Food

Chicken Sunday

“Food”

Ed Doss October 14, 2000

Good Morning, it’s so good to see so many of you this morning at our 5th annual Chicken Sunday.

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I want you know that you have all been intentionally invited to share this special day with us as we have been planning it for weeks.

We’ve really enjoyed the sacrifice of time and effort to help this be an incredible time for you to worship God. Not to mention the ultimate sacrifice that the chickens made.

There’s just something about a banquet that draws people. Great fellowship, the food, great conversations around the table, the food, great friendships built, the food……

~ I love a huge spread. I love buffets. I love being invited to dinner when the person doing the inviting has a reputation of being a good cook.

Tell story of sister in LA whose mom stuffed us.

I mean we love to eat at our house, sometimes it shows, especially when we get to eat new and exciting foods. Foods that we don’t get to eat often.

~ Like alligator, sushi, eel, etc. MMM!!!

Jesus loved banquets. Many times in the bible it records Jesus going to banquets and feasts and parties to talk to the people. He loved a good time.

Matthew 22:1-14

Jesus is using a parable to teach a spiritual truth here.

Being in the Kingdom is like being at an incredible banquet – this is the way Christianity should be – where you never know what dish is next, only that it’s going to be better than the last one.

never ends, the dishes just keep on coming, and you never really get full.

~ Like a huge buffet that you can just keep on going back to, never getting full.

But I think there are some things that we need to understand about God’s banquet.

It is truly awesome – Not just O.K., it’s McDonalds, not Boston Market, not the Old Town Buffet -–but a MASSIVE WEDDING BANQUET!

Unfortunately Phoenix is not a city known for it’s food.

~ You go to any coastal city and you have some awesome seafood

~ You go to some midwest cities and you eat buffalo, or elk.

~ Obviously when you go to cities overseas you eat some good food.

Phoenix?

~ BBQ, Steak, Rattlesnake if you’re daring. Not many “indigenous foods”.

But when you finally find a place you tell everyone! You rave about it!

If we really understood God’s Kingdom we would rave about it too.

If we really saw what church is supposed to be we would become it’s greatest advertisement – that’s why many of you are hear today.

~ You’ve seen changed lives, something different in the persons life that invited you.

In God’s banquet there are many dishes, some you may think you have tasted before.

I want to tell you about 3

I. Christians have nothing to hide.

There is something very freeing about knowing that you’ve got nothing hiding in the closet. Something that you hope nobody will ever find out.

We’re free to be open with our lives and secure in the grace because we are all sinners.

Share about you conversion and being real about your sin. Hey we’re all alike.

Birds of a feather.

There’s freedom to be ourselves.

II. We Have the Bible

There are so many misconceptions of the Bible.

~ Old history book, Book of Do’s & Don’ts ,

We forget that it’s not readily available to some in other parts of the world.

2 Tim. 3:16-19 Says that it has everything we need to live a life of godliness.

It’s just like the end of Sports Center “Did you know?”

Did you know that the bible teaches how to have an

 unbeatable marriage

 to be an incredible parent

 how to build character

 How to become and stay a faithful Christian – not nebulous

III. Convictions

This doesn’t even exist in today’s society.

If you ask someone what his convictions are he might tell you his criminal record. Or just look at you funny as if it were some sort of trick question.

I mean today convictions might mean “watching the game, having a bud, whaaaat’s uup?

We’ve learned to put on a little makeup that keeps us from living a life of conviction even though down deep that’s really what we want.

~ If we want a life of deep conviction we need to open up and let someone in our life. ~ We have to be willing to be honest with ourselves and get broken about our sin.

Back to text.

When the servants were sent to invite the bible says they REFUSED! Huh?

~ They all alike began to make excuses

~ Uh, I can’t because of my schedule, my business, my…….