POP CORN CHRISTIANS
Romans 12:1-2 read.
A Sunday school teacher decided to have her young class memorize one of the most quoted passages in the Bible....Psalm 23. She gave the youngsters a month to learn the verse. Little Bobby was excited about the task, but he just couldn’t remember the Psalm. After much practice, he could barely get past the first line. On the day that the kids were scheduled to recite Psalm 23 in front of the congregation, Bobby was so nervous. When it was his turn, he stepped up to the mike and said " The Lord is my shepherd...and that’s all I need to know."
Lets just suppose a huge storm came by and blew that church to nowhere.
I want you to think for a moment about the church you attend. Would it have been a real loss? Would anyone outside of the church have noticed?? Would the presence that the church was making ,of being the salt and the light, be missing??
How many of us had popcorn, microwaved or other, and noticed that when it was done some of the kernals had not popped?? They experienced the same blast of radiation from the micro=wave as the others or the same amount of heat as the others yet they did not pop.
Some Christians read the same Bible passages as others, but some Christians don’t pop. They hear the same spiritual songs, but some Christians don’t pop. They here the same sermons, but they don’t pop. They are issued the same challenge to witness, but some Christians don’t pop. They know the same teaching to tithe, but some Christians don’t pop. They hear the same call to service, but some Christians don’t pop.
Charles Stanley in his book Confronting Christianity asks, " Why do you suppose that there are close to 100 million church members in America yet they are not making more of a moral and spiritual impact? Why is it that on Sunday morning thousands of church’s have more empty pews than full? Why is that the average Sunday school in America has less than 66 in attendance and that the average worship service has 84? Why is it that only 50% of the number on any church membership roll can be expected to attend? If Christians really believe in a real heaven and a real hell, how can we be so silent?
He says, " The answer to all these questions is tragically simple! God’s people have made a decision about Jesus... but have never made a commitment to Him."
When a pilot speeds his plane down a runway, there is a certain point where staying on the ground is no longer an option. When he crosses that line, he is committed to the air. He’ll either leave the ground or crash the plane. At that point the pilot can not change his mind.
Unfortunately , churches are filled with members who’ve never taken off.
They’ve been sitting there gunning there engines, making noise but getting nowhere.
They’ve been planning on it, meaning to, trying to, going to, aiming to and hoping to.The tragedy is they have never gotten off the ground.
I think the reason that Christians don’t pop or get off the ground is because they have a mis-conception of worship. Worship is seen as something that happens on a Sunday morning with a group of people. Many think it is something that happens at a certain time, like 11am or 6pm or Wen. 7pm. It is also viewed as something that has five parts to it: singing, praying, giving, communion and preaching. Those five things are not worship in themselves collectively or separately. These are only an extension of a lifestyle of worship.
Read Romans 12:1-2. But, for those of us who have seen worship as an event, how can we adopt it as a lifestyle? The scripture gives us three things that will change our view and transform our lives.
# 1 ; regard yourself as a living sacrifice.
There is a story about a hen and a pig that were out taking a walk one day when they passed a church. The sermon topic on the sign board was, " How can we help the poor". After a couple of moments reflection the hen said, " I know what we can do. We can have a ham and egg breakfast." It took several moments before the suggestion sunk in, but when it did, the pig protested: " That breakfast would be only a contribution for you, but for me it would mean total commitment".
You see, the problem is that a large number of those who claim to be Christians are only willing to make a contribution to the cause of Christ, but very few are willing to give a total commitment. It’s where they think it is the home of the 5% tithe, the thirty minute service with sermonettes for Christianettes. It is the place where the hymn of commitment is "I surrender Some". Instead of Standing on the promises we are sitting on the premises. But this isn’t what God had in mind at all.
In the church of today we have all kinds of people; Church members, pew fillers, hymn singers, sermon tasters, Bible readers, and simple believers. But there are very few who are walking , talking, breathing, living sacrifices.
How many of you woke up today and thought" Today, I’m going to Die?" Most of us spent more time thinking about how we were going to live instead of how we were going to die.
In the OT one of the key elements to worship was the sacrifice. It was critical because it gave the people an understanding that worship costs something. In the N.T. God has changed something...He is asking for a living sacrifice, not a dead one. God asks for our bodies as well as our souls.
William Barclay wrote " True worship is the offering to God of one’s body and all that one does every day with it. Real worship is not the offering to God of a liturgy, however noble, nor a ritual, however magnificant. Real worship is the offering of every day life to Him. Take your body, take all the tasks that you have to do every day; take the ordinary work of the shop, the factory, the office, the home and offer that all as an act of worship to God."
Read Col. 3:17.
# 2 : Revise your mind set.
Our natural mind set is to do what is natural. Read 1 Cor. 2:14.
In our scripture we see two things that will help us to revise our mind set. 1) Don’t be conformed, don’t let the world squeeze you into what it wants you to be.
Read 1 Peter 1:13-16.
2) Be transformed or changed. The same term was used to describe Jesus on the mount of transfiguration.
But what motivation is there to transform?? The mercy of God is the motivation.
It is that He offers us something that we do not deserve, a relationship with Him and eternal life, instead of what we do deserve which is eternal seperation from him and eternal punishment.
We exist to put the glory of God’s mercy in Jesus Christ on display. That is the reason we are to be living sacrifices.
#3 Relinquish your will to God’s will;
The will of God is good. God only asks us to that which is good to us. He will hurt us by His will. He wants what is best for us. Jesus died for us, how could God want anything but what is best for us?
The will of God is pleasing... It pleases God and will ultimately please us. It will result in a right relationship with God and assure us of all His blessings for us.
The will of God is perfect; God does not want us to settle for second best, He wants us to have the best.
William Borden was a millionaire, a grad. Of Yale, a handsome and privileged
man. God called him to the cause of world missions, and he said Yes. His friends thought he was crazy. One of them wrote to him " You’re throwing yourself away". It did’nt stop him. But, at the age of 25, in 1913, on his way to China, Borden contracted meningitis and died. He left a note as he lay dying, which simply said, " No reserve, no retreat, no regrets". He was totaly committed. A friend of his wrote " No one would have known from his life and talk that he was a millionaire, but no one could have helped knowing that he was a Christian".
Borden trusted the promise of 1 john 2:17- The world and it’s desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."
John and Betty Stam were missionaries to China. On 12/8/34 hey calmly and bravely laid down there lives for Christ - martyred by the Chinese communists. Nine years earlier Betty had dedicated her life to Christ with these words: " Lord, I give up my own purposes and plans, all my own desires, hopes and ambitions, and I accept Thy will for my life. I give myself, my life, my all, utterly to Thee, to be thine forever. I hand over to Thy keeping all my friendships. All the people whom I love are to take second place in my life, at any cost, now and forever. To me to live is Christ. Amen".
Now that is total commitment. The Christian life is all about being worshipful to God in everything that we do, say, think and feel.... it’s about presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice.
Now some of you may thinking why is God interested in my body? It’s over=weight or under-weight, It’s too old or too young, it’s wrinkled, blotchy, achy, diseased, nervous, unattractive, disabled, near-sighted or far-sighted, hard of hearing, stiff and brittle. What kind of sacrifice is that??
God doesn’t want your capability, He just wants your availability.
Are you one of those Christians who didn’t pop, or one who didn’t get off the ground?
Twenty Years Ago Today
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