Comfortable Or Uncomfortable Christianity Series

Comfortable or Uncomfortable Christianity

This month we are looking at The Holy Spirit in Everyday Living and tonight I have a message that God has laid on my heart for us...

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I will begin.

Actually are you too comfortable?

Is your Every day life too comfortable?

Is your Christian life too comfortable?

The title of the message this evening is Comfortable or Uncomfortable Christianity

And the message tonight may make you a little uncomfortable.

I read an article this week on How to tell if we have become too comfortable in our Christianity

10 Signs that show if your Christianity Has Become Too Comfortable - as I read them out keep a tally in your head -

Don’t worry I’m not going to ask you to share your score with everyone else.

1. You do not attending church with a high level of expectancy. In fact the only thing you expect with any certainty is that the preacher will shut up eventually, the final song will be sung and you will be able to go home.

2. You no longer seem to be concerned about the spiritual condition of neighbors, family members, or your colleague.

3. You haven’t had a spiritual conversation with a non-Christian in a long time. In fact some of your friends don’t even know you go to church.

4. The Bible seems like a history book. It’s lifeless to you. You treat God’s word as something you can pick out the easy bits from, the nice bits about God’s love and forgiveness, and ignore everything about, Sin, Justice, Holy Living and Obedience to God’s will and the leading of the Holy Spirit.

5. Your happiness at a Sunday Service is more important than what it takes to reach the unchurched, the unsaved.

As long as you get your parking spot, sit in your seat, and hear the music you like, everything’s fine.

6. The plight of the poor doesn’t concern you.

7. Pictures of people suffering do not move you to action. The needs of others don’t even register anymore.

8. You do not give to God from the financial resources He has blessed you with.

Instead of regular giving to support God’s work - He gets the spare change from your pocket or the leftovers after you have done all the things you want to do.

9. Your prayers don’t seem to be making it past the ceiling. You just transmit and you don’t even listen for God’s answer.

10. It doesn’t even dawn on you that God could do something incredible and amazing and radical in your life at any moment today.

The miraculous is not on your radar - and if your honest you don’t want it on your schedule either.

If the Holy Spirit really moved tonight - if the building shook from His presence - if you let Him take control, then you might not be home in time to watch the 10 o’clock tv programme about the world’s ugliest dog.

10 signs of comfortable Christianity.

How many are present in your life?

Have you become too comfortable?

Is it time to leave your comfort zone and get uncomfortable?

Is it time for you to stop being the person you are comfortable being and become the person God has called you to be?

Is it time to let the Holy Spirit take control - not just for a couple of hours on a Sunday and a few moments during the week - is it time to allow the Holy Spirit access to your every day?

What can we do to get uncomfortable in our Christianity?

I want us to read some verses from Galatians 5. Galatians 5:1 and Galatians 5:13-16

Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law. (Galatians 5:1)

For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. 14For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another. 16So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. (Galatians 5:13-16)

These verses make it clear that Christ has set us free, we are to stay free, we are to live in freedom.

There is a big difference between freedom and comfort.

All of us like the idea of a comfortable life comfortable in the way we live, comfortable in the way we worship, comfortable in the way we serve, comfortable in the way we pray, comfortable in the way we witness, comfortable in the amount we tithe to God, comfortable in the amount of time we give to God.