Luke 14:16-24 KJV,
16
Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:
17
And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for
all things are now ready.
18
And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I
have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have
me excused.
19
And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I
pray thee have me excused.
20
And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.
21
So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the
house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and
lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt,
and the blind.
22
And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is
room.
23
And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and
compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
24
For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my
supper.
THE GENERATION FULL OF EXCUSES
Through much
observation, talking with so many others in different positions of leadership
and even from saints of God themselves, I have come to a conclusion about
people and church attendance and involvement in small church USA.
This
generation as a whole is so far removed from church attendance and involvement
than the generation that I was raised in. The people who were the Elders,
Leaders and Feeders of my generation were sticklers on faithfulness and
involvement in our local church services and activities. We were involved in
weeks of revival services and never even thought of missing. Sunday morning Sunday
School, Sunday night church services, Wednesday night church, Friday night
Youth services, church work days and anything else that took place at our local
church. Our family was involved in every facet of the church.
But today even
the generation that is my generation, has very little motivation when it comes
to church involvement; so many from my generation have not raised their
families to include church or church activities in their lives at all. In fact
I will go so far as to say, in small church “USA”, we have lost as many as two
generations of people, and families from our services and activities. One of
the most shocking things about this is those saints who do attend church on a
regular bases seem so nonchalant and non-concerned by this. Where are those who
are concerned and burdened for the lost in our churches? Where are those who
are concerned about their family or for that matter their neighborhoods any
longer?
I have
noticed that people use so many excuses as to why they cannot fit church in
their lives. I am including church members in this message also because people
who class themselves as church members use so many excuses as to why they are
no longer faithful to church or involved in church activities at all.
One of the main excuses I have found is that so many saints have told me
that Sunday is the day of rest, and pastor you have so many activities at the
church on Sunday that we get no rest at all. But I have noticed when we do have
less church on Sunday or we dismiss a service for some reason, those who
complain about no time of rest do not stay home and rest at all.
We must stop
using the day of rest as an excuse to miss church and not be involved with
church activities. We best understand the Sabbath
Day of Rest as was introduced by God thru Moses.
Exodus 35:1-3 THE MESSAGE:
1
Moses spoke to the entire congregation of Israel, saying, “These are the things
that God has commanded you to do:
2
“Work six days, but the seventh day will be a holy rest day, God’s holy rest
day. Anyone who works on this day must be put to death.
3
Don’t light any fires in your homes on the Sabbath day.”
The day of
rest is so different than so many people in Christianity interpret it to be. “Work six days, but the seventh
day will be a holy rest day, God’s holy rest day.” Then Moses begins to
list all the things that a person is to do towards their involvement with God
and the house of the Lord on that seventh day.
Saints of
God we are to give ourselves to the efforts of making a living and doing things
with our families for six days but we are to set aside that seventh day for the
Lord and we are to be involved with Him on the seventh day. The word rest in
this setting is a day set aside for the Lord set aside from our work and
pleasures.
The
Christian Sabbath, God still expects His people to set aside one day in seven
to Him. Such an observance is a creation ordinance which is binding until this
creation comes to an end and our ultimate rest as a saint of God is realized in
heaven.
Hebrews 4:1-13 THE MESSAGE:
1
For as long, then, as that promise of resting in him pulls us on to God's goal
for us, we need to be careful that we're not disqualified.
2
We received the same promises as those people in the wilderness, but the
promises didn't do them a bit of good because they didn't receive the promises
with faith.
3
If we believe, though, we'll experience that state of resting. But not if we
don't have faith. Remember that God said, Exasperated, I vowed, "They'll
never get where they're going, never be able to sit down and rest." God
made that vow, even though he'd finished his part before the foundation of the
world. 4 Somewhere it's written, "God rested the seventh day, having
completed his work,"
5
but in this other text he says, "They'll never be able to sit down and
rest."
6
So this promise has not yet been fulfilled. Those earlier ones never did get to
the place of rest because they were disobedient.
7
God keeps renewing the promise and setting the date as today, just as he did in
David's psalm, centuries later than the original invitation: Today, please
listen, don't turn a deaf ear . . .
8
And so this is still a live promise. It wasn't canceled at the time of Joshua;
otherwise, God wouldn't keep renewing the appointment for "today."
9
The promise of "arrival" and "rest" is still there for
God's people.
10
God himself is at rest. And at the end of the journey we'll surely rest with
God.
11
So let's keep at it and eventually arrive at the place of rest, not drop out
through some sort of disobedience.
12
God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a
surgeon's scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying
us open to listen and obey.
13
Nothing and no one is im-per-vious to God's Word. We can't get away from it —
no matter what.
Historically,
Christian People of all persuasions usually observe Sunday, the first day of
the week, as their Christian Sabbath. We note that Christ arose on the first
day of the week,
Matthew 28:1 New Living Translation
®,
1 Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene
and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb.
Thereafter,
the New Testament church regularly worshiped on Sunday,
Acts 20:7 THE MESSAGE:
7
We met on Sunday to worship and celebrate the Master's Supper. Paul addressed
the congregation. Our plan was to leave first thing in the morning, but Paul
talked on, way past midnight.
1 Corinthians 16:2 THE MESSAGE:
2
Every Sunday each of you make an offering and put it in safekeeping. Be as
generous as you can. When I get there you'll have it ready, and I won't have to
make a special appeal.
Revelation 1:10 THE MESSAGE:
10
It was Sunday and I was in the Spirit, praying. I heard a loud voice behind me,
trumpet-clear and piercing:
This day on
which Jesus arose which was the first day of the week, the day after the
Sabbath, was called the LORD'S DAY in the King James Version.
The Sabbath is
a means by which man's living pattern imitates God's,
Exodus 20:8-11 THE MESSAGE:
8
Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9
Work six days and do everything you need to do. 10 But the seventh day is a
Sabbath to God, your God. Don't do any work — not you, nor your son, nor your
daughter, nor your servant, nor your maid, nor your animals, not even the
foreign guest visiting in your town.
11
For in six days God made Heaven, Earth, and sea, and everything in them; he
rested on the seventh day. Therefore God blessed the Sabbath day; he set it
apart as a holy day.
Our work
week is to be followed by holy rest to God. This idea is expressed by the
Hebrew word for Sabbath, which means "cessation, to make an end, to pause
and to terminate."
Sabbath rest
is also a time for God's people to think about and enjoy what God has
accomplished. Another Hebrew word meaning "rest" embodies this idea, God's
people are directed to keep the Sabbath because God delivered and redeemed His
people from the bondage in Egypt. Thus, the Sabbath is an ordinance that
relates redemption directly to history.
Sabbath rest
also holds the promise of the ultimate salvation that God will accomplish for
His people. As He delivered them from Egypt through Moses, so will He deliver
His people from sin at the end of the age because He alone is our Great Redeemer!
Finally, the
Sabbath includes the idea and practice of celebrating rest, or salvation. To
this end, God declared that His Sabbath was a day for public convocation, a
special time for His people to gather together in public worship to signify
their submission to His lordship over them and their way of living.
Ezekiel 20:12 THE MESSAGE:
12
I also gave them my weekly holy rest days, my "Sabbaths," a kind of
signpost erected between me and them to show them that I, God, am in the
business of making them holy.
The idea of
Sabbath celebration includes the Sabbath as a sacrament or a gift of God that
allows man to enter into God's rest which we call salvation.
So many people
who claim to be Christians do not understand entering God’s rest through
salvation, because they have never really had an encounter with the Lord Jesus
Christ they have never experienced His saving grace through the infilling of
His Holy Spirit. They were involved in church long enough to be indoctrinated
with the false doctrine of simply believing on the Lord Jesus Christ and the idea that
they are now eternally secured and they are satisfied that they are saved and
do not need the Lord or the church in their lives anymore and they are not
raising their families in the church.
So many who have been
connected with our small church USA have left the church because they say they
have been hurt.
This is one of the main excuses I
have found as to the reasons many people do not attend church. I can actually include myself in this one personally. Sometimes, the hurtful act is specific, like
when a preacher I respected told the church I attended not to have anything to
do with me, strictly because we had a misunderstanding, but I had to forgive
and get beyond this issue and thanks be to the Lord I did.
Zechariah 13:6 English Standard Version,
6 And
if one asks him, 'What are these wounds on your back?' he will say, 'The wounds
I received in the house of my friends.'
Sometimes, these hurts can be
rhetorical, either from the pulpit, in a small group study or involving church
fellowship. Sometimes, these hurts can be physical, taking the form of sexual
abuse or some things of this nature.
In
my investigating the why the issues of hurts and pains among people is so
prevalent still today? In part, it is because the church as a whole rarely
admits their mistakes and most often never seeks forgiveness. We forget all
that our savior did for us and for that matter even those who are hurting and
no longer attending the church.
It
is not something we like to admit but millions of people claim a wound they can
trace back to a church, church leadership, or church members that has never
healed. One thing that I have learned is that these that carry these old wounds
year after year have never learned to forgive. They must realize our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ has never failed or hurt them.
Isaiah 53:4-11 THE MESSAGE:
4 But the fact is, it was our pains he carried — our disfigurements,
all the things wrong with us. We thought he brought it on himself, that God was
punishing him for his own failures.
5 But it was our sins that did that to him, that ripped and tore and
crushed him — our sins! He took the punishment, and that made us whole. Through
his bruises we get healed.
6 We're all like sheep who've wandered off and gotten lost. We've all
done our own thing, gone our own way. And God has piled all our sins,
everything we've done wrong, on him, on him.
7 He was beaten, he was tortured, but he didn't say a word. Like a lamb
taken to be slaughtered and like a sheep being sheared, he took it all in
silence.
8 Justice miscarried, and he was led off — and did anyone really know
what was happening? He died without a thought for his own welfare, beaten
bloody for the sins of my people.
9 They buried him with the wicked, threw him in a grave with a rich
man, Even though he'd never hurt a soul or said one word that wasn't true.
10 Still, it's what God had in mind all along, to crush him with pain.
The plan was that he give himself as an offering for sin so that he'd see life
come from it — life, life, and more life. And God's plan will deeply prosper
through him.
11 Out of that terrible travail of soul, he'll see that it's worth it
and be glad he did it. Through what he experienced, my righteous one, my
servant, will make many "righteous ones, "as he himself carries the
burden of their sins.
So many who
have been connected with our small church USA have left the church because they
say it is hard to fit church into their schedule.
This
is another one of the main excuses I have found as to the reasons many people
do not attend church.
We
live in such a stressed out fast paced world, people are running to and fro and
have very little spare time for family or self. The average family has both man
and wife working a job and shuffling the children from place to place, activity
to activity and they are stretching their time. Because of this time stretch
people use the excuse they have a problem scheduling church into their busy
life, and because of this many of the small church Christians are missing from
our pews in the USA.
Hebrews 10:19-25
19-21 So, friends, we can now — without hesitation — walk right up to
God, into "the Holy Place." Jesus has cleared the way by the blood of
his sacrifice, acting as our priest before God. The "curtain" into
God's presence is his body.
22 So let's do it — full of belief, confident that we're presentable
inside and out.
23 Let's keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always
keeps his word.
24 Let's see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping
out,
25 not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other
on, especially as we see the big Day approaching.
This
is really bad for our communities and nation as a whole in so many ways.
Because people are leaving God out of their life and their families are falling
apart. Because people are leaving God out of their life the morals and values
are being totally changed and devalued in this great nation. Just look around
us how people who were raised in the church are so wrapped up in elicit
lifestyles, living together without being married, divorce after divorce, mixed
up in drugs and alcohol and raising their children outside the confines of the
church. This nation that was born with freedom of religion and in God we trust
has left God and church out because they can no longer fit God into their
schedule of life. All I can pray is, “God Bless the USA.”
So many who have
been connected with our small church USA have left the church because they say
the church has nothing to offer them.
This
is another one of the main excuses I have found as to the reasons many people
do not attend church.
I will admit that small church USA does have
some lax in this area. One of the simple reasons is because small churches are
limited in so many areas when it comes to dealing with people and their issues
and needs.
We are limited first of all with staff. In
small church USA, we do not have an overabundance of volunteers that are
willing to help and reach the needs of the people in our communities therefore
our activities are also limited. We have limited finances, because the average
member who attends our small churches does not see the need nor do they have
the burden to reach the people of our community, even their own family members.
The average member of small church USA is
more into making themselves feel comfortable as they sit on the church pew
accomplishing very little to fulfill the call of God on their life. I really
hate to admit this but the average church goer is just that an individual who
goes to church, but adds nothing while there. They are strictly there for
fellowship and community, but to add not a thing.
We are in the ever changing digital age, the
age of social networks, our children are born understanding iPods, ipads,
iPhones and the next generation of Microsoft and laptops. Small church USA is
struggling to compete in this ever changing world.
As I consider all of this that I am talking
about I am made to wince, because people all around us are in so much trouble.
They have so many excuses and we accept their excuses and simple leave them
alone never talking or reaching for them, actually we allow their issues called
excuses to fester and never help them to overcome and come back to church. We
literally leave them in the world of chaotic, stress and never give them a
chance or a challenge to belong to our small church, just as they are. We do
not offer them a chance to find forgiveness for themselves. Nor do we offer
them the place to give forgiveness to others we leave them out there in the
dark dismal world to make it all by themselves.
Luke
14:16-24 New Living Translation ®,
16 Jesus replied with this story:
"A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations.
17 When the banquet was ready, he sent
his servant to tell the guests, 'Come, the banquet is ready.'
18 But they all began making excuses.
One said, 'I have just bought a field and must inspect it. Please excuse me.'
19 Another said, 'I have just bought
five pairs of oxen, and I want to try them out. Please excuse me.'
20 Another said, 'I now have a wife, so
I can't come.'
21 "The servant returned and told
his master what they had said. His master was furious and said, 'Go quickly
into the streets and alleys of the town and invite the poor, the crippled, the
blind, and the lame.' 22 After the servant had done this, he reported, 'There
is still room for more.'
23 So his master said, 'Go out into the
country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that
the house will be full.
24 For none of those I first invited
will get even the smallest taste of my banquet.'"
Small church USA, I must confess today that
often we who are members of small church USA do add to the dilemmas and
distress’s of these people, because they see our non-concern and nonchalant
attitudes. They often hear from us about our disagreements over reaching out to
our communities and this makes them feel okay making their excuses.
The first solution to excuses in small church
USA is that we as small church USA stop making excuses ourselves, and stop
ignoring those who no longer attend church even if they have a big excuse.
