Dr. Tim Rivers

Written By Tim Rivers
 

Father, we are so glad to be in your house. We are grateful to be in your house. There's so many things that we could look back on our lives and say we should not be here, but it was your mercy. It was your grace that sustained us and we're grateful for that. Now, give us ears to hear, a heart to receive and a mind to understand what your word would say changes us from the inside out. In Jesus' name, amen. If you're smiling, you may be seated. If not, please kindly stand. There are many reasons why you're here today. All around this room, there are hundreds of people, hundreds of people watching online in the overflow and with every person. There is a reason why they are in church. If you grew up like me, you didn't have an option. I had no say so I started going to church before my umbilical cord dried up.

In fact, I texted my dad the other day and I said, Hey, actually, I said it like this, yo, at what age did you start taking me to church? This was his exact answer When you were first born, as soon as we could take you. In other words, that means as soon as they left the hospital, they took me right to church and I grew up in a time of church where there was really no reason to miss church. Rain, sun, blizzard, snow, ice, it don't matter. We'd slide into the parking lot. There was no reason we would miss church. It was just a matter of if the house of God is open, we're there. It's just one of those things, and I can tell you this, for the most part, I liked it. There were times where I was like, man, but I grew up homeschooling, so any excuse to be in the house of God was a good excuse to be with friends.

But recent research, however, has shown that there has been a decline in church attendance. In fact, this is what it says. It says, less than 30% of professing Christians now say they physically attend church weekly. Now, I know we have the advance of technology, which I love because we have hundreds of people, thousands of people really, that are watching online, and really I'm talking about the concept of checking into the house of God. Sometimes you may have to do it online, sometimes you do it physically, but most people only attend church. They only watch church, attend church. Check this out less than once a month. The average church attendance is about one in every four to six weeks. Now, this is a stark contrast from when the church first began in Acts chapter two, because the Bible tells us in Acts chapter two, verse number 46, it says, and day by day attending the temple together.

In other words, the early believers went to church every day. They couldn't get enough. They wanted to be in the house of God. They wanted to be around other believers. A study by the Pew Research Group identified four main reasons people attend church at least once or twice a month. One is for comfort in times of trouble and sorrow. One is to make me a better person. The other is so children will have a moral foundation, and this is the greatest reason here that people have given to become closer to God. Now, I want you to notice that while these reasons are good reasons to attend church, they can also be purely self-serving reasons. Think about it. I'm going to church to fulfill my needs. What is interesting about this research is that what didn't make it to the top four is the reason of worship coming to the house of God, just to simply worship God for who he is, for no other reason but to come to the house of God, just to worship. How many in here that you came to the house of God just because God is God?

I did because there may be times where I'm having a bad week and the devil is fighting me and people are fighting me, but I still come to the house of God just purely to worship God. Another reason that isn't in the top four is Thanksgiving. Think about this. The Bible says, enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. Can you think of a reason just to say thank you? The fact that you can breathe is reason enough to be thankful. The fact that you walked in here is the reason enough to be thankful. The fact that God has saved your life is reason enough to give. God, I don't need to come to church to get anything. I can simply come to church just to say thank you.

As a parent, we love to bless our children, but you know what really gets under my skin is when we bless them, when they deserve it and they don't say thank you. Sometimes the flesh gets ahold of me and I will go snatch it back and I will say, did you forget something? What is it? It starts with T. There's another reason that isn't in the top four, but it's a good reason to be in the house of God giving. I got tight. Think about this. There is nothing that you have that God didn't give you. So when you give, you're not giving God anything new. You're just giving back a little bit of the whole that he gave you. And I'm not just talking about financially, I'm talking about giving your time, your effort, your service, your praise, your worship, your thanksgiving giving is part of the reason why we come to the house of God.

Now, while church is where you can and will receive something, it is also a place where you can and should contribute something. We're not just here to drink. We're here to pour out a little bit. Here's the thing. I think many people are not motivated to come to church or at least not come to church gladly because they have not gotten comfortable with the concept, the biblical concept that it is more blessed to give than it is to receive, and we're not just talking about money. It is more blessed to give God praise than to be praised. It is more blessed to serve God than to be served. It is more blessed to pray for others than always be praying for yourself, and the house of God gives you an opportunity to be a contributor and not just a consumer. Now, we live in a world though that teaches that if I don't get anything out of the deal, I'm out. Well, here's the thing, you've already gotten more out of the deal than you deserve.

Now, we read Psalm 1 22 because I think the Psalmist David discovered something about the house of God that made him smile. This is what he says. Let's read it again. Psalm 1 22, verse number one, I was glad when they said to me, let us go to the house of the Lord. Now, I want you to look at this word glad, because this word glad is the Hebrew word ak, and it is a verb, meaning that it's an action word. It means to rejoice, to be glad, to delight and to be elated, to have a feeling or attitude of joy and happiness with a possible focus of making an outward expression of that joy. I really feel inclined to preach about you having gladness when you come to the house of the Lord. I think our culture right now is being inundated with a lot of critics toward the church, YouTube, Instagram, all social media outlets that keep attacking the institution of the church, and they're not understanding that the institution of the church was instituted by God himself and God doesn't like when you talk about his bride, talk about my wife and see what happens.

Say something about my wife and see what happens. I will, Hey, take my pastor hat off for a second. Here's the thing, my bride is mine. I love her unconditionally. God loves his church unconditionally and he is not going to tolerate a bunch of criticism. Okay, you had a bad experience. Have you ever gone to McDonald's and had cold fries? Did you stop going to McDonald's? You probably should, but God's still working on many of us because McDonald's fries, there is no competition point blank period. But the fact is the church is getting a lot of criticism and a lot of people are coming to church hesitant to be joyful because they've heard too much negative feedback about the church. But let me tell you something, we would not be here if it wasn't for the goodness of the church. So I came to preach, you should be glad when they say to you, let us go to the house of the Lord, and if you're not, I'm about to give you perspective.

Here's what David said. He said, my whole countenance changes. My whole demeanor changes. I could be having a bad day until somebody invites me to the house of God and it cheers me up. Now lemme give you a little context so you understand what's going on here. At the time of this psalm, David was entering into his twilight years. He was at the end of his life when he write this psalm. Now, what's interesting about this Psalm is that at the time when he wrote it, there was no permanent house of God. There's only a tabernacle. David in his lifetime, was only commissioned to gather all of the necessary elements to build a physical house of God, a permanent house of God. But as for him, he was only allowed to build a taber, which was a tent on Mount Sinai where the Ark of the covenant was, which represented the presence of God.

So David is writing this psalm from a personal perspective of making the ascent to Mount Sinai, what he would call the church at the time, the tabernacle, but he's also writing it with a futuristic perspective of those individuals who are to come into a physical house of God, what we today would call a church or a sanctuary. So this is what David is writing now, when David wrote this psalm, he was describing an ascent, the house of God, meaning that whatever you are dealing with when you go to the house of God, it's always an ascent. You're always going up, and this is what I was thinking about. I was reading this psalm, I thought, you know what? I've heard this psalm preached about, I've quoted it, I've sang it, but I've always been kind of curious. Why was David glad when they said unto him, let us go to the house of the Lord?

Why was he elated? Why did he smile about it? Because although we know that David was a man after God's own heart, we also know that he was acquainted with a lot of grief. Think about this is David writing. He's lamenting in Psalm chapter 12 verse one, save oh Lord, for the Godly one is gone, for the faithful have vanished from among the children of men. This is what he says in Psalm 13 verse number one, how long, oh Lord, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? Psalm chapter 22, verse one, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me from the words of my groaning? Psalm 44, verse six, for now, for not is my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me. How can somebody who has experienced such lament, such a hard time, we see him running from Saul, we see him running from Abso.

How can someone who experienced such lament still smile at the thought of going to the house of the Lord? What does he know about the house of God that cheers him up? What is it about David? What has he discovered? What secret sauce has he found in the house of God that would turn his gloom into gladness, his frown upside down, his sorrow into joy, his pity into praise, his rain into sunshine? I have to ask the question, David, what have you discovered about the house of the Lord that makes you glad? Even when you're going through trials, and I think the secret is actually found in Psalm chapter 73, verse number one, truly God is good to Israel for those who are pure in heart. But somebody said, but have you ever been in church and looked around and been like, man, God's good to everyone, but not to me. That's what he says. But as for me, my feet had

Almost stumbled and my steps had nearly slipped modern vernacular. I'm tripping. This is

Why for I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. Let's just be honest. Have you ever scrolled on Instagram and seen some people out here being ratchet, but they have all the stuff that you want and you're like, God, why? They're not even righteous, but they got riches. They're not even living right, but they got everything I want. They got the house, the car, the guy, they got everything I want. And what David was saying is when I was looking at their lifestyle and all the things that they were doing and the fact that they were prospering, and I'm looking at my life and how I'm trying to live, right, but I'm dealing with demons. It makes me trip. And then he goes on for several verses and he's like, yo, this is what they're doing and this is what they have and this is what they're doing and this is what he had.

But then Psalm chapter 73, verse number 16, this is what he says, but somebody say, but when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a worrisome task. If you try to figure out why some people seem to be blessed and their life ain't right, it'll wear you out. That's what he said. He said, until I went into the sanctuary of God, then I discern somebody, say discerned, he said, I discerned therein. David discovered that one of the primary benefits of physically coming to the house of the Lord was that it provided him the proper perspective on life. Here's what I can tell you. If you stay away from the house of God long enough, your perspective will be skewed. There's something about coming to the house of God that aligns your perspective with the will of God. It's a place that brings clarity.

It's a place that brings a smile on your face. It brings healing to your life. This is why it's very important. Can I tell you it's very important that you come to the house of God, not because we want more people in the building, but because you need proper perspective. I can tell you this, anytime the enemy is attacking you, the first thing he wants to do is draw you away from the house of God because his number one tactic since the beginning is isolating you away from where God dwells. He wanted to get Adam and Eve away from the garden. Why? Because he knew that's where God dwells, and if I can get them out of the presence of God away from the sanctuary of God, then I can entrap them. Do not fall into the trap of staying away from the house of God. No, no, no, no.

We have the benefit of looking at David's life his entire life and concluding that he had a lot of reasons to be glad to be in the house of God. He also had a lot of reasons that he could have used as an excuse not to come to the house of God, but I want to look at the life of David and I want to draw a parallel between his life and our life, and I want to share with you four reasons to be glad in the house of the Lord. Four reasons to be glad in the house of the Lord. If you take oath on once you write this down, because I truly believe somebody needs it today, but somebody may need it tomorrow. Number one, God chose me. Somebody say this with me, God. God chose me. Put your hand on your chest and say, God chose me. One good reason that David had the smile when he came into the house, Lord, is because it reminded him that he cheated the system, that he beat the odds. Think about David's life. He wasn't the king because he was smart enough, good looking enough, talented enough, strong enough, or because he was head and shoulders above the rest. He wasn't even invited to the king's audition.

He was where he was only because of the mercy and grace of God, a God who doesn't choose people based on external circumstances. He doesn't pick people based on your stature, the color of your skin, the amount of degrees you have hanging up on your wall. He doesn't choose you because you have curly hair or straight hair or because you have a goatee or a beer. You clean shaven. He doesn't choose you based on all the external measurements that men use, but God chose you just because he loves you. Think about let that sink in. Listen, when Samuel got to Jesse's house, he said, Hey, I want to see all the boys. Jesse said, all right, I'll bring you my seven best, and he brought 'em out and they looked good. They looked like they were meant to be kings. They looked like they were hardened, ready to be soldiers, ready to be captains, and Samuel said, Ooh, this one looks good, and this is what God said.

First Samuel chapter 16, verse seven, but the Lord said to Samuel, do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees, man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. I need to remind someone today to be glad and rejoice because you didn't choose God. God shows you. I always think it's funny when I hear people say, I found Jesus. I'm like, no, you got to twist it. You weren't thinking about Jesus while you were bumping and grinding in the clubs. You weren't thinking about Jesus when you were throwing down shots and forgot where you were. You weren't thinking about Jesus while you getting high as the kite. You weren't thinking about Jesus. Jesus found you. The Bible says that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly.

I get glad when I'm in the house of God. Why? Because I don't even deserve to be here. God looked through 7 billion people. He looked on at Tim Rivers and said, I walked you. God shows you the next time the enemy starts coming at you, trying to make you feel less than. You got to remind him that God chose me. God picked me. I didn't go looking for God. God looked at me. The Bible says, no one can come except the spirit draws. You didn't find Jesus. Jesus found you the same way that God found Moses in the wilderness the same way that God found David while he was shepherding sheep in the back of the pasture the same way that Jesus found Matthew collecting taxes the same way that Peter was fishing the same way that the woman was at the well. You were minding your own business and God chose you.

Listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen. I don't need nothing else. I'm just glad to be in the party. I know I cheated the system. I know it isn't because of my talent or my abilities or my degrees or my pedigree or my height or the way I look. I know good and well that I'm only here because of the mercy and grace of God. The mercy and grace of God is what chose me, and I stand in the mercy and grace of God. Don't ever think that God chose you because you got it all together. We know better. Number two, not only that, God chose me, but he anointed me.

Now, David was not only chosen and called, but he was also anointed.

Now, I know that in modern church we don't talk about anointing a lot because people kind of get creeped out. They don't understand what anointing is, but this is what I want you to notice. After Samuel evaluated the first seven sons of Jesse and none of them passed the vibe check, Samuel said, listen, God, don't ever get it wrong. So what you hiding? God just sent me. I got one more, but he's out watching She. He said, we will not even sit down until he comes and here a lot of people think that David was rejected by his father. That's why he was out there and he wasn't brought. I don't think that, I think he was loved by his father so much that his father was like, you could take any of these jokers, but don't take my David because my David, he is protecting my sheep.

He's serving me and I can't find a replacement for him. Lemme tell you something. Just because you're in obscurity doesn't mean that God has forgotten about you. In fact, he's protecting you. He's keeping you in obscurity because there are some people that just want to take advantage of your gifts and God says, no, I'm going to wait until they're ready and then when they're ready, I'm going to expose it in front of everybody. Not only will they be called, but they will be anointed and the presence of those who thought they should be in your spot, oh Lord, have mercy. First Samuel chapter 16, verse 12, look at this, and he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome, so he was a good looking guy and the Lord said, arise, anoint him for this is he.

Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers and the Spirit. Somebody say the spirit, the spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward and Samuel R up and went to Rama. Listen, God not only chose David, but he also anointed him for the assignment that he was called to do. Anoint and calling go hand in hand. You cannot be anointed unless your first call and you cannot be anointed unless you answer the call first. David did not get any promises for what was about to happen. God just said, come here. Some of us want to know what the anointing is before we the call. You ain't going to get no anointing unless you just say yes, and when you say yes, then God will bring the anointing. Now, here's what anointing is. The anointing is what enables you to walk in the power to fulfill your calling.

The Bible says that it's the anointing that breaks the yoke. It's the coding of God. It's the grace of God on your gifts and talents that God empowers you to work by the Spirit. I can do nothing without the power, the anointing power of the Holy Spirit can't pray without the anointing. I can't even prophesy without the anointing. I can't move in my life without the anointing. I don't do anything without the covering of the Holy Spirit. Some of us rely too much on our own gifts and talents without the anointing of God. No wonder it ain't working. You got to have the anointing of God. The unmerited favor of God that rests on your life should bring a smile to your face. The house of God is a reminder that not only has God called you, but he has anointed you. God not only called you into his body, but he has a work for you to do at your job. Lemme tell you, you'll be a much better employee if you rely on the anointing of God. How do I rely on the anointing of God as I'm typing these papers? Just trust your papers will be better than everybody else's. If you get the anointing of God on it.

Y'all believe me, this is what the Bible says, not by might nor by power, but by my spirit says the Lord. Listen, I didn't get here by myself. I had help. I have help. The Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost just let be old school folks, helps me every day. He's my comforter. He's my helper. He's my strategist. He's my director. He's my informant. He's my cheat code. He tells me stuff's going to happen before it happens. He gives me insight. He gives me rama. He gives me all kinds of stuff that when other people are like, I didn't know that was going to happen. I'm like, I did. Why? Because the Holy Ghost told me I got the anointing of God. How do I make it through every trial? I got anointing on my life. How'd you make it to that situation? I got the anointing of God on my life. How'd you get that house? I got the anointing of God on my life. How did your marriage make it through that? I have the anointing of God on my life. I'm not here by myself. I'm here because the Holy Spirit empowers me. That's why I'm glad when I come into the house, why do I get up here and yell and scream because I'm anointed by God?

Alright, let me behave. Point number three of why you should be glad to be in the house of the Lord. God protects me. I wish I had somebody I could testify that God has protected you. When the enemy meant you harmed, it meant you evil. God protected you. He protected your mind. He protected your life, your heart. Anyone survive a car crash that should have taken you out if it wasn't for the protection of God? Anybody ever had a disease? It didn't have a cure for it, but you had the protection of God. Anybody had escaped your abuser because the protection of God, anyone got out of a church that was mishandling you because the protection of David knew all too well about the protection of God. That's why in Psalm 23, verse four, he said, even though I walked through the valley of the shadow of death, I will what?

Fear. No evil. You know what kind of boldness you have to have to walk around in the dark like this? David said, I literally have no fear of evil. Why? Because you, rod and your staff, they comfort me. The word picture here is that when a shepherd is leading its sheep, he has a rod with him and the rod and staff are not. They're two different instruments. The rod and the staff. The rod is for leadership. The staff is to beat off and ward off anything that would try to harm the sheep. So David says, you lead me and you are beaten off my enemies. Listen, you know why I walk with confidence in my walk with God is because not only am I led by God, but I'm protected by God. That means when somebody tries to come and send me some kind of weird email about what they're going to do, I'm like, try your best because I'm protected by God. When someone says, Hey, hey, that ain't ever going to work. I'm like, well, try your best because I'm protected by God. This is what else he says. He says, surely

Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. What is he saying? He said, I'm

Being stalked by goodness and mercy. Your round and your staff, they lead me and they ward off enemies, but should I fall backwards? I get caught by goodness and mercy. Even if I stumble backwards, the protection of God is 360 coverage. I wish somebody would testify that you are protected from villains and strangers and circumstances that were sent to harm. You can say like Joseph, what you meant for evil, God turned into good. Why? Because I'm protected. The reason why I smile in the house of God, it gives me new perspective. I am protect. I would not even be here if it wasn't for the protection of God. I got so close to dying in a car accident five inches away from a pole hitting me in the face. It hit five inches behind my head when I got out of the car. I said, thank you for your protection. Somebody ought just say, thank you, God, for protecting me.

If you ain't smiling for no other reason, you ought to smile so the enemy can see. There's nothing like outsmarting your enemy and smiling at 'em. You ever been in the playground? Somebody try to get you and you duke 'em, and what do you do? You just stop to smile. How many of 'em watch those videos where somebody's playing basketball and they do a crossover? That dude's breaking ankles. They just stop for a second. Look, that's what some of y'all ought to do here in church. The next time before you clap your hands, look at the enemy and smile. You thought you were going to take me out this week, but I'm in the house of God being reminded that I am protected. You're being protected from that crazy coworkers.

Here's number four, my final point, God sustains me. Not only has he called me and chosen me, not only has he anointed me, not only does he protect me, but he sustains me. Another reason I believe David was so glad to be in the house of the Lord is because he realized the, that God sustained him through it all through every twist and turn in his life when people walked out on him, when people said that he wasn't going to make it. When people didn't believe in his gift, God sustains him. Look at Psalm chapter three, verse five. I love

This. He says, I lay down and slept. Sometimes you just need to go to sleep. Sometimes you just need to go to sleep. Thatl, go to sleep. Check this out. This is so simple. I woke up again. Why? For the Lord sustained me. Some of y'all are

Waiting for some big miracle to happen before you praise God and give him credit. David said, the simple fact that I slept and got up unharmed is reason enough for me to recognize the goodness of God. I'm glad when I come to the house of Lord, why? Because I made it one more Sunday. I'm glad when I come into the house of God. Why? Because I'm going to go to sleep tonight

And by the mercy and grace of God, I get up tomorrow. Why?

Because God sustain me. Let this verse stick in because listen, David wrote this psalm while he was fleeing from his son Absalom, who was trying to dethrone him and kill him. He wasn't in the palace, hunkered down on his feather pillow in that California king. It wasn't like David was eating grapes and drinking wine and getting fan with palm leaves while he said, I went to sleep and I woke up. God, this good. It's easy for us to praise God when we're sleeping comfortably. Oh Lord. David is in a cave sleeping on the rocks, backs hurting, waking up every two seconds, paranoid, anxious, and in the middle of that, he said, if you don't do another thing, I just recognize that I got up because you sustained me. The word sustains means to support or to keep from falling or to keep from stumbling. Literally, David says, God is the one that keeps me from crashing because the enemy is going to do its best to try to get you to stumble and fall, get you to quit, but the reason you can smile when you come into the house of God and it gets on the devil's nerves is when you recognize that the only reason you're here is because of the sustaining grace and mercy of God at a work in your life.

I'm afraid that we have gotten so spoiled in our culture that we have to have all this stuff before we're glad to be in the house of God. God, I need you to come through on my application, Keisha. I want the scholarship. I want the house. I want the guy or girl, or I'm not coming to church and God's like, oh, you breathe it because the only prerequisite for praise is let everything that has breath somebody take a breath in, breathe out. You are qualified to give God praise. Why? Because if you have breath, the only reason

You got breath is because God sustained you. I wish I had five or six people that would stand at their feet and give God praise because God sustained you.

I am just here because I want to remind

Somebody that you got a reason to smile. You got a reason to be joyful. You got a reason to give God praise. I know it may not be what you wanted to be yet, but God has kept you. God

Chose you. God anointed you and God will sustain you. I'm not here because I'm trying to play games.

Mother Ross, you're here because God sustains you waiver that handkerchief because you know that God sustains through every turn through ever twist in life, oh my Lord. Philippians chapter one, six, I'm closing. Please stand on your feet. Hallelujah. There's somebody that knows about the sustaining power of Jesus. That's somebody who knows what it's like to be

Taught.

Give him 30 seconds. You can take 30 seconds to give God praise however you want to. Hey, here's what's funny, what's funny, some of y'all,

I don't know what you're mad at, but you're showing it and I'm looking at Mother Ross who's about to celebrate the home going the one year anniversary, the home going of her husband tomorrow, she's in the house of God. He passed right before their 50th anniversary. She's in the house of God giving God praise in the front, and some of y'all won't smile because you didn't get verified on

Instagram.

You got all the reason to give God praise, so we're going to give you 30 more seconds to smile, be lamb, rejoice, and give God praise.

We give

You something. Sometimes people wonder how people get so excited. If you could peer into their life and see how God has worked in their life, you would understand why. I'm not ashamed to be up here yelling and screaming and sweating. I've got too many reasons, right? I've got too many reasons to give God praise, so I will be glad when they say to me, let us go into the house of Lord. I'm going to close with this. The picture here is that sometimes you got to smile even when you don't feel like it. Sometimes. You just got to let your actions lead your emotions.

Tim Rivers
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