Sermon Central
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To Have Strong Relationships In The Body Of ...
Contributed by Alan Tison on Feb 27, 2008 (message contributor)
To have strong relationships in the body of Christ we must deal with our brokenness.
How do we deal with brokenness?
Individually – Realize we are all broken people.
In many stores you find merchandise in a certain section marked with a 2 word phrase. This 2 word phrase is a is a tip off about the merchandise being offered – The phrase? “As Is”. What the store is basically say is these items are damaged goods. Another phrase they like to use is “slightly irregular” The store is issuing a warning – something went wrong. You are going to find a flaw, the size is wrong, the zipper does not work, buttons are missing, there is a stain that will not come out – there is a problem. The store is saying if you are looking for perfection, you are in the wrong section. If you buy t here, you are getting it as is.
When it comes to the church, you have come to the “as is” section of the universe. Everyone one of us has a tag that simply says, “as is”. In other words, there is a flaw here. For some it is envy, jealousy, greed, temper, pride – but we all have a tag that says “as is” The problem in the church is we don’t like to admit we are “as is” people. We want to pretend everything is normal or fine even perfect and we will do anything to keep up the disguise of normal. We come to church and pretend everything is normal, but inside we know it is not. And we are so afraid others will fin out we are not the perfect dad, mom, husband wife, child, family, student or _______________
We are as sick as a our secrets and the only way we can find true community the only way we can have true biblical relationships is to come to grips with our brokenness. This morning you received a white tag – your “as is” tag. I want to challenge you to put on your “as is” tag serves as a reminder…
Serves as a reminder to yourself – that you are a broken person – that you need someone to handle your brokenness “I NEED YOU”
Serves as reminder to others – that you are a broken person – that you have a flaw – “I AM SORRY” – I have a flaw, and if you have a relationship with me, I may disappoint you, I may fail you – and so I say “I AM SORRY”
The key to being comforted is to admit you are a broken person.
The "as is" illustartion comes from John Ortberg’s book Everyone is normal until you get to know them
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