Being A 24/7/52 Christian

My brother-in-law was a pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds - he’s famous for two things: He was #2 on the all-time sports injury list behind the guy who sprained his eyelids blinking and for creating an international incident while going through customs – He’s a good ole boy from Texas who never crossed an international boundary before he came back from playing the Montreal Expos. They asked him if he had anything to declare. He said, "I’m proud to be an American!" They yelled at him in French for a couple hours and let him go when they confirmed his identity but a little instruction would have helped him a ton.

Lack of understanding - Need explanation - Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch

A little bit of information makes a person dangerous – a little bit of Biblical information makes a person dangerous too

Nobody calls a pastor when they need their car worked on

Nobody calls a mechanic when they have need to have surgery

But people will get theological advice from almost anybody

Miners were trapped in West Virginia – rescued – one guy asked the other if he needed to be baptized - surrounded by water but tells the guy no instead of baptizing him

The Bible is the most widely distributed book in the world

Unfortunately, it’s probably not the most widely read – maybe just should be read more

Read your Bible – put one in every bathroom in your house – seminary prof

I’ve found that people try to make the Bible say things that it doesn’t

For instance, some try to gel creation with evolution – saying God created everything but it may have taken him longer than just six days because in 2 Peter it says, “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day”

In its context it is easy to see that God wasn’t talking about how he tells time but how patient and loving He is

Why do people do this? They haven’t read it - they’ve heard someone say a verse or a saying enough and they haven’t studied it or found out if it is really in the Bible or not

Do you believe that the people you hang out with influence your choices and behavior?

Do you believe that what you watch on TV or the books your read influence your choices or behavior?

Garbage in, garbage out

Do you want to make the right choices and act in a certain way – hang around people who will influence them for good – read a different book, learn about what it actually says – go to church, read the Bible

Being a disciple means following Jesus 24/7/52

We have a tendency in our culture to compartmentalize our lives – this is my work life, these are my work clothes, these are the things I do for work and this is my home life, these are the clothes I wear at home, these are the things I do at home

We apply that to our Christian lives too – this is my church life, these are my church clothes, these are my church friends, these are the things I do and say at church

God had a more holistic view of being a follower of Jesus – Let’s take a look

A person is not an airman Monday – Friday, You are airmen 24/7/52. You are U. S. citizens 24/7/52. It means you just can’t walk away. You have to follow 24/7.

SHOW VIDEO from Sermon Spice entitled Christianity Lite

Hoag’s Ladder of Learning

We remember:

- 5 % of what you hear

- 10 % of what you hear and see

- 50 % of what you read

- 30 % of what you write

- 95 % of what you teach

What’s the point – The more you interact with something the more it affects you - God’s word has to be more than something you hear once a week in chapel. You need to read it, write it, memorize it, meditate on it, teach it to others

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:4-9

In our culture, we say that things that are important to us are close to our heart – Jesus’ words should be on our heart – how do they get there? – romans 10:17 passage – faith comes from hearing the message of Christ – you don’t get that message at work – you get it hear at the chapel