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The River ChurchSermons

Not Leaving

Chuck Lindsey · Sunday, 23 August 2026 · 45:59 · 7,469 words

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The message examines the Let Us passages in Hebrews, focusing on verses 24‑25. It calls listeners to actively consider the spiritual needs of those around them, stirring up love and good works instead of staying self‑focused. The speaker stresses the danger of neglecting fellowship, warning that it harms both individuals and the church. A recurring theme is that life is a rescue mission, urging hearers to share the gospel because the end is near. The talk encourages prayerful alertness and looking for divine opportunities to serve others.

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.

church 61 regularly 11 western 7 actively 8 month 12 need 43 appointment 5 health 7 forever 13 assemble 6 mentality 6 use 19

Topics

Prayer 2 Salvation 1 Suffering 1 The Body of Christ 1

Scripture referenced 6

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

Hebrews 10 0:54 Hebrews 10:22 1:52 Hebrews 10:23 2:33 Hebrews 10:24 2:36 Hebrews 10:24-25 2:43 Hebrews 10:24 2:48

Transcript

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

Pre-service announcement — 7 lines, 0:35. Excluded from every count and search on this site, kept here so nothing is hidden.

Hi everyone, my name is Jules, and thanks for checking out one of our sermons today.

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

Good morning. Good to see you this morning. Good to be together with you.

Good morning to all of you joining us online as well.

Last week, we began to look at the book of Hebrews.

And so if you have a Bible with you, I'm going to ask you to open it up to the book of Hebrews.

Chapter 10 is where we will be once again this morning.

We are focusing on the Let Us passages that are found within the book of Hebrews.

There are, as we said last week, 13 of them.

Within 12 verses.

And they're simple.

They are practical.

They tell us how to live as Christians.

What to actually do.

And so Hebrews, as we said last week, is a book where 10 chapters we spend essentially talking about how good the Lord is.

And what he's done for us.

And how faithful he is.

All that he has done.

And then when we get to chapter 10, verse 19, we sort of shift.

From who God is and what he's done to now what we are supposed to do.

To the practical side of things.

The Let Us passages.

And so we looked at two of them last week.

We looked at Hebrews 10.22 that told us that because of what Jesus has done for us, we can draw near to God.

He wants us to.

And we explored that a little bit.

And then we saw in verse 23 that because the Lord has been so faithful to us, we must be careful.

And we talked about that.

Words that meant to keep our lives sort of tied tightly to him and to the gospel message.

To not drift off into other things and other places.

And so this morning we come to another Let Us passage.

And it's in the very next verse.

So we left off in Hebrews 10.23.

So that means today we pick up Hebrews 10.24.

And we're going to cover just two verses.

Maybe you've heard these before.

But verse 24 and 25.

I want to read them and then we'll pray.

Verse 24 says,

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

Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as is the manner of some.

But exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching.

Let's pray together, okay?

Lord, we love you and we thank you for your goodness.

We just sang about how good you are.

About what you've done.

Lord, we are together in need today of you.

We need you, Lord, to speak.

We need to hear from you.

Lord, we need your word to stabilize and correct and counsel and encourage and build us up.

We pray, Lord, that you would open your hand today as your word says.

And satisfy every need we have today.

We look to you, Lord.

We thank you for your word.

It's in Jesus' name I pray.

Let me ask you, how often do you think about the spiritual health of the people around you?

How often do you think about the spiritual condition of the people that are in your life?

Your spouse, your children, your parents, your friends, your family, your neighbor, your church family.

Do you spend any real time praying for the spiritual condition, the spiritual health,

of the people around you?

Their growth, their help, their encouragement, their faith, their protection, on and on, right?

Or would you say that the majority of your focus is actually on your own spiritual, mental, emotional, physical health?

Where are you kind of at with this?

There are two common traps that we can fall into as people very easily.

The first is to never think about anything.

anyone else's spiritual, mental, physical, emotional needs ever.

all. It's to only ever focus on ourselves, right? Where we are at, how we're doing spiritually,

how we're doing with life, to really just sort of ignore the spiritual health of our spouse or

our children or our family. It is easy to just fall into that. And that is the first mistake

that we can make is really just to only really think about our own spiritual condition. But

there's a second mistake that's equally as dangerous. And the second is to never think

about our own spiritual condition, right? To never think about that, but to only ever think about

the spiritual health of others, to completely ignore our own condition and only give attention

to the condition and need of others. Which are you, right? Or maybe you're sort of a little blend

of both. You say, well, how would I know? And the answer to that is, is, is what and who

do you spend the majority of your time praying for? Would you say you spend the majority of your

time praying for your stuff? Or do you spend the majority of your time praying for other people's

stuff? Like where is your focus? Are you primarily self-focused or are you others focused? Or do you

have a healthy blend of both? I asked this question because it's at the heart of this passage

that we're going into this morning. It's at the heart of this, of our next let us passage. So look

says there, verse 24, it says, and let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good work.

The word consider it's a, it's a really interesting word. It's a word that means more than just to

kind of casually think about something. It means to give serious thought to something. And here it

means that you are actively thinking as the passage says about others, you are actively thinking about

it's to actively be thinking about the spiritual needs of the people around you, your friends and

your family, and you know, your, your parents, maybe whatever it might be, but you're actively

thinking about these needs. It's not just what do I need, but what do the people around me need?

The writer could have said, uh, instead of, you know, let us consider, he could have just said,

let us stir each other up, right? He could have just said that, uh, just stir each other up, but

before we can help other people, we have to be in the right mindset, right? We have to be thinking

correctly. And that is to the way to think correctly is to not be so in my own world

that I do not see. I do not consider. I do not notice the needs of the people around me. Uh,

sometimes, right? I mean, all of us, we can be so in our own stuff. So in our own world of things,

that we forget about the needs of the people around us. Oh man, I'm really going through it

at work right now. Yeah. But what about the internal spiritual health of your wife, of your

kids? I know you're exhausted when you come home, but, but what about the needs of the people in

your home, right? Oh, I'm really sick right now. I can't really think about anyone else. What about

the people around you that are also suffering, right? It's such a, a beautiful example to us.

When we are suffering, when we see someone who is suffering and then they are, they are thinking

about the needs of other people, you go, man, that's incredible. I want to make this point

because it's really important. The passage is not passive, meaning this is an active thing

that we must decide to do. This let us consider one another is not a passive thing. Like let this

happen. Like if stuff comes up, then think about it. It's an active thing. It's a mindset shift.

It's, it's, I, you know, not just when things come up, but it's, it's actively looking to help

actively looking to encourage. Is this what you're doing? Are you actively looking to encourage?

Just start, just start in your immediate circle, right? The, the, the, your spouse or your children

or your family, are you, are you thinking about their spiritual health? Are you trying to help

there? And then you go another layer. Are you trying to help there in your friends, in your

keep expanding out? And that's what this is. It's active. It's not passive. It's not letting

come to me it's changed my thinking and really go out looking for to meet the needs of others

please hear this it's an encouragement to you and i to engage in the care of other people's souls

that's what this is that's why it's there again it could have just been stir each other up but

it's not it's divly think about people and their need in whatever way we can to encourage now can

i ask you did you come here today with that mentality like lord use me in the lives of the

people that i encounter today uh when i first came to know the lord uh one of the first things that

changed for me was going to church we were going to church before i came to know the lord and i

went begrudgingly right i went because i had to right that's why i went to church i was voluntold

that i was going to church right um

but when i came to know christ suddenly i wanted to go to church i didn't go because i had to i

wanted to be among the church it wasn't some religious obligation for me i wasn't trying to

earn salvation or god's favor or any of that i i i wanted to i couldn't wait to be with god's people

i i couldn't wait to celebrate what he had done i was overwhelmed by it and i still feel

that way today i love it uh is that how you feel right coming to be among god's people

to celebrate what he's done but there was another thing that changed for me in going to church and

i went differently i went asking the lord to use me in other people's lives i would actively pray

before i got to church lord help me see the needs around me help me see what i can't see there there

are no doubt people who are uh they're they're discouraged they're hurting or they're confused

or they're in need in some way and and help me to see this i wasn't a pastor i was just a a kid

i was a i was a 17 year old kid right he he had rescued me but i went expecting that the lord

would use me in the lives of the people around me and guess what every single time he did i was

amazed i would like leave church and i go man that is amazing the conversation that i got into with

this person or or this thing or i got to take that person home or or whatever it was and i

was right some way that the lord used me just a dumb 17 year old kid that didn't know anything

i didn't have a lot of knowledge i didn't have any money i didn't have years of wisdom i just

was willing and i was ready for the lord to use me and the lord would use me to pray with somebody

or encourage somebody or whatever he would use me to listen to somebody he'd use me to care for

somebody i mean it's just right how do you how do you come is this how you come guys is this how you

come home lord use me to pray with somebody or encourage somebody or whatever he would use me to

when i stepped through that door to meet the needs of the people around me kids my wife is this how

you come into your family gatherings is this how you go into situations that you know walk into

work lord so i started doing that at work right i started praying lord use me before i walk into

general motors help me see the needs around me and day by day the lord would like reveal something

would show something some conversation would come up is that how you do this right why would you

what do you think would happen if you started coming home that way praying on the way home

looking for opportunities when you are home what do you think would happen and what do you think

would happen if you came here that way you prayed before you came to the lord to use you in someone

anyone's life today and once you got here you looked for those my pastor used to call them

divine uh we call them divine appointments that was it divine appointments

uh see i'm getting old so i have to file through the drawer to figure out where i'm at in the

anyway it takes a while sometimes to pull the card right um right but those divine appointments

meaning god had the appointment it was his thing and then suddenly you're in it

oh i thought i was just saying how are you and suddenly i'm in an a divine appointment

i'm in a conversation with someone i'm trying to encourage oh that's a thing i

just read, let me encourage you with what God says. Is that how you come? Is that how you go?

Is that how you end your day as you walk into your house? Is that how you do it, right? And so

what if you did that? What if you came here and you came looking like that and staying

and engaging in it? Can I say this to you? If you don't do this, you're going to miss a lot

because God wants to use you. He wants to. It's his desire to use you. He wants to use you at the

grocery store and with your neighbor and the mailman and whoever it might be. He wants to

use you. But listen, if you come here and you come late, I'm not calling anybody out, okay? I don't

have anybody in mind, all right? You're like, I just sat down. I'm not talking to you, okay?

But if you come late and then you blow out of here as soon as it's done, you're going to miss

it.

Every single time. You're going to miss it. You won't be used in the life of the people here.

And the same way, if you come home and you're just like, man, I'm just so overwhelmed that

I'm just going to come in the door and I just need to put my feet up and I need to relax and

I'm not going to worry about where everybody else is at. You're going to miss it. God wants to use

you. He wants to use you. He wants to speak to you through others and he wants to speak through you

to others. But if you don't give it any time and any focus to do that, you're going to miss it.

If you don't do this, it is not going to happen. It doesn't happen automatic. We have to want God

to use us, right? Here am I, Isaiah said, Lord, send me. The willingness must be there. If you

aren't ready and asking the Lord to do this, you're going to miss it every single time. You

can enter the grocery store in this way and God will use you, or you can enter it in a different

way and he will not, right? Like you're distracted. So you'll miss out on what the Lord is doing,

even though it's not going to happen. You're going to miss it. You're going to miss it. You're going to

be a part of what God is doing, but you have to decide to. Many Christians, I think, are really

stuck in a Western church error. What do I mean by that? Well, it's a Western mentality. The Western

mentality is one of individualism, right? So it's sort of a me, not we mentality. It's a Western

thing. Eastern culture is not like that. They're sort of like, it's not just we are having dinner.

It is, we are all having dinner. If you show up at my house, right? Like we're all going

to eat together, right? It's like, why are you making so much food? Because the whole village

might show up. You know what I mean? It's like, it's just a different thing, right? And the Bible

is written in an Eastern mentality, which is we, not I, we. And so Western thinking says church

is for me. It says church is for me. It's what I need. It's whatever I can get from it. It's

benefit it is to me. And so for some, it makes sense to be here once a month or once every three

because it checks the religious box that I need to check in my life. I'm in church once a month.

It's all I need. But I would ask, what about everybody else? See, that's a, that's that

Western thing, right? Individualism. What about everybody else? What about the needs

of the people around me? See, some of you, you were surprised when I shared this last time,

a recent poll asked people how often they attend church.

The poll began with the question, do you regularly attend church? If they said no,

okay, thank you for your time, right? If they said, yes, I regularly attend church. The next

question was this, how often, how many times per month do you attend church? Do you know what the

national average is for people who say they attend church regularly? Once, once a month.

That is the national average of people who regularly attend church. That's 12 times in a year.

That is crazy, but that is the,

that is the national average for regular church attendance. You say, why is that? Well, you know,

again, we are, let me say this. We're not talking about legitimate circumstances that would keep

someone from going to church regularly. We're not talking about illness or shut-ins or being

away or whatever that is, right? We're not talking about that. I'm asking, why is it that people who

could be in church regularly are not in church regularly, that the average is once a month?

I don't think it's complicated. I think it's just a few things. The first,

is this. There is always opposition to you being in church. Hear this. Your enemy does not want you

to be in church. He does not want you to be among God's people. He doesn't want that. He doesn't

want you hearing God's word. He doesn't want you worshiping. He doesn't want you praying. He doesn't

want you celebrating. He doesn't want those things. So he opposes you going to be among the

church. And he'll do this always, forever. It doesn't end. It never stops. It still doesn't

stop. Not for me, right? I mean, let me ask you a question. Was it really easy for you to get here

this morning? Maybe for some of you, you're like, hey, yeah, not a problem, you know. Some of you,

you had 19 kids you had to try to wrangle into a van. And at one point, you were kicking children

into the van with your feet because you were holding things, right? And you're just like,

get in there. And I don't care who has shoes. It doesn't matter if you have any, right? It's like,

you haven't eaten. I don't care. You can eat at the church. Find some veggie straws. Like,

I don't care, right? Like, maybe that was you, right? That was your morning. I don't know.

Maybe there, maybe.

This morning, though, it was like there were 15 things the enemy said to you of what you could

be doing this morning. You know that song, Easy Like Sunday Morning? I have never understood that

song. Never understood it. It's never been easy for me. I'm like, easy on, easy like Sunday

morning means you don't have kids, okay? And you ain't trying to go to church, right? Because it

is opposition. If you, please hear this. If you make church, we say this to people all the time,

if you make it a negotiable thing, you will be negotiated out of it.

All the time. If it is a question mark in your brain on Sunday morning, what you're doing,

you will always have a reason to not be among. We'll see you once a month, maybe. It's just how

it goes. Now, one last thing on this. I want you to hear this. Anything worthwhile, anything good

is going to be opposed by our enemy. It just is. That's how you know something's good. It's like,

you get up to read your Bible. He is going to oppose you because you need that,

because it is good for you, right? Everything that, you know, you sit down to read your Bible

and then everything you've ever needed to remember in your entire lifetime comes back to your memory.

You're like, man, when I was four, I was going to do this. I got to go do that right now. Oh,

that show. I'm going to see if that, and next thing you know, you're gone, you're off. And then

it's time for work. You know, it's how it goes. You try to pray for your spouse. Your mind drifts

off into distraction. You try to share the gospel with a family member or a friend. Every single

The entire world will come to you as to why you should not do that, right? Our enemy is always

opposing what is good for us. You want to sit down and watch 27 hours of Netflix. You will have no

opposition from the enemy. Zero. But if it's good for you, he will oppose it. And so if church is

negotiable for you, he will oppose you until you do not go. But there's another reason that the

church being a once a month thing for some people, I think it's just an understanding issue. It goes

to what we were saying about the individualism. We so often in our Western mentality, we think

church is for us, just for us. If we feel we need it, we go. If we don't feel like we need it, we've

been doing pretty good. We don't go. That is not what the church is. That is a misunderstanding of

what the church actually is. The church is all of us making the effort. We could all be doing

something else, making the effort to come together, to be together, to celebrate him and what he has

And then using our gifting, we each have gifting to bless, encourage, and help each other. That's

what the church is. Plain and simple. When you are not here, we do not have what you uniquely bring

to this body of believers. I mean, really simple, right? The person God would have used you

specifically to encourage is not encouraged by you. Flip it around. The person God was going to

speak through to you does not get the opportunity to speak to you. You think about how many things,

could have been solved, right? That issue that you're dealing with, frustrated by, it just

continues needlessly. Why? Well, maybe the Lord wanted to speak to you. Maybe he wanted to solve

this thing for you. Maybe it was something he wanted to help you with, but then you weren't

among God's word. You weren't among God's people. You weren't among, right? There's been times I'm

standing there in worship and I'm worshiping the Lord. And I've realized everything I'm dealing

with right now is that I've been too focused here. I haven't been focused there. And all of a sudden

it's like, oh yeah, Lord, that solves everything. Puts me in a place of trust and rest. You're like,

can't that happen in my car? Sure. It can happen in your car, but you're told in the scriptures

not to forsake what we're doing, not to do that. But there's a third reason. And this one's really

obvious and I'm not trying to be mean. The third reason has to be, it's just not that important,

right? I mean, we make priority for all kinds of things in our lives. We all have the same amount

of time. We just prioritize that time differently. So when someone says, I have just been busy,

I always hear, it just has not been my priority right now. Now, this is perhaps the most dangerous

thing when we're talking about this subject, because this means there is an internal problem.

There's something going on inside my heart. I am, for some reason, I am not overwhelmed by the

goodness of God. And so there are other things that are above him and above what he has said

and what he wants. There's other things above celebrating him. And I know that can sting,

but man, is it important to hear it? Because this thing that happens inside of us, where we begin to

drift off and drift away, it's so easy. This requires effort. It requires prioritizing.

I think it's important to hear that. I think it's important to hear that. I think it's important

that we're not just in the middle of this. I think it's important to hear that. I think it's important

that we're not just in the middle of this. I think it's important to hear that. I think it's important

that we're not just in the middle of this. I think it's important to hear that. I think it's

important to hear that. I think it's important to hear that. I think it's important to hear that.

don't want to play. Okay. You put them in right field. Okay. It was kind of annoying, but it's

fine. Now I had to leave early that day. We had some other stuff going on. So I only batted once

and I played one inning, but it's fine. Unfortunately, we've had a lot going on this

summer. We've had a lot. So I haven't been able to make it to any of the games for the last three

months. I really wanted to, but you know, life, right? So, well, we went back last week and it

was the last game of the season and I got there late again. I'm mad at myself that I did, but

the game had already started. And

what was crazy is that hardly anyone said anything to us. So my wife, my kids were there. They were

sitting in the stands. No one talked to them. The coach was on the field when I got there,

but once the inning was, was over and everybody came, you know, came in, the coach seemed surprised

I was even there. I'm like, I'm a part of this team. What are you talking about? I didn't get

the Jersey, but I'm a part of the team, you know, and get this. He didn't even remember my name.

Tell me how crazy that was. I couldn't believe it. So to make matters worse, he didn't play me.

It was, it was all,

so awkward. We ended up just leaving early. And as we drove away, I thought, well, I'm never doing

that again, you know, and here I was a part of this softball team and they didn't even know my

name. Didn't even let me do anything. And then as Raleigh and I were driving away, we were talking,

we realized no one from the team ever even reached out during all these months in the summer and

never reached out to us or anything, never checked on us. I mean, we had some car problems. We had

different family issues going on, you know, even a death in the family, not one person called

from the team or came by or anything. And we even posted what happened.

Facebook. So I know they all knew, you know, is that a real story? Number one, I ain't signing

up for softball at my age. Listen, but this is a real story in church. It goes like this, right?

We decided to go to church. We went once we got there late. We did 97,000. We received a welcome

response. We had to leave right after service was done, had things to do. Uh, I replied to the

welcome response about a week or so later and told them that we wanted to get involved. And we,

you know wanted to help with this thing or that but right after that we were really really busy

couldn't get there for about a month or so so we watched online a few times but when we were able

to get back we got there late no one really greeted us seemed like nobody even knew us so

we left pretty quick afterwards we had some things come up you know tough stuff kids were sick one of

us was in the hospital but no one came no one visited pastor didn't come no one brought us a

meal or anything no one called no one checked on us and i posted it all on facebook so i know they

know we decided about three months later to give it one more try and again no one really knew us

no one only one person tried to talk to us right after the service was over but we had a birthday

party we had to get to and since then no one has reached out right is this realistic i mean in any

any category of life is it realistic to be to expect that people will will know us and invest

in us and connect with us like that it's not realistic the people the people are going to

attach to us right away like that when

you're in a situation where you're in a situation where you're in a situation where you're in a

or or you know when we are very inconsistent that's not realistic that's not how it works

people need time and they need consistency to connect just think about you you need time and

consistency you need seeing people on a regular basis right so many people you got to understand

many people come and go and come and go and come and go it's hard to connect with so many people

coming and going it's one of the hardest things for raleigh and i like trying to remember names

we're writing them down in a list and we're like oh those people we haven't seen in two years but

we still like we're trying but it's hard to like connect so if you're here if you've been coming

it will take a few weeks of consistently coming for you to people start to recognize you and and

start to you know connect to you if you're here once a month it will be nearly impossible for

people to do it i think it's why the enemy works so hard against us right to try to keep us from

that well we're supposed to consider that and we're supposed to consider that and we're supposed to

consider one another look what it says consider one another in order to do what look what it says

stir up love and good works the word to stir up it's a word that in a good way means to provoke

or push towards something in simple terms it means that you're trying to encourage someone

to do good things and this is what the church is when we come together when we come together we

stir each other up we push each other towards good things look what it says first of all to

love love what love who well the answer is the lord and others we stir each other up to love the

lord more and we stir each other up to love each other more you know there have been so many times

that one of you has told me about something god is doing in your life and i have thought man lord

you are so good you're telling me about something god's doing in your life and it's causing me to

realize how good he is it's causing love for him to swell in my life and i'm telling you that's

in my heart i think man lord you're so good but there have also been many times that you have

shared with me what is going on in your life and my heart fills with love for you and this is what

we are designed to do for each other is how we affect each other we stir each other up to love

but also look what it says to good works so these are things that are good and right so an example

will help maybe you're going through a tough season in your marriage and the enemy is telling

you to leave to walk to go but then

you come here and you are among god's people and as you're talking with someone the lord speaks

to you through them and says focus on serving on giving on selflessness focus on praying for her

and loving her and this is the solution right and so you start to do that and then things start to

change you've been stirred by the body of believers to do good things to do what's right

or maybe you're struggling financially or

with an illness or whatever but you come and the lord speaks through someone to you reminding you

that he's with you that he walks with you that he will help you and it solves the worry and how did

the lord know that person couldn't have known but he knew exactly what to say we you we encourage

each other but to do that as we said we must be around each other it does not just happen and so

that's why verse 25 says not forsaking the assembling of ourselves

together, as is the manner of some.

but exhorting one another and so much the more

as you see the day approaching.

Verse 25 begins with the word don't.

So it begins with, literally don't let this happen.

And it's a strong warning

because it is easy to let this happen.

Hear this, it takes work to not let this happen.

Another way to say it,

it will happen if you don't fight against it.

And you know this, you know this to be true.

What should we not let happen?

There it is.

Don't or do not forsake the assembling of ourselves.

What we're doing this morning.

The word translated forsake is,

it's such a sad word in Greek, but it's very accurate.

It simply means to leave behind, right?

So it's this idea of just dropping something

and then walking away.

Like I just don't care.

I just don't need it.

It's sad because this is what happens so often.

This is what the enemy wants us to do.

So many people just sort of,

leave what you're doing this morning,

the assembling of the church behind.

The word assembling there,

it's talking about gathering.

It's talking about what we're doing this morning.

And sadly, this warning is here

because many people,

and apparently since the very beginning, right?

So this was written 2000 years ago

and the warning is here, okay?

They simply just drop the church

and walk away from the body of believers.

We're not talking about the river.

We're not talking about a church brand.

We're not talking about a denomination.

We are talking about the church.

They just say, I just don't need it.

It's like, I just left my wallet at home.

I just don't need it.

It's like that.

Verse 25 says,

it becomes the way of some

who at one time they were a part of the church.

That's what it says.

Apparently this has been a problem

from the very beginning of the church.

So it's not a modern church problem.

It happened in the first church.

We're reading about it right now

where we would arguably say,

we'd say this is the purity,

purest version of the church.

And yet they had people who were just saying,

I just don't need it walking away.

And it continues to happen today.

People who at one time regularly gathering with the church,

they no longer regularly gather.

And then they start to become more and more sporadic.

And for some of the reasons,

you know, for some of the reasons

we've already pointed out,

but then eventually they just sort of leave it behind.

They just don't assemble together anymore.

And it becomes, according to verse 25,

it becomes their pattern.

It becomes their habit.

It becomes their way of life.

This is what verse 25 says.

Now, please hear this.

I am not trying to beat you up.

If this is, if this is where you're at,

if you are professing Christian

and you are not regularly gathering together with the church,

it doesn't have to be our church,

If you're not doing that,

three things are happening.

One, you're sinning against God.

You are disobeying him.

That will always have ramifications in our life.

We've talked about some of those.

You may not get what you need when you need it.

You may spin off into things you shouldn't.

Stuff is going to happen.

If you forsake, if you drop the church,

God's church, and you walk away

and you just leave it behind,

stuff is gonna happen.

But there's a second thing, and that's this.

Something is wrong inwardly between you and the Lord.

Something's messed up.

If you start seeing, man, I don't wanna do that.

Something is going on.

Our thinking is messed up

or we are in sin.

In some way, something needs to get fixed.

But finally, if you are a professing Christian

and you are not gathering together

with his church regularly,

I think there's a third thing.

It's right here in verse 25.

I think you've forgotten about something.

You have forgotten what this life is actually all about.

That's what it says.

This life is not about eking out as much as we can.

This life isn't about trying to create heaven here and now.

This life isn't about all this.

This life isn't about all the stuff.

This life will soon be over and eternity is coming.

That's the real thing.

Eternity, it's coming.

This life is a rescue mission.

That's all it is.

And there are wonderful things in life.

Wonderful things.

But this life is a rescue mission.

This life is about people's salvation,

forever. That's the point of this life. That's what this life actually is. And to ignore

the church and leave it behind is to forget that. It's to forget that this life is about people's

souls. The church exists not just to comfort and help us. It exists to equip us. That's what the

Bible says. To equip us to reach lost people with the gospel. The church exists for souls.

What it exists for. It's the point. It's why you're here this morning. To be equipped to go

into the world, to do the work of the ministry, to reach lost people. That is the purpose of the

church. So to leave the church behind is to forget it. Look at the end of verse 25. It says,

but exhorting one another, which is what I'm trying to do this morning, right? Exhorting one

another as so much the more as you see the day approaching. What is the day? What day is

Ready? The end. The end is near. Say they've been saying that for a long time. Yeah, but somebody's

going to say it and it's going to be true, right? One of these days, the end is near is real, right?

Like that's coming. There is an end and it is approaching. It's coming. The whole Bible warns

about it. The entire New Testament look forward to it. That day is coming. The day when all of this

stops, when everything we have ever known is over and gone that day and all that we make life all

about is done. It's over.

It's finished forever. No more, you know, house projects and no more work schedules and no more

bills and leaders and, you know, weekends and, you know, all these things that life, you know,

becomes no more of that's all done all on that day. All people will be separated in just one of

two groups. Group one, save forever. Group two, unsaved forever, either alive together with the

Lord or dead forever.

Separated from all that we know will be done. And I would ask you, have you forgotten that the end

is near? It's easy to forget. What would matter to you if you had one week left? If you knew you had

one week, who would you call? What would you do? What would you be about? You should give thought

to that. You might only have one week. I don't know. Neither do you. Have you forgotten that

this life is a rescue mission? Jesus only gave us one mission and it was to go into all the world

with the gospel.

To share the gospel. And I would ask you, have you forgotten what this life was all about? It is

to rescue people forever. Please hear this. This will not go on forever. It won't. Someday soon,

I think as you look at our world right now, someday very soon, the end will really come.

The day will come when it's all over. And that day could be today, could be 10 years from now,

could be 10 days from now. Who knows? Please hear this. When that day comes, it is over.

It is all decided.

It's done. And every single person will be separated into one of those two groups.

There is no chance afterwards. It is here where we give people the opportunity to decide. Can I

ask you, where would you be if that day was today? Would you be in the alive forever with the Lord

group or would you be separated from him forever if that day was today? You say, how would I know?

Is he your Lord and your savior?

Have you come to him to save you? Does he know you? Have you come to him for the forgiveness of

your sins? Have you asked him to save you? Do you love him? Because heaven is a long time and it is

for people that love him. Heaven is forever and it's for people that love him. So have you turned

to the Lord that way? If you have not, you can do that right now. We're going to pray together

and you can receive the Lord right now. Lord, we thank you so much for your love for us and

your mercy and your kindness. Thank you, Lord, for what you have done for us.

You came, you died in our place.

to forgive our sin, to save us forever.

Lord, I pray if there's anyone here today

or watching online that does not know you,

that they would turn to you now, trust you as savior.

If that's you and you have never come to Jesus Christ

for the forgiveness of your sins

and for him to save you forever, come to him now.

The Bible says all who call on the name of the Lord

You've got to admit your need.

You've got to come to God in repentance of sin

and belief in what he's done.

Turn to him, he will receive you.

He promises to do that.

We thank you, Lord.

We love you.

We give our hearts and our lives to you.

We thank you for your goodness.

It's in Jesus' name I pray, amen.

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