Back in the Game

This morning is a special morning as it is our annual Back in the Game Sunday.  In the next few minutes, we are going to be looking back at the previous 11 months and looking forward to the next church year that will begin in October. 

 

BTW, why do we do this every year?  That’s a great question.  We need to be reminded at least every year, why we exist and what is our job. 

 

But Bro. Richard, that’s boring.  We have already heard that.  Great!  Let’s get to work. 

 

Brothers and sisters, can I suggest to you that as followers of Christ, there is a very real temptation to grow bored with following Jesus daily.  Our culture has conditioned us to long for the mountain top experience.

 

While there are plenty of mountain top experiences in following Christ, many days would not be described that way.  However, we are called to follow any way and every single day, and so I want to remind you of that today, and encourage you to embrace the challenge of following Christ every day not just on the mountain top.

 

In addition to looking back and looking forward, we will remember why we exist at EBC and find our purpose in Matthew’s Gospel, and I will be encouraging you to get “Back in the Game!”

 

 

Looking Back

In 2022-2023, God was kind to us and God blessed us, and we need to celebrate that.  Specifically, we need to celebrate some individuals and some families.

 

In today’s bulletin, you will find a Back in the Game Brochure.  Please find that and notice on the very back panel.  In 2022-2023, God added 21 new members to Emory Baptist Church.  Of those 21, 5 were baptized by immersion and after salvation.  Praise the Lord!

 

 

Looking Forward

Not only do we want to look back, but we also want to look forward.  In that same brochure from your bulletin, you will find some ministries and events that we hope you will consider joining. 

 

First, our largest and in many ways, our most important ministry at Emory Baptist Church is our Sunday School Small Groups. 

 

In this next church year, we will have 21 Sunday School Small Groups.  I cannot say enough about the importance of you as an individual and as a family, as adults and teenagers, and children, of being part of one of these small groups that meet every Sunday morning at 9:15 AM all over our property.

 

Beginning in September, almost all of those adult options will be studying the Gospel of Mark.  Therefore, you don’t have to worry about different classes teaching different subjects.  You simply decide on which teacher and which class members you like the best. 

 

On Sunday mornings, we began a new sermon series last week in Philippians, and that will continue next Sunday and through the fall.  On Sunday evenings, we will continue to study Deuteronomy. 

 

 

Why Does EBC Exist and What is Your Purpose?

More than informing you about calendars and schedules, I want to remind you of our purpose at EBC and why we exist and challenge you to get back in the game.  God’s Word tells me that EBC exists for three reasons, and these three reasons could also be considered or called our purposes.

 

However, they aren’t just the three purposes for our church.  They are also the three purposes for every EBC member. 

 

Therefore, we exist and you exist to love God, love people, and make disciples.  Summer is over.  Vacations are done.  School has started.  Sports and band have begun so it is time to get back in the game.

 

 

1. Love God, Matthew 22:36-38!

36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”  37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment.

 

Our first purpose and expectation is to love God.  In Matthew 22, Jesus was asked by a lawyer what is the great commandment in the law. 

 

In short, Jesus responded with love God.  You are to love Him with everything you are.  You are to love Him with your heart and your soul and your mind.  Consequently, this is the first and greatest commandment.

 

How do we love God?  The answer is worship.  We love God by worship individually and worshipping collectively as a church.    

 

Paul called every follower of Christ to worship God individually in Romans 12:1.

 

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

 

The NIV says presenting your bodies to the Lord is proper worship.  The NASB also reads this way.

 

Monday through Saturday, my challenge to you is to love God by worshipping Him individually with your daily living.  That includes your job and your marriage and your family and your school and your games and your entertainment and your finances and your health.  Love God.

 

We are also to love God by worshipping collectively as a church.  Hebrews 10:25 contains a warning for me and you.

 

25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

 

This verse contains a command not to forsake the assembling of the saints in worship when they meet.  In other words, make sure Sunday worship is a priority for you and your family. 

 

It is so sad and such a terrible indictment on the local church today that regular worship attendance has dropped to once or twice a month.  That’s not how you would play a game.  You don’t just play half the game.  As a player, you should be ready to play the entire game. 

 

Therefore, Brothers and Sisters, don’t settle for once or twice a month.  If you are a member of EBC, I want to challenge you to be here each and every Sunday. 

 

Don’t forsake this assembly.  Make Sunday worship a higher priority than your recreation and your work. 

 

I know…you’re busy, and you’re tired.  Guess what?  You’re in good company. 

 

The bottom line is that you need this church and this church needs you.  Love God by worshipping Him individually and worshipping Him collectively. 

 

 

2. Love People, Matthew 22:39-40!

39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

 

In answering the lawyer in Matthew 22, Jesus didn’t stop with love God.  He added love people too.  He said the second is like the first.  In addition to loving God, your job is also to love your neighbor.  In other words, love people. 

 

How can you love people at EBC?  You can be a part of one of those 21 small group Sunday School classes.  You can love people through fellowship.  You can love people through life experience and discussion and learning of God’s word. 

 

We need one another, and God’s word confirms such.  See 1 Corinthians 12:14-18.

 

14 For in fact the body is not one member but many.  15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? 18 But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.

 

This is the body of Christ.  You can love people with your participation in one of our small groups.

 

You can also love people by serving them through ministry.  Did you know that if you have been born-again, God has given you at least one spiritual gift that is to be used in serving this body of believers?  See 1 Corinthians 12:7.

 

1 Corinthians 12:7, 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all.

 

God has given each member a spiritual gift from the Holy Spirit to be used in serving or for the profit or benefit of all, the entire body. 

 

Brothers and sisters, how are you serving?  In the choir?   In the Prayer Room?  Through Backpack Buddies?  Through Little Free Pantry?

 

How are you loving people through service and ministry?  Don’t just come and sit.  Go and serve.

 

 

3. Make Disciples, Matthew 28:19-20!

Matthew 28:19-20, 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

 

You can know what Jesus said in Matthew 28 was important because it was the last thing He said to us.  Not only do we exist to love God and to love people, but we also exist to make disciples. 

 

That starts with sharing the gospel, and that is not just the responsibility or obligation or ministry of some but of all.  BTW, come this next Wednesday night, and I will share with you the absolute easiest way to share the gospel. 

 

If you’ve been saved, the power of the Holy Spirit has come upon you.  If that is true, you are to be His witnesses. 

 

Every believer is to be a verbal witness.  God gave you a testimony to share.

 

You received the gospel.  Share the gospel. 

 

We also make disciples by small group Bible studies.  That can happen on Sunday mornings or Monday nights or Tuesday nights or Wednesdays.

 

God called you as a disciple.  Then He called you to make disciples. 

 

 

Conclusion

So I want you to leave this morning informed and challenged to get back in the game at EBC by loving God, loving people, and making disciples. Not only is this information and a challenge, but this also why we exist as a church and church members.