Cooking With Bob

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Cooking With Bob

• How To Cook
• Church Soup

• Why is it that many people dont attend church
  services today?
• Why should you or I go to church services on a
  regular basis?

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Yucky Beans Church Soup

• 1) Pour in...the water of our own imagination and
  distant impressions of the church.
• 2) Mix in several dashes of spices from the media
  and rumor.
• 3) Add the yucky beans of some stretching or bad
  experience we have had with the church.
• 4) Pour in the hot sauce of anger.
• 5) Mix in all the vegetables that come from our
  reasons and excuses.
• 6) Stir this all together until it is thoroughly
  blended and serve hot!

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Vegetables of Reasons and Excuses
I dont go to church services because of

• 1. Hypocrisy in the church
• 2. Cultural distance--I cant relate to it
• 3. Sundays the only day with my family
• 4. My kids dont want to go I dont want to
  embitter them by making them go
• 5. Ive had bad experiences with the church
  in the past
• 6. I want to sleep in one day a week
• 7. Church is boring
• 8. I dont have any reason to go

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1. Hypocrisy in the church

• Hypocrisy is everywhere and most likely in
  our own home--I Peter 21.
• Christians are not perfect, just forgiven--I John
  19.
• Churches are for sinners who are in the process
  of becoming more like Jesus--Colossians 35-10.
• There is a past, present and future dimension to
  our salvation--I Corinthians 69-11 II
  Thessalonians 112.
• Why cast everyone in the same light as the
  inconsistent? Do we really have the right to
  make those judgments from such a distance?
• Within the church hypocrisy should be
  confronted, but it should be done gently and
  without planks of hypocrisy in our eyes--Gal.
  61-2 Matt. 71-5.

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2. Cultural distance--
I cant relate to it

• The church services are not
  the church the people are
  the church--I
  Corinthians 12 1619.
• Christ is to be an active member in the church
  and in our lives every day--Colossians 118.
• Most importantly, it is centered on a
  relationship with Jesus--Hebrews 121-3.

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3. Sundays the only day to
spend with my family

• If we are followers of Jesus, then He is an
  active member in our family, and there is
  no conflict between the church and
  family--Ephesians 521-64.
• Some church families put the best of ingredients
  into the soup of their childrens public
  school life, and only give the bones to
  their church life--II Tim. 211-15.
• 12 ...if we endure, we will also reign with
  him. If we disown him, he will also disown us
• 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as
  one approved, a workman who does not need to be
  ashamed and who correctly handles the word of
  truth.
• If we as parents only invest in our childs
  public school life, we have made a short term
  investment that will not have eternal values or
  return--Matt. 619-21.

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4. Kids dont want to go I dont want to
embitter them by making them go

• When do most people come to know the
  Lord? (85 do so before the age of 18.)
• A child is not embittered by church attendance
  it is more often by the treatment of a parent
  and/or hypocrisy--Ephesians 64 Col. 321 Heb.
  1215.
• It is a mistake to give children choices about
  church attendance while they are in our
  home--Proverbs 226.
• Teach faithfulness and sticking with a church in
  the ebb and flow of the churchs life--Matt.
  2521 II Tim. 22 I Cor. 42 Acts 161-2
  (faithfulness is rewarded).
• Even if the church isnt perfect, teach your
  children to thrive in imperfection, not to be a
  critic and a negative influence!--II Timothy
  43-5 Romans 1211,14-18.

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George Barnas survey discovered the following

• Adults who attended church regularly as a child
  are nearly three times as likely to be attending
  a church today as are their peers who avoided the
  church during childhood (61 to 22,
  respectively).
• 63 of adults who were churched as children take
  their own children to a church, which is double
  the proportion among adults who were not churched
  and who now take their kids to church (33).
• Adults who attended church as a child are twice
  as likely as others to read the Bible during a
  typical week as are those who avoided churches
  when young and twice as likely to attend a
  church worship service in a typical week (2001).
• Adults who attended church as a child are nearly
  50 more likely to pray to God during a typical
  week than are those who did not attend church as
  children (2001).

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5. Bad experiences with the
church in the past

• Churches are all different--Revelation
  2-3 Romans 18-12 I
  Corinthians 15-7
  31-3.
• At times, any church will not function as it
  should, but that doesnt mean all
  churches are toxic, or that our past
  experiences are destined to be
  repeated--Rev. 37-13 319.
• In a healthy church, problems are corrected/the
  church grows even if it has seasons of
  difficulty--II Cor. 25-11.
• Look for a healthy church, not a perfect church,
  where the Scripture is lovingly applied and Jesus
  is the focus.

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6. I Want to sleep in one
day a week

• I may not go to bed at an
  appropriate time the rest of the
  week, so I need to make up
  for it on Sunday.
• The answer is not to make Sunday a catch up day
  for sleep the focus should be on acquiring
  healthy sleep habits during the week--Prov.
  321-24 Psalm 35 48.
• The most important response we can have is to
  value what God values and give our attention to
  the church!

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7. I Cant find a church I like,
so I dont go

• The church is not a government agency,
  it is a dynamic
  community with Jesus as
  the head, and He cant be voted out of
  office--Ephesians 122-23
  415 Colossians 118 210.
• More of the focus should be on how Jesus meets
  needs in the context of community life--Ephesians
  415-16.
• If we are believers, we cant avoid the church
  any more than we can get by without our bodies.
  I Corinthians 1214-27--Now you are the body of
  Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

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8. Church is boring
Church services dont really
catch my attention like a
concert, a sporting event, or television. I
dont need any more boredom in my life.

• Sport, concerts, television are for audiences,
  but in the church we are on stage, we are on the
  screen, we are on the playing field we are
  active!--Psalm 951-6.
• Church life is boring when we have not discovered
  the purpose of Gods church and how we contribute
  to its life--Ephesians 415-16.
• We can eliminate boredom and find great joy,
  meaning and encouragement by our involvement with
  God/His children--II Cor 73-4 Romans 1531-32.

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9. Dont have any reason to go

• This is the most honest response of all.
• It is easily addressed if we take the time to
  study Gods Word--II Peter 15 and its context.
• What is needed is to have many good reasons to be
  involved with a church.

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II Peter 12-9--Church SoupIt all starts with
Jesus

• 2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance
  through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our
  Lord. 3 His divine power has given us
  everything we need for life and godliness through
  our knowledge of him who called us by his own
  glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has
  given us his very great and precious promises, so
  that through them you may participate in the
  divine nature and escape the corruption in the
  world caused by evil desires.

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II Peter 12-9--Church Soup The Church Soup
Ingredients

• 5 For this very reason, make every effort to
  ADD to your faith goodness and to goodness,
  knowledge 6 and to knowledge, self-control
  and to self-control, perseverance and to
  perseverance, godliness 7 and to godliness,
  brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness,
  love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in
  increasing measure, they will keep you from
  being ineffective and unproductive in your
  knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But if
  anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted
  and blind, and has forgotten that he has been
  cleansed from his past sins.

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Tasty Chicken Noodle Church Soup

• 1) We begin with the water of Gods grace and
  peace through knowledge of Jesus Christ--v. 2.
• 2) We add in the heat of Gods (divine) power--v.
  3.
• 3) We put in the meat of Gods Word (His...great
  and precious promises)--v. 4 Hebrews 514.
• 4) The flavor of our soup will be seasoned by the
  salt of faith--v. 5.
• 5) We add in the vegetables of authentic
  Christian character and knowledge--vv. 5-6
  (goodness, knowledge, self-control,
  perseverance, godliness).
• 6) Finally, we add the noodles of meaningful
  relationships and interaction--v. 7 (brotherly
  kindness and love).

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Gods grace, peace, power and promises enable us
to to work out (or add to) the Christian
faith to make soup

• What does authentic church soup taste like?
• The water of Gods grace and peace --v. 2
• The heat of Gods (divine) power--v. 3
• The meat of His great precious promises--v. 4
• The salt of faith--v. 5
• The vegetables of goodness, knowledge,
  self-control, perseverance, godliness--vv. 5-6
• The noodles of brotherly kindness and love--v. 7
• Can I challenge us all to seriously examine our
  church soup and see if we have the right
  ingredients in it?

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How is our batch of church soup
doing?

• Do we have the wrong elements in it?
• If we do, we will have a very unpleasant
  experience in the church gathered, or we will
  stay away from most church services.
• The result of eating the wrong church soup is
  that we will be seriously malnourished.
• What will it take to get us to dine at Gods
  table eat of the meal He has prepared for all
  of us?
• Again, lets all seriously examine our church
  soup and see if we have the right ingredients in
  it - especially Jesus.

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Appendix
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Tasty Chicken Noodle Church Soup

• 1) The water of meaningful service--I Peter 410
• 2) The meat of His word--Hebrews 514
• 3) The spices of love, joy, peace, patience,
  kindness, goodness, faithfulness--Galatians
  522-23
• 4) The salt of profound/eternal relationship with
  Him --Psalm 23
• 5) The vegetables of authentic church
  services/actions --Acts
  242-47 Eph. 41-6 Heb. 1019-25
• 6) The noodles of meaningful relationships and
  joy-- Romans 129-16
• 7) The heat of persecution, trials,
  testing--James 12-8

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Hebrews 1019-25

• 19 Therefore, brothers, since we have
  confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the
  blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way
  opened for us through the curtain, that is, his
  body, 21 and since we have a great priest over
  the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God
  with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith,
  having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a
  guilty conscience and having our bodies washed
  with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly
  to the hope we profess, for he who promised is
  faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may
  spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
  25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some
  are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage
  one another--and all the more as you see the Day
  approaching.

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George Barnas website 4,200 young people and
adults surveyed

• ages 5 -13 32 will accept Jesus if asked to
• ages 14 - 18 4
• ages 19 - death 6
• 78 of American teens say that their parents have
  a lot of influence on their life (1997)
• 47 say their parents have the greatest influence
  on their spiritual development 16 listed their
  church 8 named peers 4 said relatives (1998)
• Nearly one-quarter of parents (24) identified
  their church or religion as a significant factor
  in their parenting (1998). In terms of born again
  Christian parents, one-third (33) maintain that
  their church or faith has been a dominant
  influence in the way they parent (1998).
• Nearly two-thirds of parents (63) said that
  their church should take on an increased role in
  assisting parents, while 57 of parents think
  that the public schools should take on an
  increased role and only 34 of parents think the
  federal government should take on an increased
  role in assisting parents (1998).
• Adults who attended church regularly as a child
  are nearly three times as likely to be attending
  a church today as are their peers who avoided the
  church during childhood (61 to 22, respectively
  --2001).