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There was a time when I hated coming to this church! My parents made me come, but I hated being here. I could hardly wait to get out of church so I could play basketball and have a good time. But one day I encountered Jesus Christ. Jesus forgave my sins and changed my heart. Now I love being in church. Now I know that all young people need to be in church every Sunday! I need to be here in church and so do you!

In this time of apostasy the church seems strange to many young people. Church even seems unimportant to many so-called “Christians.” Those in campus “Bible study” groups at college or high school say we are wrong. They don’t like our emphasis on being in church every Sunday. They call us “legalists.” They don’t even know what the term means theologically. It’s just a word they throw at us in their ignorance. They don’t want us to be loyal to our church every Sunday. I totally disagree with them! I believe in the absolute necessity of the church. Jesus said,

“Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).

Christ was speaking of the local church in Jerusalem. Jesus said, “I will build my church.” Christ came to build churches and nothing else! Christ did not come to build campus Bible studies! Because nothing else can take the place of the church!

Young people need to be in church every Sunday! I need to be in church every Sunday. You need to be in church every Sunday. We are sometimes criticized for telling people they belong in church. The truth is often criticized. So I’m going to say it anyway – because it is the truth! You and I need to be in this church. We need to be here every time the door is open. It will change your life for the better. It will change your life forever! My life was changed for the better because of this church! My mother was saved in this church. My mother met my father in this church. My parents were married in this church. They raised a family they would have never had. In this church they lived a real life. Come and stay. Come and see what Jesus can do for you – in this church.

Someone may say, “But I’m not a Christian. I should wait until I become a Christian before I come to church.” Absolutely not! That idea is from the Devil! The Devil is a liar. If you are sick should you wait until you are better to go to the hospital? The Devil polishes a lie until it gleams like the truth. Even if you are not a Christian, you need to be in this church! If you are not a Christian, you need to be in this church every Sunday!

Someone may agree quite strongly. After all, he already goes to church every Sunday. He has satisfied what is required. All he has to do now is wait until it is time to go home. Jesus seemed to have a different idea. Jesus said, “Compel them to come in.” Jesus did not tell us to give Gospel tracts. Tracts are not wrong. I gave out thousands and thousands of tracts. This church gave out a million tracts. But the people that have come into our church did not come in through a tract. Christ said, “Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled” (Luke 14:23). If you are here, someone went and invited you. Someone did more than just pass out a tract. Someone really cared about you. Someone was really interested in helping you. Someone obeyed what Christ said. Christ told us to bring you to church!

Many of you were brought to church this morning. It is the first time some of you have ever been in a Gospel-preaching church. Why did we go out? Why did we approach you? Why did we invite you? Why did we pick you up? Why did we bring you to church? We did it because Jesus told us to! Jesus said, “Go out…and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.” I don’t care who criticizes that. I care about what Jesus thinks. And Jesus wants us to bring you to church. And therefore we are going to continue inviting people to church! Christ told us to bring you to His house, “the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (I Timothy 3:15).

Even if you are not a Christian, you need to be in this Gospel-preaching church. There are at least four reasons you need to be in this church every Sunday.

I. First – church is the best place to be on Sunday.

Sunday is the day Christ rose from the dead. It was the first day of the week on the Roman calendar. The early Christians met together “upon the first day” of each week. Just like in our church, the early Christians met together on other days. But they set aside Sunday for a special reason. They set Sunday apart to remember the resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday.

Church is the best place to be on Sunday. That may seem strange to you. You come out of modern society. Almost everything is against being in church on Sunday. People run marathons on Sunday morning. The best sporting events are scheduled on Sunday. The best concerts happen on a Sunday. Big parties happen on a Sunday. Many of your friends go hang out on Sunday. Your family does their special events on Sunday. Your professor want you to study on Sunday. Your boss wants you to work on Sunday. But Sunday is the Lord’s Day. Sunday belongs to Jesus. On Sunday, you need to be in this church!

It may sound hard when a preacher tells you to be in church every Sunday. I used to hate coming to church. I felt that church was a chore. But now I know church is the best place to be on Sunday. The best place to be every Sunday!

Church is the best place to be if you want to become a real Christian. Church is the best place to be if you want to become a strong Christian. Church is the best place to be to worship God. Church is the best place to be to help other people. Church is the best place to be to make a difference. Church is the best place to be to work for something that matters. That’s why I need to be in church on Sunday. That’s why you need to be in church on Sunday.

Let others say that they worship God at the beach. Let others say they find God at a park. But I say,

“In the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee”
       (Hebrews 2:12).

Church is the best place to spend Sunday – every Sunday!

II. Second – church is the best place to learn the Bible and
about true Christianity.

Many people who come to our church say that they want “to learn more.” In my experience, that is often not true. People say they want to learn more as an excuse. An excuse to make church nothing more than an activity. An excuse to prevent church from being important. An excuse for not getting serious about the things of God.

If you are serious about learning more, then there is no better place to be than in church on Sunday. The church is where you learn the Bible. The church is where you learn about Christ.

Nobody learns more about Jesus at a wild party. Nobody learns the Bible while playing video games at a friend’s house. Nobody learns about real Christianity on the beach. You will not learn about Jesus there! You learn about Jesus at church! If you are serious about learning the Bible, be in church! Church is the best place to learn about true Christianity – every Sunday! Jesus said,

“Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled” (Luke 14:23).

III. Third – church is the best place to hear the Gospel.

I know that some people get saved outside of church, and then come to church. But the number is very small. Dr. Vance Havner was a famous Southern Baptist preacher. He said, “It’s hard to win to the church those not won through the church” (Vance Havner, Repent or Else!). Almost everyone in our church got saved by coming to church to hear the Gospel. How many people here this morning got saved in a church service? Will you stand? You may be seated. Now, how many of you got saved somewhere else – outside of a church service? Will you stand? You may be seated. You can see that almost everyone here this morning got saved in church. That is why church is the best place to hear the Gospel of Christ. That is why church is the best place to be to find Jesus.

In every church service we tell people how to be saved,

“For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (I Corinthians 2:2).

We preach Christ in every service, Sunday morning and Sunday night, year after year, decade after decade, Christ is our message. You cannot come to our church without hearing the Gospel of Christ.

Christ died on the Cross to pay the penalty for your sins. Jesus shed His Blood so your sins could be washed clean. Jesus died for you. But then Jesus rose physically from the dead. Jesus ascended into Heaven, where He is now seated at the right hand of God.

How can you be saved? Repent and trust Jesus. The Apostle Paul gave the same simple advice. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Jesus said,

“Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled” (Luke 14:23).

IV. Fourth, church is the best place to make friends you can trust.

Life is a lonely place for young people today. There are very few people you can count on. The city is dangerous. There are so many ways to have your life ruined forever. There are so many ways to never really live life at all. Where are you going to meet people you can count on? Where are you going to find people who will really be there for you? Where will you meet your wife? Where will you meet your husband? Where will you meet the people who will be in your life? Will you meet them at a bar? Will you meet them at a rave? Will you meet them while doing drugs? Where are you going to find friends you can trust? My father was alone in this world. He did not have anyone he could rely on. But then he came to this church. In this church he met my mother. In this church he raised his family. In this church he lived a real life. Come on home – to church! This is the place where you will find people with “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22-23). Come on home – to church! You will find some real friends you can trust here at our church!

Come to our church because it is the best place on earth to make good friends – so you won’t be lonely. That’s the fourth reason you ought to be in our church every Sunday. Jesus said,

“Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled” (Luke 14:23).

Please stand and sing hymn number seven on your song sheet,

Come home to Jesus, the table is spread;
Come home to dinner and let us break bread.
Jesus is with us, so let it be said,
Come home to dinner and let us break bread!
Come home to the church and eat, Gather for fellowship sweet;
It’ll be quite a treat, When we sit down to eat!

The fellowship’s sweet and your friends will be here;
We’ll sit at the table, our hearts filled with cheer.
Jesus is with us, so let it be said,
Come home to dinner and let us break bread!
Come home to the church and eat, Gather for fellowship sweet;
It’ll be quite a treat, When we sit down to eat!

The big city people just don’t seem to care;
They’ve little to offer and no love to spare.
But come home to Jesus and you’ll be aware,
There’s food on the table and friendship to share!
Come home to the church and eat, Gather for fellowship sweet;
It’ll be quite a treat, When we sit down to eat!

Come home to Jesus, the table is spread;
Come home to dinner and you will be fed.
Your friends will be waiting, so let it be said,
Come home to dinner and let us break bread!
Come home to the church and eat, Gather for fellowship sweet;
It’ll be quite a treat, When we sit down to eat!
   (“Come Home to Dinner” by Dr. R. L. Hymers, Jr.,
      to the tune of “On the Wings of a Dove”).

Come back tonight at 6:15! Come back tonight and have dinner with us! We’re going to have a great time! And be sure to come back to church next Sunday.

But coming to church is only the first step. Coming to church is an important step, but coming to church is not the only thing you need. You need an encounter with Jesus. Let me tell you how I met Jesus. I had grown up in a good church – but I had not been saved by Jesus. I believed in God. I had believed things about Jesus. But I was still not a Christian. But then God began to work on me. My world all around me began to crumble. The Holy Spirit was definitely convicting me of my sins, but with my entire will I fought all thoughts about God. I resisted all thoughts about conversion. I saw the ways I had affected my friends, my family, and myself: my sin was all around me. I myself was a disease. My sins became less and less the bad things that I had done. And my sin became more and more who I was. I was a rebellious sinner. I was a proud and angry sinner. I was a sinner by nature and by choice. I could feel my sin pushing me down to Hell. But I could not trust Jesus by the force of my will. I was stubbornly trying to do it my way.

Then suddenly the words of a sermon came to my mind. Softly the words of that sermon said, “Yield to Christ! Yield to Christ!” The thought of Jesus suffering to save me broke my stubborn will. The thought of Jesus dying to save me – broke me to the very foundation of myself. I could not hold onto myself any longer. I had to have Jesus! In a moment it seemed as if I had to let my stubborn self, die. Then Jesus gave me life! This was no action or will of my mind. Only when I stopped trusting myself, could I trust Jesus. My heart rested in Jesus Christ. In that moment Jesus saved me! He washed my sin away with His Blood! Jesus took away my hate, my anger, my rebellion – and gave me love instead. Jesus came to me, and for this I will not leave Him. Amen. Dr. Hymers, please come and close this service.

(END OF SERMON)
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Click on “Sermon Manuscripts.”

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These sermon manuscripts are not copyrighted. You may use them without Dr. Hymers’
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Scripture Read Before the Sermon by Mr. Aaron Yancy: Luke 14:16-23.
Solo Sung Before the Sermon by Mr. Benjamin Kincaid Griffith:
“Come Home to Dinner” (by Dr. R. L. Hymers, Jr.,
to the tune of “On the Wings of a Dove”).