

It means they stayed.

So they came together and then they just, they just didn't want to be apart.

They wanted to be together.

They wanted to be together with the people of God, with other people who professed Christ.

But also when they came together, they did four specific things.

It tells us here, they continued steadfastly.

First of all, in the apostles doctrine.

What is the apostles doctrine?

Well, it is the body of teaching and doctrine that came from the Lord Jesus.

And the disciples wrote that down.

The disciples were taught it.

And now they are teaching it to God's people.

That's all it was.

It's the teaching.

The new Testament is the body of doctrine that Jesus taught to his disciples.

They have now taken that and they are now teaching that to his people.

And we just continue rinse and repeat.

We just keep doing this.

I don't have anything new for you.

I only have what Jesus said.

Here it is, right?

That is what we are doing.

And so they did this.

They taught.

It was really, really simple.

Many of them, they lost everything to follow Jesus.

And so they stayed together.

They came together and they stayed together.

And then they studied the teachings of the Lord Jesus.

It's called the apostles doctrine.

But this means that in the first church, they were together.

They were reading and studying God's word doctrine.

So that is why we don't get together and just give motivational speeches, right?

We don't just get together and give the equivalent of the motivational cat posters.

Hang in there.

God bless you, right?

Like we don't, that's not what we're doing.

Like it's doctrine.

Why?

Because as you have seen this week, what you believe matters, what you believe about

everything, about anything actually matters.

It has consequences.

It has results.

It means something both in a negative way and in a very positive way.

It matters what you believe.

If you genuinely believe that Jesus Christ is the answer to the, to the salvation of

the, of the lost in this world, you will take that message to lost people.

If you don't believe that you won't take it to anybody.

And so what we believe really counts.

And so doctrine actually matters.

And so they continued in the apostles doctrine.

Doctrine is the teaching about God.

It's the teaching about life and salvation and sin and heaven and hell and everything

in between.

And so they came together to learn.

They were a community that was learning.

Well, next they came together.

It says there in verse 42 for fellowship, fellowship.

So this is what we said.

They came together for him, but also for each other.

The word fellowship means in common.

Okay.

That's what the word means.

It means in common.

And so, you know, they were together with all of their, you know, personal differences

that made them different and their different places in life and everything in between.

But they came together for one common reason.

And that was him.

It was him.

What he has done, who he is.

Here's the thing, right?

We say it all the time.

I am one beggar showing another beggar how to find bread.

I am one lost person who has been found showing other lost people how to be found.

I was blind and now I see.

And so I'm trying to introduce you to the one who will help you to finally see, right?

That's what we do.

That's what we are.

And as, as people, nobody's above anybody else.

We're all.

We're all in the same need.

And we come together with the same thing, right?

In common, he's rescued us.

There it is.

I wasn't any better.

I didn't need to be rescued less than you do or more than you do.

We have in common that he has loved us and he has rescued us when we come together for

this reason.

And so we, I watched you as you worshiped.

Please don't do that.

It makes me self-conscious, but you know, your hands are up and your hearts, you're

expressing that to the Lord or you are good.

You have rescued us.

Nobody here gets exalted him and him alone, his work and his alone.

And so in common, in fellowship.

Now, what did fellowship look like when they came together?

Well, it, it looked like encouragement.

It looked like love for each other.

It was praying for each other.

It was helping each other.

It was, you know, talking through things.

It was understanding.

It was, you know, it was all of this, right?

It was so simple.

This was really just them being together.

By the way, let me just.

Say something obvious.

You can't have fellowship by yourself.

You can try to do that in a mirror, but it's weird.

Okay.

But you can't have fellowship by yourself.

So there was no way to be in fellowship at home, right?

They were, they, they came together.

And so together, because of what Jesus did, looking to him, talking about him together,

they had fellowship.

And so this happens, listen, just very simply.

It happens as you come early and you interact with people.

It happens as you stay after and you don't rush out and you interact.

You interact with people.

Fellowship is something that only his people can have.

You can't have fellowship anywhere else.

It's only in the church.

It's only because of Christ.

It's only because of what he has done.

And it is a tremendous blessing.

The blessing of fellowship is what Paul describes in Romans chapter one.

When he says this in verse eight, he says, first, I thank my God through Jesus Christ

for you all that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.

For God is my witness whom I serve with my spirit.

And the gospel.

His son that without ceasing, I make mention of you always in my prayers, making request.

If by some means now at last time, I find a way in the will of God to come to you for

I long to see you that I may impart to you some spiritual gift so that you may be established.

Watch this verse 12.

And Paul says, that is that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith, both

of you and me.

Paul goes, I want to come to you and I want to see you because I want to be able to impart.

And, and help you.

But then he goes, wait, wait, wait a minute.

I realized too, you're going to be a huge help and encouragement to me.

And man, I feel that way.

Do you feel that way?

And I'm going to come today that I might try to help someone, but I know I'm going to be

helped as well.

I'm going to try to encourage someone, but I'm also going to, I'm going to be encouraged,

right?

I'm going to come today.

I'm going to try to serve the Lord, but I'm also going to receive.

It's very, very good.

And so Paul said that, and I just want to say that to you, what an encouragement you

are.

You are a help to me.

I greatly benefit from you by being together with you, by talking with you, by praying

with you, which by the way, we pray every single Sunday morning in my office from eight

30 to nine.

You are welcome to join us.

We prayed this morning for you.

Come join us.

Pack my office.

Let's go.

But there is nothing in this world like the fellowship of the church.

Your love for the Lord is such an encouragement.

And so they continue to come together to learn, but then also for fellowship.

And then they did a third thing.

It says there, they.

Continued steadfastly in the apostles, doctrine and fellowship, and also in the breaking of

So you're like, well, I'm here for that.

Okay.

Where are the meals?

Um, this does not refer to potlucks.

Unfortunately, I wish it did.

It is not Greek for like hamburgers or anything, you know?

So, but it is, uh, it's a specific kind of breaking of bread that they're talking about

here.

It's, it's referring to what the Lord Jesus told them to do before he died, right?

On the night he was betrayed, we're told the Lord.

On that same night in which he was betrayed, he took bread.

And when he had given thanks, he notice broke it, right?

Why?

Well, it says when he had given thanks, he broke it.

He said, take, eat.

This is my body, which is broken for you.

Do this in remembrance of me.

And then in the same manner, he took the cup after supper.

So the whole meal had gone through.

Then he takes the cup after supper.

He says, this cup is the new covenant representative of the new covenant in my blood.

This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.

For as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.

As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

And so he told them, do this as often as you come together, do this.

And so they did that.

You go, why does the church do these things?

Because he told us to do them.

If he didn't tell us to do them, we wouldn't do them, right?

We do them.

Cause he said, do them.

Why do they get together?

Why did they get together on Sundays?

Because it was the day the Lord rose from the dead.

Why don't we get together on Mondays?

Well, many people do get together.

They're on Mondays too, right?

And Tuesdays and Wednesdays and Thursdays.

It doesn't really matter.

But why do we get together on Sundays almost universally?

Because it's the day that he rose from the dead.

It all comes back to him.

And so they came together and they reminded themselves of what he did, of what it took to save us.

But the picture of his, his broken body, right?

This bread symbolized right by, by bread, this picture of his blood symbolized by this, by the wine they were to use.

This, they, so they, they came together and they said, we're going to do this when we come together to remind ourselves of what it took to rescue us.

And then finally it says they continually came together for verse 42, their prayer.

So very, very simple.

They came together to go to him together.

And what a beautiful thing this is.

They prayed together to the Lord.

There's sometimes in my house when everyone is talking to me all at one time where the dad's at, right?

Everybody's just talking.

All at the same time.

I don't know what everyone is saying.

And, and at first you're like tempted to be like, Whoa, one at a time.

But then you, when you have a moment of clarity, you go, wait a minute.

All these people, all these people are talking to me.

All of these people love me.

All of these people are coming together to, to me.

Right.

And, and so this is the Lord, right?

We come together and all of us, we say, Lord, it's you.

You are good.

We talk to you.

We ask you, we come together.

We pray for you and for, for you to step in, for you to come into this situation.

We prayed for so many things this morning.

Lord, we need you to come into this situation.

Now, not only did they pray to him, but they also prayed for each other.

And I love watching this after our gatherings.

I love watching you pray for each other.

What a blessing that is to see.

And I would encourage you to do that.

By the way, if you're like super awkward, I'm super awkward.

It's totally fine.

If you're super awkward, that's okay.

Here's a great question.

How can I pray for you this week?

That's all I got to ask.

Uh, pray for me for this.

Okay.

I'll pray for that.

And maybe, I don't know, take a step.

Can I pray for you right now for that?

Watch what happens.

Also, you don't have to say brother or sister because you got a name tag.

So dear Lord, bless the brother and his sister.

I mean, wife, you know, you don't have to do that.

You can pray by names.

Okay.

But this is what they did.

They came together and they did this.

And then we're told the wonderful result of these four things.

Verse 43, then fear.

It's talking about a good, like godly reverence for who God is.

It's a, it's a beautiful thing when it happens.

Fear came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles and

all who believe they were together notice and had all things in common.

So there's that fellowship word again.

And they even, they even went so far, they sold their possessions and goods and divided

them among all as anyone had need.

And so don't worry, we're not taking up a collection right now for not.

Asking you to donate your car's pink slip or none of that stuff.

Right.

But this is what they did.

There was no forced anything here.

This was all, this was, this was, they were a community of people and they, they didn't

live in a commune, right?

They were living in the world.

They were working in the world, all those things.

It wasn't communism.

This wasn't forced.

This was love ism, right?

This was me seeing your need.

I don't have the means to meet that need, but I have some things I could sell to turn

into my ability to meet that need.

That's how it was.

That's how it went.

It was very, very simple.

They were a community that was held together by love for the Lord Jesus and for each other.

Genuine love for others, carrying one another's burdens.

And there's something very interesting.

We can feel like our burdens are so heavy.

I can't really take on yours.

We can feel that way, but there is a very interesting thing that happens when you try

to help and, and, and shoulder someone else's burden.

It's interesting.

Yours becomes lighter.

It's just a really unique thing.

It's like when you put your shoulder in and you begin to carry with that person, somehow

they're sort of carrying yours with you.

Yours becomes lighter in some way.

And so it's really, really interesting.

This love for each other, meeting each other's needs.

The passage shows that the priority of their lives was not what the priority of most people's

lives are in this world to just simply accumulate as much as possible.

That was no longer.

The priority of their lives, their lives.

The priority was to honor the Lord.

It was to help and serve, you know, God's people.

It was to bless.

It was to reach the lost and to use what they had to do that.

And so it brought them great joy.

You want to know what will bring you a great misery focus on you and the accumulation of

nothing of junk.

That's all going to waste away and rotten to the ground and won't mean anything.

Anyway, focus on all of that and you will be fairly miserable.

In life.

Want to know how to have joy.

Focus on the mission that God has sent you on reaching people with the gospel, loving,

helping, serving, giving to others.

It brought about genuine joy.

Look at this verse 46.

So continuing again, there's that together with one accord or continuing daily, excuse

me, with one accord in the temple.

By the way, pause for a second.

They gathered every day.

Just so you know, not Sundays, not, or not just Sundays.

They gathered every day, every day.

They were like, okay, we're getting together.

They were like, okay, we're getting together.

We're meeting together.

We're going to come together for the, for the Lord every single day.

It says they're continuing daily with one accord in the temple.

Verse 46 and breaking bread from house to house.

They ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart.

Now this is referring to meals.

So I'm happy about that, right?

Look how happy they are without the pursuit of the world's pursuits with their focus on

the Lord regularly being together with the church.

They were full.

It says.

Not empty.

They were full of gladness, a word that means joy and exaltation.

And they had this really wonderful thing.

I pray for this all the time.

I want this.

They, they had a simplicity of heart, a simplicity.

And I love this because I feel like sometimes I get myself overly complicated.

The word means there's no stone in the road.

That's what the word simplicity of heart means.

And it means there's nothing to trip over.

What a simple, what a beautiful picture.

There are so many things to trip over.

They did not trip and fall and stumble.

It means that there was a stability.

Please hear this.

There was a stability that resulted.

And I just want to say the same thing to you.

I have watched this.

I have watched when God's people regularly gather together with the church.

There is a resulting stability.

I have also watched the opposite.

When there is not the regular gathering together of God's people in the church, I have watched

an instability in.

That person's life in their marriage, in their lives, right?

Ask any pastor.

If this is true, we see it when people are gone from the church.

It is typically, it is not a good thing.

And I'm not saying that to have you be a part of our church.

I mean, be in a church, be a part of a church that loves and proclaims the gospel of Jesus

But I'm just telling you as a pastor, when I see people gone for long seasons, it is

never stability that I see.

It is instability.

It is stability always.

There is a stability according to the scripture here.

There is a stability that comes from gathering regularly together.

And now listen, I'm not saying they didn't have any problems in the church.

Like all of a sudden, all the problems went away.

That did not happen.

They all had the same problems.

The early Christians were not free from problems.

God knows.

They were persecuted.

They were killed.

They were chased.

They dealt with, you know, illness and job loss and conflict and death and everything

They dealt with all the stuff we deal with, but there was a stability.

There's something.

Something about this, about coming together as God's people regularly, looking to the

And this is why Hebrews 10, 23 says so strongly, let us hold to the confession of our hope

without wavering.

It means without giving up for he who promised is faithful.

And then watch this.

Here's what we do when we come together.

Let us consider one another, right?

Come together, be together.

Why?

Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works.

This is what you do.

We stir up love for the Lord and for each other and good works, not forsaking.

It says verse 25, the assembling of ourselves, the assembling, the coming together of ourselves,

as is the manner of some to forsake the assembling of ourselves.

Very simply just means to no longer gather with the church.

That's what it means.

The word forsake means I just leave it behind.

I just don't need it anymore.

I just let go of something.

That's what the word forsake means.

And it means just to let go of gathering.

Gathering with the church.

I just don't need to anymore.

I'm good where I'm at.

I'm fine to just not do it anymore for whatever reason.

It tells us not to do that.

Don't just leave it behind.

And according to the passage here in Hebrews, it very quickly becomes a way of life.

That's what it says there.

It says it becomes the manner of some.

The word means it becomes our habit.

Oh, yeah, you know, we used to go to church.

Back in the day, we used to go.

When our kids were young, we used to go.

Don't do that, right?

We hold to this.

It's not easy.

There is blessing.

There's benefit.

There's stability.

And there's impact in the world around us.

You're going to see that in just one second.

One massive effect of us gathering God's people as we gather together.

Look at this verse 47.

We are praising God.

We are having favor with all the people.

The Lord added to the church daily those who are being saved.

So there is an impact on the world around us as we gather together as his church.

You cannot forget this.

What you are doing.

What you are doing this morning is so important.

Do you realize the witness it is in this world for God's people to keep doing this?

You can look at a week like this and go, you know what?

We should all just really dial it back.

We should just sort of go undercover.

We should just not.

We should just like not get together.

And that's going to increase, right?

Where it's like, man, count the cost.

Is it going to cost me if I get together?

That's what that's what people that's what your brothers and sisters in Christ are having to.

Consider all around the world.

Am I going to lose my family today because we gather together as the church and we don't have to make those kinds of decisions yet.

But that is what the kind of decisions people are making all around the world.

There is an impact on this world as we come together as his people.

Evidence of that is what Jesus said.

By this, all men will know that you are my disciples.

How?

By your love for one another.

As you come together this morning, you love him.

And you love the people around you.

It is a witness of this world.

It literally tells the world, I am a follower of Jesus Christ.

I am one of his people.

So why do we gather regularly, consistently?

Again, two reasons for him and for others.

We come together for him.

He calls us like a father calls his kids together to be together.

We come together to celebrate him and his work.

So this is why we sing on Sunday mornings.

That's why we sing.

We don't sing about us.

We sing about him, right?

What he has done.

I love the song we sang just before we came up here.

It's thankfulness for what he has done.

And listen, I know that's a vulnerable thing for some of you to sing.

Some of you don't sing because it's awkward.

It feels vulnerable.

I would encourage you, sing to the Lord.

Close your eyes.

So when you shriek like I do in your singing,

I have not been given a singing voice.

You don't notice when people are like looking at you like,

It's a joyful noise unto the Lord and probably my mom.

You know, that's about it.

Listen, we don't just sing.

We pray to him because he's alive and he hears us and he loves us

and loves to hear us talk to him.

And we do not just pray.

We also remind ourselves of what he said and what he did.

And so we open his word and we talk about him and we learn about him.

And we take communion to remind ourselves of what it took to rescue us.

And people are baptized as worship unto him.

And so once again,

Once a week, we stop what we're doing.

We sort of pause all that we could be doing and we respond to his call.

What a beautiful thing.

We gather together for him and then we gather for each other.

And I would just encourage you, if you come only to receive,

you are missing half of what the church is.

Some people only watch online just to receive.

You're missing half of what the church is.

If you just come to take in,

but you don't give back out to the people around you,

it's not good.

You've missed half of what the church is.

You scoot in right when the message and scoot right as soon as the message is done.

You've missed half of it, right?

But also, if you flip that around and you come only to serve,

you just come when you're scheduled to work with the kids

or you're scheduled to do coffee or something or whatever it is,

you're missing the other half of the church, right?

You're not coming to receive.

You're just coming to give.

And so, listen, it's both the gathering of the church.

It is for him and it is for others.

And so I would encourage you to gather regularly at his call.

It results in stability and joy and blessing and impact in the world around us

that so desperately, desperately needs to know where to go and where to look.

And that is him.

Let's pray.

Lord, we love you.

We thank you for being so faithful and good.

Thank you, Lord, for your kindness.

Thank you, Lord.

For the promises that we have in you.

I pray, Lord, for your church.

I pray that, Lord, you would strengthen us in this world

to be a light and a witness to the world around us,

to be more bold than ever,

to be filled with your Holy Spirit, God,

to impact the people around us in our families,

in our homes, in our workplaces, our neighborhoods, our schools.

Maybe you're here today.

You do not know the Lord Jesus.

You've not yet received him.

You've not done what the scriptures said.

You've not repented and believed.

But you want to.

Right now, turn to him.

Right now, just turn your heart towards him.

He is listening to you.

And admit that you are a sinner.

Admit that you are lost and that you need salvation.

You need to be found.

He leaves the 99.

He goes after the one.

Are you the one this morning?

Believe, the Bible says, that what he did on that cross was for you,

for your sin.

Receive him today.

Lord, we thank you for being so faithful.

Thank you for being so good to us.

Thank you for loving us.

We love you.

It's in Jesus' name I pray.