Longing to See You
Notes
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Introduction:
In March of 2020, something came to our shores and the shores of many countries that would wreak havoc for several years. We had begun to hear news of this horrible virus that was going to be one of the most deadly and infectious viruses that man has dealt with in a long time. There was no vaccine available at the time. There was nothing that could be done except to social distance and mask up. Government leaders on both sides of the aisle began to suggest that we shut down businesses and social gatherings, including the church, in order to flatten the curve. That phrase became a catch phrase for the shutdown.
Here at Bethlehem, we had to make some difficult decisions. We didn’t know anything more than what the government was telling us. We didn’t know how long we would have to make adjustments. We knew that we had a large portion of our membership that were elderly and would be considered to be high risk of developing severe complications should they get the virus.
We wrestled with the tension of following the command in Scripture to not forsake the assembling of the saints with also honoring the government and those who were in leadership. Were we able to do both. Should we move to online services only like so many other churches were doing so that we could still meet together, yet still show respect to our leaders? Were we hurting our witness in the community if we looked like we were determined to defy the requests of local and state leaders?
I remember even contacting some of our local law enforcement officials for clarity. We reached out to local doctors to find out what their medical opinion was. I will say with 100 % certainty that not once did we make any decision about gathering that was based off of Facebook or social media or what was trendy.
However, we came to the decision that we needed to move to online services only for a month and then re-evaluate. We soon realized that we could not continue like this. Our pre-covid attendance in person was around 120. Our average online attendance was more like 12 with people simply choosing to watch the services whenever they wished to.
That July we made the decision to move services to the parking lot. We had tried online and we even kept Sunday evenings open for Zoom Sunday School classes, but we came to realize that the internet quality and the experience of meeting online just was not the same. It was lacking something.
We moved to the parking lot and things were better, but it was still not the same. We waiting until our Sanctuary had been re-painted and was available to meet and then moved back into the building with multiple smaller services that December.
For 9 months, our services had been disrupted. Fast forward to today, and we are now averaging between 110 and 120 in attendance. It took us several months to get back to our pre-covid attendance, but we are almost there and with the Lord’s help, we hope to grow beyond it.
But one thing I learned through all of this is that if we had it to do all over again with the knowledge that we now have, we would never have shut down. I came to realize how damaging that was for our church. This morning, there are still people that are a part of our church family that have not come back. If you are listening, we long for you to be here. We want you to join your church family in person and worship together with us. We are praying for you and we promise you that you will not be made to feel less Christian or be demeaned for not coming to church.
However, what I learned through this was the importance of gathering as the physically present body of Christ, even if it means risks to our health or perception in the community. You see, some things are just too important. Some things trump even what the people around us think about us.
We allowed essential services to continue during the shut-downs, and I would argue that there is no more essential service than the gathered church meeting together!
This morning, we are going to see what Paul had to say about that. He missed being with the believers in Thessalonica. He longed to see them. We are going to also see who it is that is behind the separation of our church gatherings. So let’s turn to 1 Thessalonians and dive in.
17 But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face,
18 because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us.
19 For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?
20 For you are our glory and joy.
Pray.
In this short passage, Paul packs a punch and teaches us three things.
To recognize the need for corporate worship
To cultivate a desire for corporate worship
To resist hindrances to corporate worship
Let’s take a look at the first thing he teaches us.
1. Recognize the Need for Corporate Worship (v.17)
1. Recognize the Need for Corporate Worship (v.17)
Remember, again, back to Acts 17 and what had happened to Paul. It may seem that Paul was only in Thessalonica for a day when you read the text there, but that wasn’t the case. He stayed for many days and even got a job as a tent maker there in the city. He had bonded with the believers and shared a common faith with them in the Lord. They shared fellowship with each other and a common purpose. They were a real church and worshiped the Lord Jesus Christ together.
Paul says in v. 17 that he was “torn away” from the brothers. This shows us the forceful removal Paul had to endure from the believers because of the circumstances. He didn’t want to leave, but had to because of the mob that was coming for him.
I believe without question that Paul would have willingly laid down his life for this church, but they knew that would not accomplish anything in this situation, so they decided to sneak him out of the city.
Paul longed to be with the believers in person and see them face-to-face. He understood that this wasn’t just a desire that he had like you or I might start craving certain foods or want to go to a certain restaurant.
Illustration:
We often joke about pregnant women and their weird cravings, but it is a true phenomenon that, when a woman is pregnant, she starts to desire some weird combinations of food choices. She may like things that she never liked before and then will never like again when she isn’t pregnant.
We don’t have to be pregnant to have a craving for a certain food or restaurant. We might have a craving for going and doing a certain hobby we enjoy that we haven’t been able to do for a while.
These are all cravings, and while our pregnant wife might say that she needs a particular type of food, that isn’t really a need that is a life or death need. I guess that is unless you don’t go get what she asked for!
But did you know that worshiping together is something that we absolutely cannot live without? There is no substitute for worshiping together. It cannot be replaced by books, podcasts, online services, or anything else.
It is critical for your spiritual development. It is a part of why you were made and what your purpose is. You were made to worship God and you were made to worship Him with other people.
Hebrews teaches us the need we have for worshiping together.
24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,
25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Notice that the Bible says we need to consider how to stir up one another to love and good works. When I can’t see you, I can’t tell how you are really doing. We often will talk on the phone with people or text with them and ask how they are doing and get the standard “ok” response. That doesn’t really mean they are ok. But we can’t really tell that from this poor form of communication.
Have you ever sent a text message to someone and then got a response back from them and you wondered if they were mad at you? The way they worded something left you thinking about what they said and it was unclear. Now, if you had been talking to them in person, you could have determined what they meant with the same words by their voice inflection and by their body language.
The same holds true for whether or not a person is really doing ok when they tell you that they are. You can see if they are slumped over and sound sad that they might not really be ok.
We need to be with each other in person to stir one another up to love and good works. We need to encourage one another.
In the passage in Hebrews, the flow of the argument is actually related to their faith. There were believers who were considering throwing in the towel and leaving the faith. They were considering going back to their old way of life and the author was telling them to hold fast to their faith and encourage each other, and all the more as the day got closer. As the times get harder.
It is getting harder to be a Christian in this world we live in. I saw just yesterday an article that said that a lawmaker in Denmark is on trial because she believed in the Bible and she called certain lifestyles sin. The warning she gave was for countries like the United States to not believe that is can’t happen here too. We may have the 1st Amendment, but that doesn’t mean people won’t mis-interpret what that liberty really means for us.
But I wonder if there are some of you that are experiencing the difficulty of being a Christian and you are also considering throwing in the towel. The church growth “experts” say that churches should stop focusing on those members that quit coming during the shut downs and have not come back to church. We have to move on and realize that those people will never really come back. Either they were lost and not really saved and don’t care, or they have convinced themselves that church is not essential in their lives, that it isn’t a need. In any case you will not get those people back and you need to move on.
Maybe they are right, but I hope that isn’t true for any of you. For any who may be listening online, we are grateful for you being here. We love you. We want you to be with us in person because we want to stir you up to love and good works. We want to develop relationships with you and walk through this tough life with you.
I hope that you are saved. I hope you are trusting in Jesus and you are leaning on Him as the rock of your faith. I also hope that you will grow deeper in your walk with Jesus. I am convinced that if you will, you will discover that God wants you to be in the body of Christ with local believers. He wants you to be a part of His work and to be encouraged by others who share your faith. I believe he wants to use what you have gone through to lift others up and help them in their walk with Jesus as well.
So I give you this invitation. Please come back and join us. Please check us out for the first time or the fiftieth time and consider becoming a part of this great family of God here at Bethlehem.
2. Cultivate a Desire for Corporate Worship (vv.17, 19)
2. Cultivate a Desire for Corporate Worship (vv.17, 19)
That brings us to the second thing we need to cultivate. We need to cultivate a desire for corporate worship.
Even though Paul had to be separated from the believers in his physical presence, he wasn’t separated from them in his desire to be with them. We get a glimpse of this with the words he uses in verse 17.
He says that they had to be “torn away.” This means it wasn’t voluntary. It was a forceful removal from their presence due to circumstances. But notice how he responded.
He says in v. 17, we endeavored more eagerly with great desire. Paul realized that this separation was a temporary separation and while he was a part from them, he longed to be with them. He desired their fellowship.
Brothers and sisters, do you desire to be with each other? Do you want fellowship with other believers.
What Paul means in saying that they endeavored with great desire is that they tried often to meet with the believers and were not able. But, they didn’t give up. They didn’t stop trying.
Some people have stopped trying to meet together. Some people could honestly say that they are ok if they never meet together again. Is that you? If it is, repent. If it is, pray for God to give you a new heart and a different spirit.
Brothers and sisters, let me tell you that heaven is not going to be an online gathering. There will be no livestreams in heaven. You will either be there in person or you won’t be there at all.
If the local worship gathering of believers is supposed to resemble what heaven is going to look like, then doesn’t that also include being physically present in the service?
Now, I say that you have to cultivate a desire to meet together. You may not have that desire to start with, but let me encourage you that it will grow as you get to know your church family more and more.
Think of it like a family reunion. Most of us have been to one before. We might dread them or not care too much about seeing the people that are there. It’s mostly our older family members that love them and want us to go. Why? Because they know everyone and how everyone there is connected.
I remember as a young boy going to these reunions on my mom’s side of the family in South Carolina. My grandfather had several siblings and that meant for a really large gathering. I didn’t know have the cheek pinchers there, but they knew me. I had to go. My parents took us there and we didn’t get a say so. It was awkward at times, because I didn’t understand the connection of everyone or know who everyone was.
Now that I am the one who has a bunch of kids, I can only imagine one day what our gatherings are going to look like. I will love being with my children and grandchildren. I can imagine though that a few generations down the line, my great-grandchildren might not care too much about seeing people on the distant branches of their family tree. They won’t know them as well or be as close.
Did you know that in heaven we will all know each other. We won’t be distant. We will love and care about every person that is there. And on this earth, you can practice getting to know the people that you are going to spend forever with. You will find that as you get together with other believers over and over again you will get to know them and care for them. As you pray for them, you will develop a love for them.
You see, we live in an age where if anything is hard, we should quit trying. If a player can’t get a starting spot on a a sports team, these days they just enter the transfer portal. Some Christians today are doing the same thing. They are hitting the church transfer portal and going to a place they can blend in and get lost in the crowd. It is no longer about the relationships, but more about the services the church offers. And now ith online services, people can get their religious fix real quick online and never leave their home. They are stuck in the portal and never transfer to the destination they are trying to reach.
Don’t be that person. We need to be with each other. It isn’t a suggestion, it’s a command. It’s an imperative. Don’t forsake the assembling of the saints, and all the more as the Day draws near.
3. Resist the Hindrance to Corporate Worship (v.18)
3. Resist the Hindrance to Corporate Worship (v.18)
That brings us to the last thing. We must resist the hindrance to corporate worship. What is that hindrance.
We could say it’s time. We could say it’s fear. We could say it’s covid. The truth is that these things are all symptoms of what is really hindering us.
What is really hindering our gathering is a person. His name is Satan. He is the one that hindered Paul.
Paul writes in v. 18 that they often tried to come to the church, but Satan hindered them time and again. Why? Because he knows how important it is for us to gather.
Illustration:
John MacArthur’s church in California facing fines and penalties for meeting
Application:
We need to meet. Satan knows it and he will do whatever he can to stop us from meeting.
But, Satan can be stopped. The Bible says to resist the devil and he will flee. Worship through the resistance and he will run. He cannot stand the genuine, heartfelt praises of the saints.
Conclusion:
Martyn Lloyd Jones story of why we need to meet in person.