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Hebrews 11:13-16

Count it All Joy, when we assemble

Many come to church with attitudes that are not very edifying… By now, we all should love coming to church, and to know the responsibility we all have every time that the church is gathering…

In Worship We Should Be Joyful Psa 42:1-4 As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? 3 My tears have been my food day and night, While they continually say to me, "Where is your God?" 4 When I remember these things, I pour out my soul within me. For I used to go with the multitude; I went with them to the house of God, With the voice of joy and praise, With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast. Psa 95:1-3 Oh come, let us sing to the LORD! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. 2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. 3 For the LORD is the great God, And the great King above all gods. Psa 84:1-2How lovely is Your tabernacle, O LORD of hosts! 2 My soul longs, yes, even faints For the courts of the LORD; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Philippians 4:4 Psalm 122:1 Psalm 42:1-4 Psalm 95:1-3 Psalm 84:1-2 Isaiah 2:2-3 Isa 2:2 Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the LORD's house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow to it. 3 Many people shall come and say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. Php 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Psa 122:1 I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go into the house of the LORD."

In Worship We Should Be Joyful Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16 But sadly, many have lost that joy. They find it drudgery. Complain about how it is done. Find excuses not to attend Malachi 1:13 Mal 1:13 You also say, 'Oh, what a weariness!' And you sneer at it," Says the LORD of hosts. "And you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick; Thus you bring an offering! Should I accept this from your hand?" Says the LORD. Col 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Eph 5:19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,

Is Our Heart Right with God? If NO Joy in Worship Is Our Heart Right with God? Lack of joy likely means our heart is not right Matt. 5:8, Heb. 10:22 Matt. 6:24, Divided loyalties? James 4:8, 2 Cor. 13:5. Our hearts can be wrong. Our hearts can be divided. Our hearts can be clog. Mat 6:24 "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. 2Co 13:5 Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified. Jas 4:8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Heb 10:22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.

Do We Understand our Purpose for Assembling?? If NO Joy in Worship We are here to worship God! Heb. 10:24-25 Acts 20:7, 1 Cor. 11:20, 16:1-2, Why are YOU here? Wrong reasons? When we understand why we are here, it will be a pleasure to worship Him. – HIS way! Heb 10:24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 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. 1Co 16:1 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also: 1Co 16:2 On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come. Act 20:7 Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight. 1Co 11:20 Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper.

Are we spiritually minded? If NO Joy in Worship Rom 8:5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Rom 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. Rom 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Col 3:1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Col 3:2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 1Pe 2:11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, Eph 2:19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, Is God first in our lives? Eph. 2:19, 1 Pet. 2:11 Col 3:1-2; Rom 8:5-8 Do we allow the world and its allurements to make our worship “boring”? Romans 12:1-2

Have we made adequate preparation? If NO Joy in Worship Ezra 7:10, Ezra prepared his heart to seek the Lord. Psalm 122:1 Do we adequately prepare? Our lessons? Get proper rest? Pray? Seek to purify our heart? 2 Cor. 9:7, Acts 10:33, Acts 17:11 Act 10:33 So I sent to you immediately, and you have done well to come. Now therefore, we are all present before God, to hear all the things commanded you by God." Act 17:11 These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. 2Co 9:7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. Psa 122:1 I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go into the house of the LORD." Ezr 7:10 For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.

How do we feel about our brethren? If NO Joy in Worship John 13:34,35, We MUST love our brethren 1 John 4:7-11 Sadly, many let personality conflicts or problems with brethren interfere with their worship. Phil. 2:3-4, Rom. 15:1-2 1Jn 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. Rom 15:1 We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Rom 15:2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. Php 2:3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Joh 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

Is our desire for heaven what it ought to be? If NO Joy in Worship Do we live with real hope beyond this life? Are we convinced of the reality of both heaven and hell? Heb 11:13-16;1 Pet 1:3-5 Proper worship is a “taste of heaven”. Heb 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. 15 And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. 1Pe 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Is your heart right with God… In worship and in all that you do?