Blessings Of Being A Christian

INTRO. - ILL.- Two men boarded a coast-to-coast flight and were seated next to each other on the commercial plane. After breezing through the on-flight magazine, the first man turned to the other and asked, what do you do? The man replied: "I am a pastor of a church."

"Oh," said the first man quickly. "I don't believe in that religious stuff. It's for kids, you know, like the song 'Jesus Loves Me This I know, for the Bible tells me so...."

The minister politely laughed and asked the other man what he did for a living. "I am an astronomer," said the first man.

"Oh, that stuff," said the minister. I thought it was just for kids, you know - 'Twinkle, twinkle little star....'"

Brothers and sisters, Christianity is not just for kids, nor is the starry universe! All have to do with God our creator.

Romans 1:18-20 “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”

God’s wrath or anger has been poured out on those who suppress and oppose the truth about Him, about His creation, and His plan for man’s salvation. And it’s easy to see there is a great Creator. All people have to do is go outside and look up and look around! This world and universe didn’t just happen to come into existence by itself. Behind every intelligent design there is an intelligent designer and HE IS NOT MOTHER NATURE. HE IS GOD!

Everywhere you look in our world you can see the hand of God at work. In the church and outside the church. God is the author of all good whether people realize it or not. Every good and perfect gift comes from above. If it’s good, it’s from God.

Of course, evil exists in our world and the evil one is behind it all, as in what happened at the Boston Marathon. John 8:44 The devil is a murderer and he is behind all murders and all evil. BUT GOD REIGNS ABOVE ALL. And God can make good things happen even in the midst of evil.

It is during times like what happened in Boston, like war, like death, destruction, and difficulty that people often see their need for God, Christ and the church. SO BE IT!

But there will be some people, however, who see little or no good in being involved in church and being a member of the Lord’s church on earth. Many just think it’s a waste of good time.

Today, let us think about how blessed we are to believe in God, Christ and be a part of the Lord’s kingdom on earth which is the church.

PROP.- Blessings of being a Christian.

1 - We have help for daily living

2 - We have provision for our needs

3 - We have confidence for death

I. WE HAVE HELP FOR DAILY LIVING

ILL.- A woman was at work when she received a phone call that her daughter was very sick with a fever. She left her work and stopped by the pharmacy to get some medication. She got back to her car and found that she had locked her keys in the car.

She didn't know what to do, so she called home and told the baby sitter what had happened. The baby sitter told her that her the fever was getting worse. She said, "You might find a coat hanger and use that to open the door."

The woman looked around and found an old rusty coat hanger that had been thrown down on the ground, possibly by someone else who at some time or other had locked their keys in their car. Then she looked at the hanger and said, "I don't know how to use this."

So she bowed her head and asked God to send her some help. Within five minutes an old rusty car pulled up, with a dirty, greasy, bearded man who was wearing an old biker skull rag on his head. The woman thought, "This is what you sent to help me?" But, she was desperate, so she was also very thankful.

The man got out of his car and asked her if he could help. She said, "Yes, my daughter is very sick. I stopped to get her some medication and I locked my keys in my car. I must get home to her. Please, can you use this hanger to unlock my car?"