Called To Be Different

First Church of God in Harvey

Sunday Morning, March 18th, 2012

Let us pray

Welcome....

This is the day which the Lord hath made; two days before the first day of spring, the first day of the rest of our lives, we will rejoice and be glad in it. Do you have something to praise God for? Then praise him. Are you thankful to be in God’s house one more time? Then thank him. Most of us do not have much money, and so God gave us a good winter in which we could save on our gas bill and that is something worthwhile to praise God for. The psalmist knew how to praise God, and so he was able to say, “O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.” You thought God was late in answering your prayer? You thought God had forgotten you? You were wrong, because some of you here today can say with the songwriter, “Though the night has been long and my trials severe, And heavy my burdens of care; As the mist of the morning they all disappear, When Jesus answers my prayer.” What joy we can have today, to know that our prayers are being answered, “When Jesus answers my prayer…When Jesus answers my prayer;…..O the rapture that thrills, the glory that fills, When Jesus (not the mayor, not the president, not your wife or husband, not your son or daughter) but when Jesus answers my prayer.” Do not forget it, Jesus still answers prayer…elaborate..

Last Sunday we were blessed as we were reminded that as Christians, as followers of Christ we are the salt of the earth. As Christians we are supposed to make a difference in the lives of those around us. If as Christians, if we are not effectively touching lives, if we are not missed when we are away, then it is quite possible we have lost that effectiveness that we should have.

Today our topic will be, “Called to be different,” and our scripture reading will be taken from 2 Corinthians 6: verses 14 through 18. Let’s all stand and read from the screen. Please tell someone, we are different. The word different means, not the same; out of the ordinary, unusual. Just supposed we were all the same? We were all short, or we were all tall. We were all plump, or we were all thin. We were all smart, or we were all dumb. What a miserable world that would be, but God in his wisdom made us all different. Even though we are different, we can all strive to be more and more like Jesus.

Let’s consider the following thoughts, Number One.. Do not associate with evil; Number Two.. Let God ‘s Spirit dwell in you; Number Three..Come out from among them. Don’t you know that as a Christian you are not like the world? Don’t you know that as a Christian you cannot act like the world? Don’t you know that as a Christian you are a peculiar person. Peter writes in 1 Peter 2, and the first portion of verse 9, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people….” Do you get uspset when someone says that you are strange? Guess what, that word peculiar means, unusual, strange, oddness. We are a peculiar people; we are different, we are not like the world.

Someone ask these questions, “Are you tired of playing games, wearing masks or trying to be someone other than yourself? Wouldn’t you like the freedom to just be accepted for who you are without the pressure to be someone you really don’t know how to be? Would you like to learn to embrace your uniqueness and resist the pull to be like everyone else? Let me say this loud and clear, we are not every body else, we are different. Let’s not try to be like everybody else, we are different. God knew exactly what he was doing when he made you. We are all uniquely made by God, and it is time for us to accept ourselves as different, “and stop being insecure about who we are.” If you and I are going to overcome our insecurities , and be the persons God called us to be, we will have to have the courage to be different. Many of our young people are falling prey to the enemy, because it is so difficult to dare to be different, and so they are doing things they should not be doing in order to be a people pleaser. It is said that, “unhappiness and frustration happen when we reject our uniqueness and try to be like each other.” If you and I are going to be successful, as being completely who we are, then we will have to take the chance on not being like everyone else. Let’s ask ourselves the question, am I trying to please God or am I trying to please people?