January 21, 2018 - - Matthew 7:21 Examining your urgent need for church
/Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,'
shall enter the kingdom of heaven,
but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
Matthew 7:21 NKJV
How many versions and remixes of "Peter Pan" have you seen? Godzilla? Halloween? You get the idea, right? From various movie-making factories the same stories are endlessly repeated, new actors playing familiar characters. We willingly, mindlessly, watch and hear these repetitions. Foolishly paying good money to see and hear the same old story over and over again.
Many people claim to hate church because it is so repetitive. What we really hate is having our core beliefs examined. We say we believe, but we act in ways that directly contradict the things we say. We say we hate adultery, but our entertainment is adulterous. We say we hate idolatry, but we worship our favorite foods, movie stars, hockey teams, and so on.
Today, right now, Jesus, the Captain of our Salvation, is calling out to *somnambulant people: wake up! Examine your core beliefs and your actions!
(*somnambulant--sleep-walking, sluggish, lazy)
We are not Christians because we say we are Christians. We are Christians when God takes hold of us in Christ and the Spirit changes us from the inside out. When the Spirit of God cleanses us, our thinking changes and our actions change. Our words and actions will line up with God's Word and His ways.
This Sunday, get to a Bible-believing church. This Sunday, break the old habits and old patterns which keep you sleep-walking through this life. Understand Who Jesus really Is. There is a such an emphasis on physical fitness in our culture--I challenge you, get spiritually fit. Work on your core so that your words and your actions will more truly line up, and so bring glory of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
God of Splendour and Dreadful Majesty, the people around me can see what is consistent and what is out of step with my faith. By Your Spirit, hold up the mirror I need--the perfection of Jesus and His Salvation--so that belief, words and actions will more truly align. Forgive my sleep-walking. Forgive my sputtering commitments. As a gym gladly welcomes out-of-shape newbies to starter work-outs, help my congregation welcome out-of-shape newbies to be introduced to Jesus, Who by His Spirit re-makes us and bring into joyful relationship with our Father in heaven. Amen.
