The Main Thing - A Sermon by Dr. Neil Chadwick

Scripture Reading: Psalms 95:1-10

There are some messages which need to be repeated. For example, a Pastor who, when he arrived at his new church, preached same sermon on the second Sunday as he had preached on the first. The members of the congregation thought it was strange, but didn't say anything. But when he preached the same sermon the third Sunday in a row, the Deacons asked to see him after the service. They said, "Now Pastor, it was a good sermon you preached, but we have now heard it for the third time. Is this the only sermon you have?" "No," the Pastor responded, "but when you begin to act on this one, then I'll preach another."

This story reminds me of another, this time a true story. A number of years ago I listened to Juan Carols Ortiz tell what happened in his church in Argentina one Sunday morning. He got up to preach and said, "The message for today is, 'Love One Another'", and then he sat down. Everyone just sat there waiting for what would happen next - I guess they weren't accustomed to such a short sermon! So the Pastor got up again and said, "The message for today is, 'Love One Another'", and then again sat down. The third time he went to the pulpit he said, "The message for today is, 'Love One Another', and until we begin doing that, there won't be any more messages."

Slowly, a rather strange thing happened. People began turning to one another, talking with each other, praying for each other, and even opening their wallets and giving money to those near them who were going through difficult times financially. Eventually, they did hear other messages from the Pastor, but they did learn that important messages bear repeating.
This is a bit how I feel as once again I want to speak concerning the matter of worship.

Not too long ago I heard someone say, "The Main Thing is to keep the Main Thing the Main Thing!"

Of course the question is, "What is the Main thing"? With out a doubt, for the church of Jesus Christ, the "Main Thing" is "Worship".
Yes, Evangelism is important - but why do we want to get people saved? Just so they can have a better life? No, so they can be brought into right relationship with God, so they can fulfill their eternal destiny, to worship God.

Yes, Education is important - but what are we going to teach? We need to teach people the revealed truth about God so that when they worship Him, they know who they are worshipping, and they are given right reasons to worship Him.

Yes, Fellowship and Caring are important - but what is it that binds us together and provides the necessary love to cause us to lay down our lives for our brethren? It is our common and collective experience of coming into the presence of God in worship.

Several times in Scripture, we are given exhortations to worship God.
For example, in both 1 Chronicles 16:29 and Psalms 29:2 we have this exhortation, "Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness."

And Psalms 99:5 says, "Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his footstool; he is holy."

But Jesus also speaks directly about worship when He answers the temptation put to Him by Satan in the wilderness. "Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: `Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'" (Matthew 4:10)

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