THE GENERATION FULL OF EXCUSES

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.