How To Live Successfully

Scripture: Daniel 1; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31; John 17:16

Theme: Being IN the World but not OF the World

Title: The Genius Making God

Or: Smarter than the Average Bear

Grace and peace from God our Father, Son and Holy Spirit!

I want to talk to you today about how to successfully live in our present modern world which as we all are aware has been labeled as a Postmodern, Post-Christian world. Now, of course, those are just some nice labels to reveal to us that the world we currently live in here in the USA is far different than the one many of us grew up in and is vastly different than the one our parents and grandparents experienced years ago.

For example, we know that our present cultural norms are no longer based on the Judeo-Christian principles and ideas that championed America Culture from the 1930’s up to the 1980’s and 1990’s. Many of us here this morning were raised under those Judeo-Christian norms and we raised our families under those norms. They fashioned our philosophies of life, the ways we look at the world and the ways that we interacted with others.

Today, our culture norms are changing. Our culture is becoming more pluralistic and more and more people are being convinced that there are no absolutes, there are no overarching guidelines and that pretty much we are left up to ourselves to figure out what is right or wrong. Truth and morals are seen as relative. Each person doing what is right in their own eyes.

We live-in mixed-up age. An age in which millions of people are struggling with their self-identity, their gender identity and their gender expression. There are millions of people who struggle to identity with anything – family, gender, morality, religion, race etc…

We also live in an progressing immoral age. Day after day, Netflix, Amazon Prime and other media outlets are putting out more movies and shows that test the limits of what once was called common sense morality. It seems like the days of shows like Mayberry and Leave It to Beaver are gone forever and shows that are raunchy in nature are easily accessible for adults, teens and children.

We all know this because that is the world we face each day as we go to work, as we go shopping or just go milling around. It is the world that our children face and our grandchildren face. It is a world in where the “F” word is no longer takes anyone by surprise but is a part of common speech spoken around the school yard, the hospital and even the local grocery store.

+So, how are we who believe in Christ and in a lifestyle of holiness supposed to navigate such a world?

+Are we to create a subculture – some type of holiness subculture?

+Are we to find ways to check out and hide away?

+Are we to fade away into the background just waiting for Christ’s Return or our own flat line?

+How do we successfully live in a culture that is going in a completely different direction?

+How do we not only live an abundant life in the midst of our present culture but at the same time be a change agent for God’s Kingdom?

+How do become a powerful witness for God in this age?

Thankfully for us we have God’s Holy Spirit who empowers us, strengthens us and graciously bestows upon us the wisdom and grace to live in such a world. I believe that the Holy Spirit will assist us as individuals, as families and as a Body of Christ to not only be able to successfully navigate this age but be a key ingredient in bringing about a revival to our land and to our world as well.

And, thankfully for us the Holy Spirit impressed on the hearts of individuals thousands of years ago to write down their faith journeys that we can read, study and apply to our lives this morning.

One or those writings is the book of Daniel. If you want to understand how you can effectively live in today’s changing culture, I would invite you to read and study carefully the book of Daniel. Daniel and his friends found themselves living in a world that was radically different than the one that they grew up in back in the land of Israel. They found themselves in a world in which the very fabric of society, faith and morality was vastly different. They grew up in world that believed in the Good God of Creation, the Only God that exists and one that had made them into very own image. They grew up believing that they should reflect God’s glory and honor him through loving one another and being good stewards of His earth.