Choose Who You Will Serve Series

So, my first sermon of 2016, let’s start with a question: Does life get in the way, or do you let life get in the way?

I sit in church and I listen to the message,

sometimes I enjoy it,

sometimes I find it boring.

I love to hear of the miracles that Jesus did and

I love to hear about all the things He said,

and all those parables He told - I love to hear them.

I know Jesus loves me - the Bible tells me so,

I know because of my sin, Jesus came to sacrifice himself for me,

I know Jesus is meant to be the centre of my life,

But,

my life is so busy,

I have pushed following Jesus down the list of my priorities...

You see I have my own priorities,

there is stuff I have to do,

there is stuff I need to do,

there is stuff I want to do,

God understands, God knows my heart!

God knows my heart,

He knows my heart better than I,

He knows what space I give to Him and what I keep for myself,

He knows the real priorities in my life,

not what my lips say, not my best intentions,

what I actually think and do and feel.

Does life gets in the way, or do I let life get in the way?

Does life gets in the way, or do you let life get in the way?

Our theme for 2016 is Dynamic Disciples.

In the New Testament the word Disciple is used to describe the people who are committed to following Jesus Christ.

To be a true disciple of Jesus requires real commitment

True discipleship involves our deep commitment to our Lord and Saviour, allowing His life to infuse our own, so that we become more like Him.

Following Christ is meant to be the central purpose of our lives.

Discipleship is about Christ being formed in you and you being formed in Christ.

Jesus is our Redeemer and He is also our Exemplar, God’s image of perfect human holiness.

To become like Him we must be willing to follow His teaching,

To follow Him we must be willing to submit ourselves to the truth of God’s Word, from beginning to end.

Discipleship is an ongoing process that will last the whole of our lifetime and should touch every part of our lives.

Maybe you have been a Christian for many years, maybe you have already accepted Jesus as your Saviour, but

have you made Jesus Lord of your life?

Being a disciple of Jesus requires more from us than just turning up for a church service, God is meant to have the central place in our daily lives.

Being a disciple of Jesus is more than just reading your bible once in a while or praying when you need something, it requires a real relationship with the God who loves you.

Discipleship is the way we show that we take Jesus – His Incarnation, His works, His words,

His person, His exemplary life,

His commands and His commissions – seriously.

A Christian who takes discipleship seriously is a Christian who takes Jesus and the Gospel seriously.

Our ongoing walk with Jesus must be a priority in our lives.

Every day of our lives involves us making some kind of choice.

Some choices are easy, some choices are difficult,

Let’s try this:

Tea or Coffee - easy choice.

What kind of tea, black, green, Earl Grey, herbal.

Coffee, black, white, americano, cappuccino, latte, ground or instant,

Sometimes we may even choose not to choose.

What about Chocolate or Ice cream.

Next slide - sometimes you can choose both

Ok, I don’t want you to shout out an answer for this one - My priorities or God’s priorities.

Each day we need to choose to follow our Lord,

we need to choose to spend time with Him.

This morning I want to encourage you to choose God’s priorities.

I want to encourage you to choose to follow our Lord

to choose to be His disciple.

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In the old testament you will find the story of Joshua,

He had a pretty busy life, he had a life with God was at the centre.

When Joshua was about 110 years old; he gave one of the most important speeches of his life.

Joshua gathered the people around him and he spoke to them and gave them a challenge before he died.

He told the people God had been good to them.

He reminded them how God had delivered them from slavery and wandering.

Then Joshua tells them that they need to worship the right God in the right way, not some kind of substitute God or idol.

Joshua told the people it was time to make a choice - lets read Joshua 24:15: