COMING IN TO WORSHIP, GOING OUT TO SERVE

1. COMING IN TO WORSHIP, GOING OUT TO SERVE Christianity Made Simple Delivered at Tarlac City Church of Christ December 12, 2010

2. CHRISTIANITY IS A RELIGION THAT IMITATES A MODEL • We imitate those who imitated others before them, • who also imitated others before them, • and so on and so forth.

3. 1 PETER 2:21 • “For hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that ye should follow his steps.”

4. “FOR EVEN HEREUNTO YOU WERE CALLED” • Our calling is a heavenly one. • We receive such a calling in order that we might evince the spirit of Christ in our daily living.

5. “BECAUSE CHRIST ALSO SUFFERED FOR YOU” • The object of the admonition is to hold up the example of Jesus to those who were called to suffer. • It is to say to them that they should bear their trials in the same spirit that Christ had shown when He underwent suffering.

6. “LEAVING YOU AN EXAMPLE” • The word rendered example(υπογραμμον, hupogrammon) means properly a “writing copy,” such as is set for the children. • It also means an outline or sketch for a painter to fill up. • But generally, it means an example, or a pattern for imitation.

7. “THAT YOU SHOULD FOLLOW HIS STEPS” • The meaning is: that we should follow him, as if we are trodding, walking exactly along behind him, and that we should place our feet precisely where his feet had been. • It means that there should be the closest imitation of Christ’s life, thoughts and actions.

8. Thus, to be a Christian is to be Christ-like • We are to copy: • the right attitudes • the right speech • the right doctrine • the right thoughts

9. 1 Corinthians 4:16-17 • WE KNOW HOW PAUL IMITATED JESUS. • “I beseech you therefore, be ye imitators of me. 17 For this cause have I sent unto you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, who shall put you in remembrance of my ways which are in Christ, even as I teach everywhere in every church.”

10. “I BESEECH YOU THEREFORE, BE YE IMITATORS OF ME” • He does not exhort them to become his followers or partisans of men. • He had spoken of himself as being humble, self-denying, and self-sacrificing in the cause of Christ. • He therefore beseeches them to follow his example in being humble, self-denying, and self-sacrificing. • “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1)

11. “For this cause have I sent unto you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord” • Timothy being a true Christian and a faithful servant of Christ; and who is, therefore, worthy of your confidence.

12. “Who shall put you in remembrance of my ways which are in Christ” • When Paul says “my ways,” he means his doctrine, his teaching, his mode of life as shown in his Christian life, in his ministry or his conduct as a follower of the Savior.

13. “As I teach everywhere in every church.” • This was designed to show them that he taught them no new or peculiar doctrines; he wished them simply to conform to the common rules of the churches, and to be like their Christian brethren everywhere. • The Christian church is founded everywhere on the same doctrines; is bound to obey the same laws; and is fitted to produce and cherish the same spirit. • The same spirit that was required in Ephesus or Antioch, was required at Corinth; the same spirit that was required at Corinth, at Ephesus, or at Antioch, is required now.

14. In the assembly, we are taught to imitate our models. We are taught in order to be fully edified, built up, made strong, made strong to be able to stand, stand in order to resist the wiles of the devil. • It is also in this assembly that we gather to express our devotion to the God of all grace who made it possible for us to be what we are today: A group of people who have been saved from sins by the blood of Jesus.

15. In simple terms, Christianity is • THE COMING OF CHRISTIANS TOGETHER TO WORSHIP. • THE GOING OUT OF CHRISTIANS TO SERVE.

16. COME IN TO WORSHIP • Worship correlates its actions with the nature of the One being worshipped. • Worship carries with it the idea of submission to the will of the One being worshipped.

17. Worship carries with it the idea of giving all of what we are and what we have for the benefit of the One being worshipped.

18. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. • The Jews were the people who came into being because of God. When God designed them as a nation, they were placed in a geographical location whose highways and byways became the downspout of the commerce. It was from them that the truth of salvation first came.

19. 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." • God has always been in the beginning, but for so many times the people who claim to be believers of Him never worship Him truly. Jesus came to initiate that true system of worship. It is a worship that is done in spirit and in truth.

20. Worship has a schedule and it is “now.” • Worship is not confined to any famous place. • Worship is not confined to any temple or church building (Acts 17:24).

21. The Jews had knowledge of the God they worshipped. • Salvation, with its first system of sacrifices based on a divine revelation, first started with the Jews. • Jesus our God became a Jew. • Abraham the father of faith became the ancestor of the Jews.

22. The twelve apostles who were the foundations of the true church were Jews. 39 of those writers of the Bible were Jews; only one was a Gentile. • The Koran was written by an Arab; the Book of Mormon by an American. The Koran first came to be written in 800 AD; the Book of Mormon in 1830 AD. These were too late to become the Word of God!

23. The Old Testament was much older: 1500 BC – 450 BC. • The New Testament: 45 AD – 96 AD • The Bible is much superior to any book!

24. Worship- Gr. PROSKUNEO – to bend the knee. • In worship, we are always lower than God, and God is always higher than us. • The New Testament dispenses knowledge about what constitutes true worship. • True worship is in spirit and in truth. • Father seeks such worship.

25. True worship should relate with the nature of the one being worshipped! God is Spirit. • The Bible tells us God the Father is always Spirit and He has not changed!

26. Romans 1:21-22 • “Because that, knowing God, they glorified him not as God, neither gave thanks; but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless heart was darkened; professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.” • Man has changed the way God is being worshipped! They did not glorify Him as God nor were they thankful to Him. False worship results to human degradation.

27. It is great wisdom when the object of our worship who is God became a human being in order to make us understand how He cares for us. • But it is great foolishness, and a great misunderstanding, when one human being becomes the object of our worship.

28. Romans 1:23 • “And changed the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.” • Man at first began worshipping two-legged creatures that looked like him. • Then he worshipped creatures with two wings and two legs. • Then he worshipped creatures that walked on fours.

29. Then he worshipped creatures that crawled. • True worship is supposed to be uplifting. • Wrong worship degenerates and abuses human dignity. • True worship should relate with the nature of the one being worshipped!

30. Worship is not by sight but by faith! • True worship should relate with the dictates of the One being worshipped! • Worship conduct should be based on what the truth of the Word says (cf. John 17:17).

31. Worship carries with it the idea of submission to the will of the One being worshipped • That is the natural meaning of the verb PROSKUNEO. In worship we admit our sinfulness and inability to atone for our sins. We need God’s grace! • The idea of salvation by grace should have a part in our thoughts as we worship the Grace-Giver. • It is not true as some are wont to believe that when we say we are saved by grace, grace becomes our savior.

32. EPHESIANS 2:8 • For by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; • “By grace” is dative instrumental. It simply means grace is the instrument in saving, not the savior itself. • Note the passive construction. Greek grammar calls it divine passive; meaning the unmentioned subject or doer of the action of saving is God Himself. It does not say: Because grace saves you through faith.

33. EPHESIANS 2:9 • “Not of works, that no man should glory.” • We can’t go to heaven by praying, burning candles, giving alms, or by giving our bodies to be crucified. • If we could go to heaven by doing these works of merits, then Christ did not need to die on the cross!

34. ROMANS 6:23 • “For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” • Because we are sinners we deserve to die. We cannot save ourselves from our sins. • But Christ paid for our sins by dying on the tree. Since we are dead in our sins, He quickens us, giving us eternal life.

35. WORSHIP TODAY -- GIVING OUR BODIES AS LIVING SACRIFICES • ROMANS 12:1. • I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.

36. ROMANS 12:2. • And be not fashioned according to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, and ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

37. We bring ourselves here. Bodily. No proxy. • We sing praises to our King. We are not singing for others but for Him. • We come to build up others by our teaching, by our talent to counsel, by our helping to lift up the others.

38. We give of our means. God does not need that money, but He needs us to share that wealth with the church, His only agency to do good and proclaim His goodness in the world

39. GO OUT TO SERVE • We are the body of Christ. • We are the feet that untiringly go out and find the lost in the highways and byways of the world. • We are the hands that untiringly reach to meet the needs of the fallen, the downtrodden, the needy, the ones who have not been served, the forlorn, the lost.

40. We are the lips that keeps on praising Him. • We are the mouth that keeps on counseling others. • We are the brothers and sisters that seek to help others and suggest that they try putting down their burdens at His feet, to try Him for once if they have not done so.

41. We serve by giving a glass of water, a slice of our bread, a coin to satisfy a minor need. • We serve by helping the suicidal find the One who gave life to all, the One who put a high value in so insignificant a creature as human beings.

42. Do you know the value of a mere human being in the marketplace? • We have body fats enough to make a bar of soap. • We have enough lead to make just one bullet. • We have enough sugar to sweeten just one cup of coffee. • We have enough phosphorous to make just a box of matchsticks. • All the rest of us is just water. Actually, ¾ of us is water. • If we get killed on the highway, we are just worth a little over P12,000.

43. Jesus came to change us and to improve our worth. • We have become so valuable because of One so valuable who died for us. Jesus was the one who gave value to us. • This just tells us that the price of everything is based on how much we value the thing. The cost of real estate in Manila runs by the millions. In the mountains of Cebu, a hectare of land may cost just P2,000.

44. So what is the essence of Christianity? • Loving others as Jesus loves us. • Letting our light shine in world. • Becoming the salt of influence on others. • Preparing for heaven. • Waiting for Jesus.

45. Hear the story of J. M. McCaleb, our first missionary to an Asian country. • At a time when an American constable was receiving $60 a month, and a Filipino constable $6 a month, McCaleb just got $60 a year. • He supported himself by teaching English to Japanese students. • Now a work in Japan attests to the lasting effect of McCaleb’s early work.

46. Hear the story of George Benson, one of our early missionaries to China. • One American brother visited the Philippines and saw that the churches of Christ did not have any active mission work. His name is George. • He convinced another George, named George Benson, who was doing missions in China to move to the Philippines temporarily and supported him to preach. • George Benson worked for four months in Mindoro island and founded 4 congregations, two of whom still remained.

47. When George Benson moved to US mainland, he began a college in some remote place. The work grew too and became what we now know as Harding University. • The essence of Christianity is its ability to keep on. Being devoted to its God and serving its people.

48. Hear the story of George Pepperdine, our first great supporter of the Lord’s work. • He supported preachers and churches, built church buildings and built lives, and encouraged missions wherever they may be. It was he who convinced George Benson to do missions on Mindoro island. • This great man, who was rich in world’s goods and in good works, also founded a college, now known as Pepperdine University.

49. Hear the story of brother Daniel of India • He is a great supporter of the Lord’s work in Kalookan City • The church of Kalookan is so fortunate to have brother Daniel, who gave them a piece of land and built them a nice 4-storey church building!

50. Hear the story of the church in Madison, TN. • They had a great preacher, not handsome, whose ways and dressing were quite unconventional–red suits with white shoes to boot. But his unconventionalities, his down-to-earth style of preaching and illustrations---like picking up a little black girl and putting her on the pulpit to picture to them God’s great love for the downtrodden, the outcast, the humbled, the humiliated, those who had less---had attracted many.