The Portrait of a Healthy Church
J. Gerald Harris
Hebrews 10:19-25
We used to live in a world that was totally literal. You had literal friends and literal experiences. But today we live in a virtual world. You can have virtual friends and you can have virtual experiences. For instance, you don’t have to go white water rafting literally, you can put on Virtual Reality goggles and you are immersed in a whitewater rafting adventure without getting a drop of water on you.
David Dykes tells the story about a funny email exchange about a virtual romance. A daughter emailed her dad: ‘‘Dearest Dad, I am coming home to get married soon, so get your checkbook out! As you know, I am in Australia ... and my fiancé lives in Scotland. We connected on eHarmony.com, became friends on Facebook, had long chats via email. He proposed to me on Skype, and now we’ve had two months of a virtual relationship. My beloved Dad, I need your blessing, your good wishes, and a really big wedding. Your favorite daughter, Lilly.’’
Her dad wrote back: ‘‘My Dear Lilly, Like Wow! Really? I suggest you two get married on Twitter, have fun on Snapchat, buy your kids on Amazon, and pay for it all through PayPal. And when you get fed up with this new husband, sell him on eBay! Love, Your Dad.’’
During the pandemic we started having virtual church experiences through live streaming, but the writer of Hebrews stresses that we need to have a literal experience of gathering with other believers. This passage of Scripture speaks about the importance of gathering with other believers for worship and many other things that make for a healthy church.
So. this morning I want us to think about the portrait of a healthy church. I believe that a healthy church will respond to at least four things,
I. The Call to Christian Worship
In verse 22 the writer of Hebrews says, ‘‘Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith.’’ Then in verse 25 he says, we are ‘ ...
J. Gerald Harris
Hebrews 10:19-25
We used to live in a world that was totally literal. You had literal friends and literal experiences. But today we live in a virtual world. You can have virtual friends and you can have virtual experiences. For instance, you don’t have to go white water rafting literally, you can put on Virtual Reality goggles and you are immersed in a whitewater rafting adventure without getting a drop of water on you.
David Dykes tells the story about a funny email exchange about a virtual romance. A daughter emailed her dad: ‘‘Dearest Dad, I am coming home to get married soon, so get your checkbook out! As you know, I am in Australia ... and my fiancé lives in Scotland. We connected on eHarmony.com, became friends on Facebook, had long chats via email. He proposed to me on Skype, and now we’ve had two months of a virtual relationship. My beloved Dad, I need your blessing, your good wishes, and a really big wedding. Your favorite daughter, Lilly.’’
Her dad wrote back: ‘‘My Dear Lilly, Like Wow! Really? I suggest you two get married on Twitter, have fun on Snapchat, buy your kids on Amazon, and pay for it all through PayPal. And when you get fed up with this new husband, sell him on eBay! Love, Your Dad.’’
During the pandemic we started having virtual church experiences through live streaming, but the writer of Hebrews stresses that we need to have a literal experience of gathering with other believers. This passage of Scripture speaks about the importance of gathering with other believers for worship and many other things that make for a healthy church.
So. this morning I want us to think about the portrait of a healthy church. I believe that a healthy church will respond to at least four things,
I. The Call to Christian Worship
In verse 22 the writer of Hebrews says, ‘‘Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith.’’ Then in verse 25 he says, we are ‘ ...
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