Generational Worship
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Generational Worship
Generational Worship
1 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” 4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. 8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.” 10 And again it is said, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” 11 And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol him.” 12 And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.” 13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
rom15.1
Rom14.
1 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. 10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” 12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. 13 Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. 15 For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. 16 So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. 19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. 20 Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. 21 It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. 22 The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. 23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.
This is a lot to take in… I want to give you this quick overview and a glimpse into the church at Rome so we can find true Gospel encouragement for our church today...
It is clear from hearing the text of read, that there was a lot of problems between the Jewish Christian and the Gentile believers. People were being brought into their gatherings that had various opinions of worship. They had traditions, styles and preferences for worshipping God. Some were good and others were not so good, yet the big picture was not what divided them, it was what unites them.
Put your focus on what Unites us rather than what Divides
Put your focus on what Unites us rather than what Divides
Within the church, the Apostle Paul was giving clear instructions to not pass judgement on matters of conscience and preferences… If eating certain foods or abstaining from certain foods is a thing for you, whether for religious reason or just dietary restrictions, You will not be judged or treated differently in the church.
If there are certain festivals and holy days you wish to observe, or you disagree with others observing, as long as they do not violate the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, then where ever you land on those issues, you will not be judged or treated differently kn the church!
I will venture out to bring this to a more applicable topic for our church… IF your tradition is singing hymns or you have no tradition in the types of songs we sing, as long as it is not a gospel issue, then where ever you land on that, you will not be judged with in the church...
Why?
17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. 19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.
So while everyone who is a regenerate believer is accepted by God, and God’s kingdom is not about your preference, but righteousness (which comes from Christ), Peace (Peace with God obtained by the blood sacrifice of Christ) and Joy (Gods indwelling presence in his believers) in thew Holy Spirit!
So rather than focusing on what will divide us, vs 19 commands us to PURSUE what makes for Peace and mutual building up...
Listen… The only thing that will make peace and build up others is CHRIST!!!!
No man can bring true peace, and nobody in of themselves can truly bring about MUTUAL Upbuilding.
Only Jesus can do this. Let me show you what I mean… Lets start with some practical examples, and then bring it in to the church...
Raise your hands if… You like Football vs you do not like football (including indifferent), if you like baseball, hockey, soccer, nascar, motocross...
You like theatre and musicals vs you do not… you love movies… Romantic comedies? Action? Documentaries? sci-fy? Star wars… Lord of the Rings… The hobbit… Harry Potter???
You like country music vs you like Rap
You love the outdoors vs hate the outdoors...
You are gluten free...
Lets look at the church now… Please do not use this as a reason to get offended...
Raise your hand if this is the first church you have been a part of… 2nd, 3rd… 4th… 5th
Raise your hand if you have been baptized? (quick david write down the names of everyone not raising their hands) if you haven’t… if you have been more than once?
Raise your hand if this is the first church you have been a part of that does not pass the offering plate?
Raise your hands if you like to the welcome time because you are an extravert, now how about the ones who are introverts and you do not like it...
Raise your hand if you liked 2 services better than one… now you who like 1 service better.
How about those who like the Location of the Church vs those you do not like where it is located.
Raise your hand if you think that attending church means dressing in your best vs it doesn’t matter...
Raise your hand if you love to sing hymns… Now how about those who do not know hymns, aren’t used to them or don’t like them?
Raise your hand if you have been a Christian for less than a year… 2yrs… 5 yrs… 10 yrs… 20… 30, 40 50, 60, 70...
Now all the things I just mentioned are not central Gospel issues… NONE of them are important compared to other things… All these things are about opinions ,preferences and traditions… All these things can divide a church… Now lets see what we agree on… Raise your hand if you recognize that you are a sinner in need of a savior and Christ is the ONLY one who could save you from your sin! Raise your hand if your believe in the God the Father who created everything and still rules everything… you believe in God the Son who came to earth and took on flesh to live a perfect and innocent life and suffer and died a sinners death to do for you what you could not do for yourself… Maybe you need to stand to your feet if God has brought you out of Darkness into his marvelous light! And you believe in God the Spirit who was drawing you to himself and he came in and cleaned you up on the inside, and he illuminated scripture to you, and he daily fills you fresh and new as you call upon him for your daily source of strength… he is you comforter and counselor, your help and the ever present presence of God inside of you that strengthens you in your inmost being...
Stand and raise your hands if you believe that the wrath of God was poured out on Jesus the Son of God so that you wont have to stand and be judged and sent to hell.
Raise your hands if you believe that on the cross Jesus took your sins and gave you his righteousness.
And finally give God some praise if you believe you will be united to him for all of eternity because he not only called you but secured a welcome for you in the saving work of his Son Jesus and that work was applied to your blackened darkened heart by to magnanimous extravagant love poured out on you by the Holy Spirit!!!!
In light of all this, does it matter How long you have been a Christian, how you dress, how many churches you have attended before coming here, whether we pass a plate or drop offerings in a box in the back, Have fellowship times that are too long or too short, whether we are located in the city or in a field, or have 1 service or 2, or if we sing new songs or old songs???? The answer is no and it shouldn’t be something that divides us because these things are about preference, tradition and opinion...
If we understand the Gospel and know who we are in Christ and how valuable the gathering together of Gods people is as a distinct body of believers that Love each other and grow with each other, then we are the stronger brothers that Paul goes on to speak about, let’s read the 15th chapter of romans now.
1 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
Now granted Paul was talking to a church of Jews and Gentiles who were dividing over their various beliefs and opinion, but again it wasn’t as important to look at who they were and what they were dividing over as much as it is to see how to not do that and what we should be united over...
To them and to us He declares that we who are stronger in the faith, we who understand the Gospel, we have an OBLIGATION to bear with the failings of the weak...
That means that we should never look at another generation and think, “I can’t be with all these young people because I just don’t like their style, or vice versa, I don’t want to be in a church full of older people because they don’t like what I like.”
We do not have the right to judge our brothers and sisters based on their political views… Those are not matters for the Kingdom of God, they are affairs of this world and we are warned to not be entangled in them within the church.
Rather we are commands by Paul to bear with the failings of the weak, or those who don’t always get it in the church. They complain about the music and how someone is dressed, they don’t like the color of paint or think we should do more for social justice, or want the pastor to talk about the elections instead of teaching about Biblical election, etc… They are weaker in their understanding of Gospel issues… And listen to me, YOU ARE NOT BETTER THAN THEY ARE BECAUSE YOU GET IT...
In fact, Because you get you need to go first in serving them, because like Paul said it is not about pleasing yourself!
2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.
Paul speaking to those who know the Gospel and consider themselves as the stronger brother say, Let us Please his Neighbor… WHY? Why should we do this?
For our own good? NO NO NO! We do this for their good! We do this to build THEM up! What does this look like?
Share your testimony about the house...
If we cannot treat our brothers and sisters in Christ this way, then we cannot treat our neighbors in this world like this...
We need to see the generations within our own church doing this...
But why should we do this?
3 For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.”
The willingness of Christ to suffer and die for the benefit of others should serve as an example to those who first heard this in Rome and it should serve as an example to us as well!
Jesus is our example and our motivation
Jesus is our example and our motivation
Not that we can be just like him, but that we should desire to live like him in showing this world who he is and that he is alive within his people who profess to know him.
If we would desire to show the beauty of Jesus in all of life in all the world, we should strive to live like he did now that we have been forgiven because of the work that he has done for us. Our motivation is to be like him, not to earn the salvation he purchased for us, but because the salvation he purchased for us has already been applied to us and we are now changed...
Jesus is our motivation… Pleasing Christ and living like Christ...
45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
mark10.
The example that we are pointed to is this… not to ever get to the place in our church where we feel as though it is time others serve me, rather look for opportunities to serve others. Those who are truly able to understand the Gospel look for opportunities to serve others, just as Jesus has served them!
4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
From this one verse we see so much...
Whatever was written, has also been translated as saying, “Everything that was written”, meaning the whole of scripture, all of it is written for our instruction...
In the church we call this “Plenary Inspiration”, meaning every bit of scripture is designed by God for us, and includes lessons and application for us!
That scripture will bring endurance and encouragement to us.... Why do the scriptures bring encouragement to us, and cause us to endure? Because the Bible is not about us, it is about God, more specifically about Jesus… That is … Jesus told them that All Scripture was about him… and what he did will cause us to endure life and in fact be encouraged… but for what?
If we use scripture properly it will infuse HOPE in us! Listen when we read scripture, when we listen to scripture preached, and when we sing scripture it brings HOPE!
If we want to divide over our own personal preferences we will not be able to have hope infused when we hear multiple generations sing of the glorious triumphs of the cross together. If we divide over silly traditions of men, we rob ourselves of sitting under the authority of the word which corrects all who hear it, and we fail to grow together into a body of Love.
Are you seeing how we are to act with each other???
lets re-read these verse before moving on...
1 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” 4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
Looks like Paul is causing us to look at ourselves instead of trying to correct others… and this is for our own good and the Unity of the church… the next two verses become a prayer that reveal what our churches should look like in light of this...
5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Listen to me brothers and sisters in Christ...
Jesus is redeeming for himself a bride from every nation, race, tribe, and tongue… and his bride comes in all shapes and sizes and that includes ages...
This prayer is especially powerful when seen in our context where we have younger believers and older believers...
The the God of ENDURANCE and ENCOURAGEMENT… Can we just stop there for a moment… do you know that if you are in Christ, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, that you serve the God of endurance, who never changes and always sustains his people… He is also the God of Encouragement, meaning that encouragement finds its roots and origin in him… without him there is no such thing as encouragement…
May that God, our God grant us to LIVE in such HARMONY with one another...
If you are not feeling conviction from this, you are either new to the faith or have a hardened heart...
Because in the church we should be living in such harmony with one another, in accord or connect to Christ, that TOGETHER we would with ONE VOICE GLORIFY GOD!
I called this sermon Generational worship because we have some problems singing together as a church, and yet the scriptures are clear about this… we are to be united with each other in Christ and with ONE VOICE GLORIFY GOD!
That means our confession of Faith, when we pray, and when we sing… it is with one voice… it is in unity...
What makes the church distinct from the world is when outsiders come in here and see people of all different race, colors, ages, genders, and any distinction they can make, living and worshipping in total unity with one voice!
There is not one voice in political parties, there is not one voice on sports teams or amongst it fans, there is not one voice in our neighborhoods, on our jobs, in our schools, in our government, or anywhere in this world… yet there is to be ONE VOICE GLORIFYING GOD IN HIS CHURCH, and that is what makes us distinct!
There is to be ONE voice glorifying God in his Church
There is to be ONE voice glorifying God in his Church
When we with one voice praise and worship our God, when we with one voice proclaim that Salvation is found in none other than Jesus Christ, for there is no other name under heaven and on earth on given unto men by which they must be saved… when we proclaim this together, when we sing this together, we show true Unity!
When the stronger brothers and sisters in faith bear with the failings of the weaker, and make an effort to build each other up in order to proclaim this message with one voice and worship our God with one Voice we are distinct form this world… we actually have a message of Hope to offer them.
And if this is our instruction then...
7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
When we welcome each other as Christ has welcomed us, we Glorify God!
When we show preference not to ourselves but to each other to build each other up, we Glorify God!
And the Key is remember how Christ welcomed you… and to follow him and offer that to others! Tim Keller said
Unity does not come when you seek it; rather, it is the by-product of seeking to follow Christ - Tim Keller
Unity does not come when you seek it; rather, it is the by-product of seeking to follow Christ - Tim Keller
When we are serious about following Christ Unity is something to is sure to follow because we do not see ourselves as the primary people our church needs to serve, rather we look to serve others in our church.
Passive Christians do not experience much Unity because they have not set their priorities on growing in Christ and ministering to others… Their Faith is about them...
In commenting on this Verse Tim Keller also said this...
“Unity is associated with, and expressed and enlarged by Worshipping together” This verse mentions One Voice in an effort to encourage corporate worship with a diverse people… The only way to do this is to sing and pray together!
Our Christian Unity is based on our Justification in Christ...
7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
that is why we accept one another like Christ accepted us… we are Justified by the work of Christ, not in and of ourselves… When we live with an understanding that we are accepted by Christ that we are able to accept others!
So reminding ourselves of the Justification we have in Christ battles the Legalist inside of us that is always trying to earn our salvation from God… The legalist inside of us needs to constantly justify themselves and so the we wander from the Justification we have in Christ.
when we forget the the Justification that Christ gives to us in him we live as legalists… In the church as legalists we often feel the need to tell others how to justify themselves, and we impose our legalism on them insisting that they live like us because we like it better that way...
Listen - If God conveniently likes all the things that you like and hates all the things that you hate, you might be a legalist… you may have lost your grasp on the Gospel...
Again to quote Tim Keller here...
“For the person without a grasp on the Gospel, differences of opinion and practice are huge and insurmountable. But if we grasp Justification, that we are accepted in spite of our deficiencies and flaws, we will be enabled to accept others despite their deficiencies and flaws. In fact the way you can tell how much you understand the Gospel is to look at how much you love people despite their flaws. do you say: If God overlooks my sins in Christ, how can I fail to do the same with this person? Do I think I am more righteous than God?”
Of course this does not mean a refusal to confront someone over a sin pattern… we are talking about people within a congregation who refuse to show preference to each other because they desire to be served instead of serving others around them to be mutually built up.
And look at how Paul points them to Christ!
8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.” 10 And again it is said, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” 11 And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol him.” 12 And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.” 13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
Rom15.
Paul tells this church that is divided over who is Jewish and who is Gentile that the Gentiles will sing the praises of God with them and ultimately with Christ in his kingdom...
The jewish people knew that they needed to sing together and worship together no matter the age differences, but they were unwilling to include gentiles with them...
However in our day and age we are all gentiles yet refuse to be accepting of different generations, wanting to press our preference on each other for our comfort rather than being willing to learn from each other and glorify God together… This should not be.
Paul wanted them to get past their divisions, because he wanted the Power of the Holy Spirit to abound in Hope among them.
Look where the Jews started...
1 Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth! 2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, 3 things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. 4 We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.
Gods people have always been taught to share with future generations the glorious deeds of the Lord...
This is done by teaching and catechizing our children in the truths of scripture… this is done as we come and hear the Word preached in church… and this is done as we sing truth together… In fact I would say it is most powerfully seen in our singing and praying together...
That is why when we sing, we will sing songs 500 yrs old and songs that are brand new as long as they teach us truth about God.
It is up to us to teach the next generation about who God is and what he has done… that is the message of the Gospel and that cannot change, yet how we sing that has changed and will continue to change. The Point is for the message to never change!
Because God has commanded us to teach the next generation and ensure that they never follow after those who failed to believe in God before them...
There is a lot at stake in ensuring we worship as a generational church.
Should the Lord tarry in his coming, the task falls to us in proclaiming the truth of the Gospel from one generation to the next! We must protect the Unity in the Church and ensure that the Gospel goes forth in our preaching, teaching, and singing!
God has called us to proclaim the Gospel to each other...
5 He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, 6 that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, 7 so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments;
Lord willing we will continue to teach truth about God from one generation to the next… But how do we do this?
We preach the truth of the scriptures, we teach our children, and we gather regularly… and in these gatherings we Pray together, we sing together, and we hear the Word preached together… We experience the joy of Baptism together and we come to the Lords table together and remind ourselves of the Justification that welcomed us… We repent together, and we love each other as we hear the scriptures together...
Bottom line it that
We need each other because God called us to be together
We need each other because God called us to be together
There should be unity amongst us church...
It is up to us to help get each other on the same page because there are lives at stake in our community… there is a Heaven to be sought and a Hell to be Shunned and there is a message of truth that saves.
We do not have time to waste in arguing over politics, and finding generational differences...
Listen to me church...
If you are younger I want you to hear me… the Older generations are some of the hardest working generations ever to live… they have seen their way through the great depression and multiple wars… they have worked too hard and sacrificed too much to see the Faith that has saved them be reduced to bunch lifeless teaching about happiness and feeling good… They take serious the Word of God and they may get stuck a little in the ways they are used to hearing it sung, but they love you and desire for you to stand with them not against them
If you are older here… These younger generations are more talented than you very best scientist, politicians, doctors and lawyers… they can do more with phone in their pocket than we can even imagine. They are better connected to the world, more savvy in gathering crowds, and far more able to get the message of the gospel spread to the utter most places of the earth in an instant. They have a strong desire to see this world change for the good and to be part of that change… They are not scared of change and are willing to learn, but they need people who have gone before them to reach out to them… they actually desire for you to come and stand along side them and teach them how to raise a family....
But we cannot let our churches be places where we cater to one generation over the other, because Gods kingdom is not divided. Today we will respond by sing old songs and new songs and by going to the Lords table together as the church has done for over 2 Millennia.
But first a reading from Eph
1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—
1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Let”s pray!