Responsibilities to God, Part 2

In this part of the sermon: Martin opens with a prayer and establishes the church as God's house, the pillar of truth, and the means by which God displays His wisdom. He then explains that due to recent…

A visitor's description of American religion as '3,000 miles wide and an inch deep' illustrates the superficiality and neglect of fundamental issues like church membership.

Someone who visited our country from another country and upon returning to his own home was asked, how would you describe the state of religion in America? His answer was, it's 3,000 miles wide and an inch deep. 3,000 miles. It's 3,000 miles wide.

3:21 - 3:46 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He reviews previous studies on Acts 2:41-42, highlighting that the Jerusalem church had no 'open enrollment' policy, admitting only those who gladly received the apostolic word…

The concept of 'open enrollment' in state and city universities, where anyone can enter regardless of qualifications, is used to highlight the contrast with the selective, conviction-based admission policy of the early Jerusalem church.

You know what open enrollment is in our state universities and city universities? You may not be able to read, write, or compose a sentence, but you can come in and they'll take you where you are. Open enrollment. Discriminating against no one.

5:04 - 5:19 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin provides three biblical perspectives on what believers are doing when they gather: responding to the call of the living God, coming to form God's invisible but real temple…

The hypothetical scenario of receiving a call from the White House for an audience with the President illustrates the awe, wonder, and excitement that should accompany a believer's response to God's call to worship, contrasting it with mundane distractions.

that as I drive to church, I'm not simply driving there out of habit, I'm driving there in response to the call of the God of heaven and earth. Early if you received a telephone call from the White House Sunday morning at 9 o'clock and once you were sure it wasn't one of those odd friends who plays practical games, jokes, all of us have a few of them, some of us are such to others, and you were convinced that this was a bonafide messenger out of the Oval Office, and you were told that a limousine would show up

31:11 - 31:55 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin provides three biblical perspectives on what believers are doing when they gather: responding to the call of the living God, coming to form God's invisible but real temple…

Comparing President Reagan (a sinner) to the God of the universe emphasizes the infinitely greater majesty and authority of God, underscoring why our minds should be filled with awe when approaching Him in worship.

With me? You'd be filled with a sense of awe, a sense of wonder, a sense of excitement. My friend, what's President Reagan? He's a sinner in Adam like the rest of us.

32:33 - 32:48 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin provides three biblical perspectives on what believers are doing when they gather: responding to the call of the living God, coming to form God's invisible but real temple…

The image of God's chariots bringing stones (believers) to form a temple illustrates the corporate gathering as the building of God's invisible but real temple, made glorious by God's indwelling presence.

And as I see God's chariots coming up with his stones, and I see you all getting out and walking in, I love to think of that temple coming together, each stone in its place. And what makes it glorious is not the stones. We'd all be roasting in hell if we got what we deserved. It's the presence of God who dwells among us in grace.

34:32 - 35:00 Read in full sermon

The point: Cultivate a present disposition of thankfulness when anticipating coming into God's gates and courts, allowing it to fuel enthusiastic praise.

The contrast between God's banishment of fallen angels without mercy and His provision of mercy for sinful humanity highlights the immense grace and thankfulness due to God for welcoming us into His presence.

There is the element of thankfulness. You see that God, a holy God, would do anything but banish the whole human race to everlasting darkness is a revelation of grace and mercy. The angels that kept not their first estate, He has banished. No scheme of mercy.

45:38 - 46:07 Read in full sermon

Driving home: For our God, notice, it doesn't say was. On Mount Sinai, a consuming fire. But now He's nothing but a gentle warm blanket. Harmless as a warm blanket on a winter night. No, no, a consuming fire.

The fire of Sinai is compared to 'kids play on a boy scout outing' in contrast to the infinitely more consuming fire of God's wrath that consumed the soul of His Son on Calvary, emphasizing the profound holiness and judgment of God revealed there.

And a fire that makes the smoke and the fire of Sinai look like a fire. Like kids play on a boy scout outing.

57:49 - 57:59 Read in full sermon

Driving home: He's a God before whom they fall down under the sense of the awesomeness of being in the presence of a holy God as sinners yet uncleansed from the filth of their sin. That's my Bible, folks.

A story about a pastor being accused of 'killing the spirit of worship' for stopping clapping and correcting heresy in songs illustrates the modern church's misunderstanding of reverence and awe in worship, contrasting it with a desire for 'flippancy and lightness'.

You don't like our straight-laced service here? Then you go stash your three-ring circus. I had a preacher call me this week. You wonder sometimes, Pastor, you know, as you get older, I think you get a little more disciplined over your spirit.

60:43 - 60:58 Read in full sermon