“Bleep of Faith” Week 1 Sermon
This week we began a new series about the danger of censoring out the power of our faith in Christ. The unbelieving society will naturally censor out the name of Jesus. As Christians we need to be careful to not do the same.
You can click RIGHT HERE to watch the video.
Here are my sermon notes for anyone who wants to follow along…
Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication or other information which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, politically incorrect or inconvenient as determined by governments, media outlets, authorities or other groups or institutions. (Wikipedia)
Sometimes it works great and is necessary … It protects us from nastiness
Other times they blow it and it can make things funny
Censorship can be dangerous when it comes to limiting the ability of People to make their own choices and decisions
We see it almost every day in our society when it comes to our Christianity
The subtext of our faith gets censored out by the world
This has been going on since the beginning of mankind
Look at what Paul said to the Church of Corinth more than 2000 years ago…
2 Corinthians 2 : 15 Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. 16 To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume. And who is adequate for such a task as this?
Throughout history one phrase has caused more distention than any other
“You need Jesus”
No one is good enough to earn salvation without Jesus
Nothing seems to separate people like the name of Jesus…
Not the Duke / UNC Rivalry, Not the debate of Coke of Pepsi
***Not even the arguments over the color of this dress***
This is the Foundational offensive truth of the Gospel … Without Jesus we are separated from God and All forms of Spiritual Growth
This is the same offense that has been taken place for thousands of years…
1 Corinthians 1 : 18 The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. 19 As the Scriptures say, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.” 20 So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. 21 Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. 22 It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. 23 So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense. 24 But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.
It’s easy to understand why an Unbeliever and Skeptic can try to censor the truth of the Gospel
–The Gospel forces the selfish to become selfless
–The Gospel forces the independent to become dependent
–The Gospel is all about Jesus and Nothing about Human Ability
Scholars, Educated, and Strong Willed people struggle to give up the idea that is forced on us in our society…
The idea that “We can make it ourselves if we commit and work harder”
BUT this truth is also offensive to the Religious World
The Gospel challenges “Church” Folks who want some credit…
Romans 9 : 30 What does all this mean? Even though the Gentiles were not trying to follow God’s standards, they were made right with God. And it was by faith that this took place. 31 But the people of Israel, who tried so hard to get right with God by keeping the law, never succeeded. 32 Why not? Because they were trying to get right with God by keeping the law instead of by trusting in him. They stumbled over the great rock in their path. 33 God warned them of this in the Scriptures when he said, “I am placing a stone in Jerusalem that makes people stumble, a rock that makes them fall. But anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.”
Jesus is a stumbling block to both the religious and the Unbeliever
–The danger for the unbeliever to Censor out the name of Jesus is an eternity separated from God
–The Danger of the believer censoring the name of Jesus is that we mute our faith of all the power that is available to us!
The name of Jesus causes some sort of reaction in every person on earth
When we mention Following Jesus then people are forced to make a decision
The name of Jesus has Power!
And the man named Jesus changed the Course of History
To accept Jesus as the Savior of the world means that we have to Reject all other paths to Heaven or a Spiritual Enlightenment
The Christian Gospel can be very offensive …
But Christians should not be Offensive!
When we claim the name of Jesus and we claim that we are pure, holy, clean and forgiven because of Jesus…
The world wants to Censor our faith and call us closed minded
We have been called to be Salt and Light to this world that rejects our faith
Christians are not called to bully and be proud…We are called to love and be love
–Christians are not better than non-Christians
–Christians are better than their former selves
You are not better because of Jesus …
–You are forgiven because of Jesus
–You are covered and Sanctified because of Jesus
–You are a sinner saved by the grace of Jesus
Jesus does not make Christians better than non-Christians…
Jesus alone is better!
Just because you become a Christian doesn’t mean you stop needing Jesus
We need the grace and forgiveness of our Savior everyday…
His mercies are new every morning because our sin nature is new every morning
The transformational love of Jesus that you personally experienced is now the transformational love of the Church to the world
The unbelieving world wants to Censor out the statement that could change the eternity of all who choose to believe and follow Christ…
1 Corinthians 1 : 18 The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.
Christian’s need to be very careful to not Censor out the call that Jesus gave us
–Go and Make Disciples
–Love others as much as you love yourselves
–Be a Witness to the power of the death and resurrection to the unbelieving world
–Share the Hope that you have found in following Jesus Christ