22 Oct Maranatha | Part 2 “Looking for a Church For the End of the World”
Announcements:
ALL LOCATIONS:
NOW ACCEPTING MONETARY DONATIONS FOR HARVEST HANDS (formerly Operation Thanksgiving). A minimum of $50 will feed a family this Thanksgiving. We are looking to pack 1000 care packages filled with a Thanksgiving meal and a $10 Stop n Shop Gift card for Apollo Beach, South Coast, and Woonsocket locations.
We need $50,00 to cover the cost of 1000 meals!
waterschurch.org/give and select your location, then select Harvest Hands.
NEED MARRIAGE AND FAMILY CARE? OR HAVE A GROUP MEMBER IN NEED OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY CARE? CLICK HERE: HELP RESOURCES PAGE
NEW ENGLAND ONLY:
REGISTRATIONS FOR SERVING AND FOR REQUESTING A THANKSGIVING MEAL NOW OPEN – GO TO THE WATERSCHURCH.ORG/EVENT PAGE AND SEE ALL REGISTRATIONS THERE.
OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD BOXES DUE BACK BY NOVEMBER 6
NEW ENGLAND LOCATIONS:
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Reminder: Please check your planning center profiles for requests to join and also remove members from the list that no longer attend as well as add members not listed. Thank you.
LEADERS: WE HAVE CHANGED UP THE DISCOVER CLASS WHICH USED TO BE GROWTH TRACK AND ARE ASKING ALL LEADERS TO RE-TAKE THIS A SOME POINT. BELOW IS THE CLASS SCHEDULE:
1st Sunday : Discover Waters – after 1st service
2nd Sunday: NO CLASSES
3rd Sunday: Connect Class – after 1st service
4th Sunday: Baptism Class – after 1st service
IMPORTANT***** Please add
Go to your email, add no-reply@churchcenter.com to your contacts (PLEASE ASK ME IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND) THANKS!
no-reply@churchcenter.com to your email contacts so that you do not miss an email from Planning Center and have your members add it as well. This will ensure you do not miss a member request or any emails that come from the Planning Center site.
All announcements and the Waters Event Calendar can be found at: waterschurch.org/events)
Location Text Alerts:
| North Attleboro | Text “subscribe” to 508 695-1300 | |
| Norwood | Text “subscribe” to 781 762-3357 | |
| Apollo Beach | Text “subscribe” to 813 642-6979 | |
| Woonsocket | Text “subscribe” to 833 241-4837 | |
| Southcoast | Text “subscribe” to 508 809-3490 | |
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Key Verse: Hebrews 10
Ice Breaker:
Q. If you could do anything in the next year, what would it be?
We need to be ready for Jesus’s return. We are commanded in Scripture to be ready.
What kind of church should we have when Jesus comes back?
Hebrews 10:25 (ESV)
The term ‘not forsaking’ used in verse 25 means to not cut the church off from your life. We are not to give up meeting together as a Church.
There are many people who believe in Jesus but don’t gather as the Church. We, as Christians, need to be more engaged in the Church the closer it gets to His coming.
The world is going to fall apart and come under judgment. We are seeing, in the world today, people needing Jesus more and more. The Church is growing, people are coming to Christ as never before.
From last week:
Four wrong ways to approach the End Times
1. Predictions.
2. Panic.
3. Disregard.
To add to this for this week:
4. Disengaged from CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY.
In the book of Hebrews, the writer is telling the Church to not go back but to press on. The problem the writer has is that the Church was neglecting to meet together.
The church is not a building, the people (Christians) are the Church and the Christian community is more necessary the closer the Day comes.
Many have excuses why they do not engage in Church. Anyone can come but it is important to also engage: serve, be in community (Life groups), partner with us, be involved in missions, etc.
The people of Hebrew’s original audience were the Jewish people. Their coming to Christ caused a lot of conflict in their life. They were hated by their families and the nation. Because they followed Jesus, they were excommunicated from their religious community. The temptation for them was to go back to Judaism. That would have been an easy path to peace in their life.
Hebrews 10:32
The reason the Church is so necessary is that we are going to feel like those first-century Jewish people. Our families may not want any part of us as the nation gets crazier every day. We belong in the Church of Jesus. We must get connected and engaged.
Q. In what ways do modern believers face similar pressures or temptations to disengage from Christian communities or revert to past beliefs? How can we encourage and support one another in these challenges?
Be engaged in the Church more than ever because…
- We have ACCESS to the PRESENCE of God in the COMMUNITY of Christ.
We can come into the presence of God on our own. In our cars, homes, at the office, and anywhere at any point, but there is nothing better than the presence of God in the community of God together.
Hebrews 10:19–20 (ESV)
The writer is using all plural terms such as bothers, we, places, and us. We are a People, a Body, a Community of faith.
The writer also mentions the curtain which is a reference to what existed in the Old Testament Church. There was the Holy Place which was the outer court and then there was the inner court. Inside the inner court was the Holy of Holies where there was a one-foot thick, twenty-foot high curtain that kept God’s presence separate from the High Priest.
Matthew 27:50–51 (ESV)
When Jesus died, God the Father took the curtain and ripped it open from top to bottom so we could enter the presence of Almighty God!
That is the Gospel message. We are not good enough to get to Him but He is good enough. Through faith in Christ, we have access into the presence of God.
John 3:16
Anytime we gather as a Church, we are creating a Holy place. Where the church gathers, the presence of the Lord is there.
1 Timothy 2:4 (ESV)
God desires all people to be saved.
2 Peter 3:9 (ESV)
We are not good enough, but Jesus made a way.
Hebrews 10:21 (ESV)
We don’t just have access to the presence of God we have assistance. Jesus is our final High Priest.
The theme of Hebrews: JESUS is BETTER
We cannot go back to dead religion there is nothing there for us anymore. Jesus is better than all the Old Testament ways and people.
Q. Reflecting on the statement that “anytime we gather as a Church, we are creating a Holy place,” what are some personal experiences where you felt the presence of God more profoundly in a community setting compared to individual worship?
How does communal worship magnify the experience of God’s presence?
Be engaged in the Church more than ever because…
2. We are INSPIRED to a CLOSER WALK with Jesus.
We should be inspired by others to get closer to God.
Hebrews 10:22 (ESV)
We are drawn in through the excitement of others. For example, when we go someplace with someone, we tend to get more excited about going because we are with others who are excited. Even if we are not totally interested in that thing or place we are going the fact that we are going with someone that is interested then it makes us more interested in going.
It reminds us that we belong somewhere.
We need the Sabbath to stop what we are doing and come to a gathering outside of us to remind us that it is done and finished and Jesus saved us. To remind us we are accepted in the beloved.
Q. In what ways have you felt rejuvenated and reminded of God’s love and salvation through gathering together as a Church?
We don’t gather at church to do GOD a FAVOR.
We gather to be REMINDED God gave us a SAVIOR.
Hebrews 10:22b (ESV); Ephesians 5:25–26 (ESV)
We get saved when we believe in Jesus but we still sin and therefore Jesus washes us with the Word. When the word is preached, hatred is washed out and love is poured in, greed is washed out and generosity is poured in, lust is washed out and love and holiness are poured in, and un-forgiveness is washed out and forgiveness is poured in. That is what the Word does.
When we come and gather the Word is preached and God washes us with the Word.
Q. Can you share personal testimonies of how the preached Word has washed away certain negative aspects of your life and filled you with love, generosity, holiness, or forgiveness?
Be engaged in the Church more than ever because…
3. We are EMBOLDENED in a STRONGER WALK with Jesus.
We need to be stronger the closer we get to His return. We gather as the Church for our faith to become stronger. Not just on the weekends but also in other ways. As mentioned before, serving, life groups, missions trips, etc. We need to be more engaged. There is always another level of engagement. For instance, maybe you have been in a group for a while and it is time you apprentice and become a leader.
When we gather we are strengthened together.
Q. How has being in a Christian community helped you stay strong in your faith, especially during challenging times?
Or
Q. How have you felt prompted to step up or take on more responsibility within your Christian community?
Hebrews 10:23 (ESV); Acts 14:21–22 (ESV);Acts 15:32 (ESV); 1 Thessalonians 3:2–3 (ESV)
Hebrews 10:24 (ESV)
The term ‘Stir up’ means instigate, provoke, or even needle someone.
When we miss church it is biblical for someone to get alongside us and stir us up, or needle us into coming back.
Christians need a NEEDLE.
Sermon in a sentence:
Jesus made the way for you to EXPERIENCE His presence, DRAW CLOSER, and GROW STRONGER in God.
Challenge: Needle someone who no longer is coming to church. Call them, text them, email them, and ask them where they have been.
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