Series: Destinations on the Journey of Faith
An Educational Adventure/Learning About God
Mark 10:17-22
17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’[a]”
20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Intro: Coming back from Dodge City Kansas already been in the car for 700 miles…stopping at science museum Little Rock…knowing we had a long drive yet to go…
I. Where I Belong
Unlike the first destination when we make this second stop along the way we no long wonder why we are going…we know that we belong on this journey…it’s a place where we find a sense of belonging…
Leslie and I pulling into the conference in Atlanta…huge church…only other white people we saw were the two speakers…but within just a few moments we didn’t feel at all out of place…we settled into a very pleasant experience and a sense of belonging…
But within the local church this is a place where we have finally found the place where feel that we are a part of the family.
It is where we belong…this is what the Rich Young Ruler was searching for when he ran up to Jesus and said
17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
He wasn’t just looking for salvation he wanted a place that he could belong…everyone wants to belong…to feel like we fit in and are needed.
This is supposed to be easy for those of us that grew up within a local church…as it is our children should grow up and feel that they have a home church right here at FCC…BUT…
It is here that the small group movement was born…it began with Sunday school classes and youth groups…it then evolved into women’s and men’s groups and now the trend is home groups or life groups. This allows for us to be a part of a smaller group and to have a closer relationship with others.
It is a sense of belonging to a group of faith by association….
II. Need for a guide
When we have left the initial destination of awe and discovery we quickly realize we need a guide to help us determine the best way to get as much out of this place as possible…it would be like taking an unguided tour of the entire Grand Canyon…how much do you think you would miss or if you could even begin to scratch the surface without getting lost…(New York City on Saturday walking on our own…so much more that I would like to see…
So that is where the church is so important with strong leaders as we have seen this year that people are always looking for a cause or belief system to follow…. With the coming election the nation is divided and each group is sure that their belief system is the correct one…so it is important that our teachers and leaders are relaying the correct message of FCC…
The Rich Young Leader was searching for a leader that could take him on the right paths…now we know that when he found that Jesus wasn’t going to tell him what he wanted to hear…he
22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth
But when this destination is arrived at and we have accepted the group’s belief system and feel like we belong we develop…
III. Sense of Rightness
It is the “I found it!” like we discovered a hidden treasure we carry around our new found faith for everyone to see….we are like the Samaritan Woman whom Jesus met at the well and she went and declared to the entire village “Come, see man who told me all that I ever did” (John 4:29)
What an exciting time in the life of the believer…we can’t wait to tell everyone about Jesus and about our church family…
these are not the people you over hear complaining about their church and everyone that attends there!!!!
Tell of Matthew at East End going out to lunch and telling everyone “I went to church today”….
IV. Security In Our Faith
At this destination there is a feeling of being safe and even comfortable…we feel this way because we have finally got a cause to believe in and we no longer have to worry because there is someplace to go where we belong and are wanted. It comes with guidelines and group of people that will support us…what a wonderful place to be…no wonder so many people decide that this has to be all there is to see on this journey of faith…everything feels so right and safe…Like Paul in 2 Timothy 1:12 (NIV)
12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.
V. Getting Stranded
Rigid in Righteousness
It is very easy at this destination to that our way is the only way to have faith in Jesus…we can get so hung up on the rules and the regulations that we can become legalistic and moralistic instead of grace filled and compassionate… then we become obsessed punishing those that fail to hold to those moral and self-righteous standards…
This often leads to the whole we against them attitude that shows its ugly head in the church from time to time…there is no place for this in the church…when people get stuck in this stage they have a very closed, esoteric, paranoid, overly protective group that can do an amazing amount of damage to the faith of many…when confronted with the reality of their failure these self righteous people then become
The Switchers
They entered the group excited and as they could meet those deep needs for a sense of belonging. They participate and live what appears to be a healthy thriving life among the family….But then gradually they begin to realize that the group wasn’t exactly what they were looking for…then feelings of disillusionment followed by criticism…they accuse the group of changing and place the blame on the church for not being what they really need…so they leave…
These switchers spend a great deal of time wandering around this destination…because they simply jump from one group to another…never moving forward because we never move forward only switch buses traveling around in the same place but it gives them a feeling of movement or sense of progress….these people have been to every church in town and some of them multiple times…they are never satisfied for a long period of time…make excuses about the preacher or not enough growth opportunities…
How do we move forward to the next destination? Why would we want to leave right here?
Next Stop is the adventurous one where we become fully involved…in some cases this is like stepping out and trying a new extreme sport…
First we need to Recognize that we have a uniqueness that qualifies us to make a real contribution, regardless of large or small…it is here that we identify our gifts and decide that they are worthwhile…
Listen to me here…Everyone here has gifts that are valuable to the work of the Kingdom of God…you each need to see yourself as a contributor…seek out some responsibility and each time you complete your task you will find yourself more and more confident…I would love to have a group of individuals that would be willing to give the communion meditation on Sunday morning…
I am soon going to be seeking people to open our services with prayer and maybe even opening announcements…But you will never know your strengths and weaknesses if you never want to leave the second stop on this journey of faith…
Accept who you are, including the God given gifts and talents, and take the risky step to move forward with God walking right along with you…
Back to the rich young ruler…he came to Jesus wanting the knowledge of salvation so that he too could have the joy that he saw in the others following our Lord along the way…but like many people we know today he walked away because he wasn’t willing to give up this world in for eternity…Many of us have spent a lifetime traveling around town thinking that we have seen the world…I fear that one day we will stand before the throne of God and he will say “Why didn’t you want more of me and less of the world?”
We all want to belong to something that matters and this world and satan has a lot of different choices…but only one matters and that is…Video MAN IN A HOLE…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEpoHO_Ox6A
