Mythbusters-1-I Don't Have To Go To Church To Be A Christian

Today Pastor Brad starts his new summer series he calls Mythbusters.  During this series we will take a look about some popular myths concerning Christians. We start with a message about the myth "I Don't Have To Go To Church To Be A Christian."

Pastor's Notes:

TEXT
Luke 4:14-21 NKJV
14 Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. 15 And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.
16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. 17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed MeTo preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me [i]to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind,To set at liberty those who are [j]oppressed;To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
INTRODUCTION
Good morning, everybody!
I hope you had a great Memorial Day weekend. Besides that, I pray you were blessed by the ministry of Christopher Alam. He actually called me this week and asked me to convey his gratitude for the generosity of our church family.
Today, I want to start a brand new series entitled “Mythbusters”.

ILLUSTRATION

I’m sure many of you saw the show years about called “Mythbusters”.
Each MythBusters episode focuses typically on two or more popular beliefs, Internet rumors, or other myths. The list of myths tested by the series is compiled from many sources, including the personal experiences of cast and crew, as well as fan suggestions, such as those posted on The Discovery Channel online MythBusters forums.
It was an interesting show to me because it taught us that you can’t just believe everything you hear. We should be diligent to get the facts and compile what is necessary to get the truth.

TRANSITION
That’s why in this series, we will be busting cultural myths that are impacting our present Christian culture. Many of our topics are hot topics and controversial issues both spiritually and politically. Therefore, from week to week, I won’t be sharing on social media the topics of my messages. This will be one of those series where you just have to show up to see what I will be preaching on. However, some of the myths we will be busting are:
“Only God Can Judge Me”“Abortion Isn’t Murder”“People Are Born Gay”“Marriage Is Just A Piece Of Paper”“God Will Never Give You More Than You Can Bear” “It Isn’t God’s Will To Heal Everyone”
....... along with several others.

Today however, I want to unload a myth that many people in today’s present culture have believed. You’ve probably heard it before: “I don’t have to go to church to be a Christian.”
GASP!
What if I tell you that statement is not true at all?
Now wait a minute, pastor!
You mean to tell me the little old ladies who can’t go to church aren’t Christian?
I didn’t say that.
Let me explain: This would not apply to shut in’s or those physically unable to go to church. That’s why when we know about these people, we and our staff do our best to reach out, stay connected, have communion with them, encourage them, etc.
Second, I’m also not preaching that coming to church saves you, or how many times a week you come. I’m no fool. I know that only faith in Christ and the blood of Jesus can save you. Besides that, we just learned Wednesday night in our teaching of the wheat and tares that just because you come to church doesn’t make you saved!
Yet, let’s examine the myth: “I don’t have to go to church to be a CHRISTIAN.” (My emphasis added)
The word Christian means “little Christ”, “Christ follower”, or “Christ like”.
So the question is not salvation, although I believe a truly saved person wants to belong to the body of Christ, but rather, “What are Jesus thought’s about attending a centralized gathering of believers?”

BACKGROUND
In our text, we see Jesus doing what He did best: Teaching. And Jesus ministry did involve open air teaching and preaching and in the streets, but one thing is for sure: He was regularly in the synagogue or the temple preaching.

APPLICATION
1. Jesus Thought It Was Important
- Our text says “and as His Custom was” Another way to say this is “it was His habit”
- I will say thing. Regular church attendance has to become one of those good habits in your life, sort of like bathing, brushing your teeth, etc.
- Much of the other places in the Gospel tell us that Jesus regularly was there.
2. It Was The Center Of Culture
- Temple Worship, the Synagogue, and Sabbath worship both was, and still is a way of life in Jerusalem today. The people’s lives were planned around the regular coming together of worshiping God.
- After the resurrection, more and more Jews were not accepting of Christianity, the early disciples worshiped in churches on the first day of the week.
- Jesus Was the beginner of the church.
- We too, like Christ and the disciples, should plan our lives intentionally around the corporate worship with believers.
3. It Has Purpose
- They came together for:
- Worship
- Prayer
- Instruction
- Fellowship
- Serving
- Encouragement
CONCLUSION
So in our current culture things are great like live streaming, podcasts, and tv programs. They can be a great way to supplement your spiritual life. What an even better tool for people who are physically unable to attend, or those who work off or are in the active military.
Yet, they should never be a substitute for the believer who is able.
When you give up on attending church, what's at stake?
Well, to put it in a nutshell: the unity of the body, your own spiritual growth, protection, and blessing are all at risk when you're disconnected from the body of Christ.