Don't you blog anymore?!?!

I hear this over and over and I guess I just got lazy or didn't have a lot to share. I do still go to church and there have been several sermons that I thought I would write about but I get distracted by life and put it on the back burner. Well...today you are in for a treat...2 sermons wrapped into one.

A couple of weeks ago the sermon was titled "The next 30 years". It was about whether we are going to stay on the path we are on...trying to achieve more money, a better job, a picturesque marriage. Deciding between being successful or being significant. We need to be willing to answer the call of God on our lives and not look to the person beside us and say...send them instead. He quoted Leonard Sweet with "Leaders are not made or created but called". We need to make a significant impact on the people around us. Being successful is great but wouldn't it be better to be significant. We can start today so that the next 30 years will be the best years of our life. (a little Tim McGraw lyric basis)

This weeks' sermon probably deserves a blog entry all to itself because of the impact it had on our church and congregation. The service started when our associate pastor, Mark, our choir director, Jerry and another member from the choir, Kim, sang "Crucified with Christ"...it should be playing on the blog right now, so turn up your volume.

As I look back on what I thought was living
I'm amazed at the price I choose to pay
And to think I ignored what really mattered
Cause I thought the sacrifice would be too great
But when I finally reached the point of giving in
I found the cross was calling even then
And even though it took dying to survive
I've never felt so much alive.

CHORUS:

For I am crucified with Christ and yet I live
Not I but Christ that lives within me
His Cross will never ask for more than I can give
For its not my strength but His
There's no greater sacrifice
For I am crucified with Christ and yet I live

VERSE 2:

As I hear the Savior call for daily dying
I will bow beneath the weight of Calvary
Let my hands surrender to His piercing purpose
That holds be to the cross but sets me free
I will glory in the power of the cross
The things I thought were gain I count as loss
And with His suffering I identify
And by His resurrection power I am alive

(CHORUS)

BRIDGE:

And I will offer all I have
So that His cross is not in vain
For I found to live is Christ
And to die is truly gain

He spoke about not being deceived by the "churches" of today who are preaching misconceptions, border-line sermons, "feel good" religion. We need to stand firm in what we believe so that no misconception, nagging or mocking of our faith can sway us. Even if that means being a fanatic for Christ. He pulled the scripture from Judges 16:18 and the story of Samson who let Delilah nag him until he told her is secret and turned his back on God and his command for him. We all have been in situations where the pressure to fit in or we have been swayed by people who claim to be Christians yet they live as if they are not. They live the unholy lives because it is easier...you fit in better, people like you and you can "do" more but for what gain? It is much harder to take a stand for what you believe, to live a holy life as we are called to do in Leviticus 11:43-45. He referenced 2 Corinthians 11:3-4, 19-20.
3 But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.
How easy is it for us to want to find the easy religion, the one the best suits our lives. A weak religion where there is no longer any mention of living a holy life, that you can be a "buddy" with God, where you play a role in a movie or play...just playing to be playing and skirting on the border of the world that we are to be set apart from and the holy life we are supposed to be living. Or do we want a strong religion, grounded in the principles of the bible where it is not easy but a hard road but made easier daily by God's strength, and intimate relationship with Christ, where we are willing to stand up against the ridicule and mocking of others, where we aren't afraid to say it things are wrong when they are wrong. The nice thing about God is that today can be that day, the day you start standing up for him in a way that you never have before, stand out in a crowd, be a fanatic. Be like Samson in Judges 16:22 and start letting your hair grow back...get closer to God. Don't let guilt feelings over sin keep you from your only means to restoration. The service ended with the following chorus:

Draw me close to You
Never let me go
I lay it all down again
To hear You say that I’m Your friend

You are my desire
No one else will do
’Cause nothing else could ever take Your place
To feel the warmth of Your embrace
Help me find the way
Bring me back to You

You’re all I want
You’re all I’ve ever needed
You’re all I want
Help me know You are near