God's Garage Series

Learn to Drive Series

PROPER CARE & MAINTENANCE OF YOUR VEHICLE

We’ve been Learning to Drive for 2 months now.

How are you doing?

Had any wrecks?

Any unexpected stops?

Are you reading and obeying the road signs?

Are you staying away from steep grades?

Have you aligned yourself with your authorities

to stay under God’s umbrella of protection?

How are you doing with your new habits?

Are you having daily devotions now?

Are you more faithful doing what God wants you to do?

Are you closer to being like Christ than when we began the series?

Tonight we’re going to do a GPS check, and reposition ourselves as needed.

Hopefully, many of you will be able to honestly say

you have been making progress, and be able to move your car to the next level.

But before we get to that, I want to talk about

routine maintenance and repairs.

The first thing you need to understand is church is not where you come to have your repairs done.

Church is not a mechanic’s garage, it’s simply a filling station.

What services do filling stations offer?

•Gas / Fuel to keep you going (Encouragement)

•Windshield cleaning (Helps us see things more clearly)

•Tire pressure check (Accountability)

•Vacuuming (Get the world’s dirt off of us)

•Car wash (Praise and Worship)

Our coming together every week gives you some basic care to keep you going.

Church can’t fix a broken life.

All we can do is offer encouragement and support.

Church is a place to join with others to get

refueled, and refocused so we can continue on the road of life.

When your real car needs real maintenance or repairs, you don’t go to the filling station, you go to the garage, the repair shop.

The garage has a mechanic there (hopefully a knowledgeable one) that can fix anything that is wrong with your car, no matter how bad it’s broken.

It shouldn’t matter about the make and model of your vehicle, a good mechanic should be able to fix anything.

Now some mechanics do specialize.

So if you have a tough problem with your vehicle

you would probably want to go to the dealer’s shop.

However, most of us can’t afford dealer prices

of over 75 dollars per hour.

But if money were no object,it would make sense to take your vehicle to a reputable dealer.

They know more about your specific vehicle

than anyone else, because they specialize.

What about life?

Where is the garage for our spiritual car?

Let me recommend that you trust your life to the only garage that gives a 100% guarantee AND a lifetime warranty.

This garage has been around forever,

and you can trust them completely.

They have never have made a mistake!

How many mechanics can claim that?

If you haven’t figured it out yet,

I’m talking about God’s Garage!

You can trust Him with your life.

Not only is He the dealer, He’s also the manufacturer.

Who could possibly know more about you than He does?

Some people come to church because they got their life in a mess, and they want somebody to fix it.

Like I said, church only refuels and refocuses you.

If you’re driving a broken down, piece of junk,

because you refuse to submit to God and live right,

church can’t do much for you.

We can give you more gas to keep you choking along, but sooner or later, your junk pile is going to fall apart, if you don’t get the necessary repairs done soon.

If you really want to do something about your vehicle,

if you want to get your life straight,then go to God’s garage and get it fixed right away.

Do you see what I’m trying to say?

Don’t depend on the church to straighten out your life, because it’s not going to happen.

If you really want help for your problems, then go to the One Who can do the job right.

The One Who specializes in you.

That One is God.

Now I know that some people go to church for a patch job, a temporary fix for their problems.

They constantly complain about their problems

to every one who will listen and rehash their situation over and over again.

They hope they can get people to feel sorry for them,

and maybe even get a hand out or two.

These are the kind of people who don’t want to change.

I limit my contact with these people because my time is so valuable.

I actually have a personal policy not to waste time on anyone who chooses not to help themselves.

And I encourage you to not waste your valuable time dealing with someone who doesn’t want to change.

God even says not to cast your pearls before the swine.